Let me begin by saying, congratulations! If you read Part I and Part II then you now have a student that has completed one of their most challenging tasks - writing a story! They have brainstormed an idea, outlined the flow and sequence, and used those tools to guide their writing. It is at this point, though, that my students would say we’re not done! “If I did not edit, I’m not done writing!” This fact is loudly proclaimed often in my writing classes, and in each writing session because knowing that every work needs to be written once, and then again, is crucial to their development as writ ..read more

“You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.” ― Jodi Picoult Last week we talked about a few fun ways to relieve stress surrounding writing. If you missed it, you can catch up on that post here. The next step, once your kiddo is primed to actually do some writing, is to let them create. This, of course, also allows you to see which part of the writing process is causing frustration. Is it the mechanical aspect? Holding the pencil, fine/gross motor skill challenges, or handwriting? Is it a processing or language struggle? Difficulty with organizing thoughts, coming up ..read more

The desire to write, grows with writing. -Desiderius Erasmus I worked with a family once whose daughter, let’s call her Lily, had limited expressive language. This beautiful, quiet, pre-teen girl, with her great big smile seemed to have a lot of words, but didn’t speak. I remember her mom coming in one day and handing me a letter. It was the sweetest thing. About a page and a half in length, describing her obsession with teddy bears, and the collection of novelty erasers she has, that she thinks has reached more than 300. She wrote about her favorite dinner, and the food she hates - all vege ..read more

It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. -ee cummings I have a student that is a graduating senior this year. It’s always such a joy of mine to see students “become” young adults. In our most recent session, aside from my normal sentimental pride, I also felt an immense sadness when he told me he would be moving away for school - to the other side of the country, in fact. I’m so proud of his work, and super proud that he has made this incredible decision and prepared so well for it. I am also overwhelmed with emotion because I’ve spent his entire high school experience, ri ..read more

One of the most challenging aspects of school for my middle and high school students is studying. I often warn them that college is the worst place to learn how to study because by then there is an assumption that you have already mastered those techniques, and can therefore apply them to several pages or chapters of text with ease. To be honest, this is also true for high school. You’re not learning to study during these years, you’re applying your study skills. The earlier students develop these skills, the better! I wanted to share a few techniques I recommend for efficient and effective p ..read more

“You can’t find your passion thinking about it in your head.” -Marie Forleo I think I was 8 years old when my mother came home with an envelope with my name on it. It was from a publishing company that had created a program to help kids develop a written work (poetry or short stories) to later be printed in an anthology.  I remember being so excited to be chosen to participate, and I would hurry to complete each assignment as soon as they were received. I wrote short stories, poems, etc… and each time I’d receive some feedback and another assignment. I don’t think we ever actuall ..read more

In last week’s post we discussed the importance of setting measurable goals. Well, I thought it might be helpful to see a quick example of a few goals I worked with a family to set for a student. Keep in mind, these are not goals specific to a 504 plan or an IEP, but rather goals you, yourself, can set and monitor for at home. If you have questions about IEP goals, feel free to message me.  These goals are for Madison. Madison is 8 years old, in 2nd grade, and gets feedback from her teachers often about how well-behaved, social, and engaging she is. She is doing well in all subjects, par ..read more

December brings happiness to so many of us. From the lights and festivities of the holiday season, and traveling with family and friends; to the excitement just gearing up for the New Year, it truly is the most wonderful time of the year! My favorite part, aside from visiting with my family on the other side of the country, is preparing for the new year. I really begin thinking about what my new goals will be around October (don’t you judge me! lol), but I really set out to get them written out and planned in December. This includes my new planner purchase, stickers, pens, notebooks, etc… yes ..read more

Have you ever considered how much focus we, as educators, mentors, and parents, put on success? It’s not a bad thing, I’m just asking you to think about it.  Keeping children motivated, inspired, and excited about the possibility of winning is something we do without even thinking. After all, the opposite of that would be focusing on why something won’t work, which doesn’t seem positive or hopeful. But teaching kids not only how to succeed, but also how to fail is sometimes more important than success itself. The best way to ensure a child doesn’t become an adult that lacks proper c ..read more

In the weeks leading up to the pre-Christmas, ahem… I mean, Thanksgiving holiday, what’s on many parents mind is the first card marking, and the parent teacher conferences they’re headed into. Measuring success simply by a percentage point or grade is never advisable, but of course, this information is still necessary to determine overall strengths or areas needing improvement. Since most times the answers to that are actually hidden in the work that led to the grades, I wanted to offer a few suggestions on questions to ask to be sure you know exactly where your child is at each quarter of th ..read more