The loss important to understand this year, the most critical loss, is not learning loss. It involves the loss many children are facing after losing a mom or dad to Covid-19. Or it could be a grandma or grandpa, a beloved aunt or uncle, or sister or brother, even a friend. On this Mother’s Day, […]
The Dangers of SEL Assessment Data to Students with LD Social Disabilities and Autism
Today, I would like to bring attention to the dangers of social-emotional learning assessment to a segment of our student population. The focus on behavior is becoming the new purpose of school, and that alone should raise questions. School boards, PTA’s, and school organizations should be discussing how these curriculum changes impact what and how […]
Schools, and a Country’s Children: Remembering a Gentler (Not Perfect) Past
This is our land. These are our children. We’re all in it together. ~Brochure for the Van Buren Intermediate School District, Project NOMAD (Needs and Objectives for Migrant Advancement and Development), 1972 and 1973. In the early seventies, as a young college student, I became an aide for two summers, in the Michigan Migrant Education […]
The Sad Impact of Corporate School Reform on Students with Emotional/Behavioral Disabilities
We have a lot of troubled kids. As of 2016, approximately 1 in 5 youth aged 13–18 (21.4%) experiences a severe mental disorder at some point during their life. For children aged 8–15, the estimate is 13%. HERE. Schools should be on the front line to assist children and adolescents with mental health difficulties. But […]
101 (And MORE) Wishes For Students in 2018—In 5 Words or Less
Provide children plenty of recess. Pay attention to child development. Cherish play for children. Encourage teens to socialize. Lower class sizes. Bring back the arts. Provide all students art instruction. Give students credentialed art teachers. Let children dance. Sing-along with students. Teach students to play instruments. Display student art in schools. Bring back school plays. […]
Privatizing Recess: Micromanaging Children’s Play for Profit
You might hear that school recess is returning, but it might not be the recess we have come to know and love, and miss. It is not run by the school, but by a nonprofit called “Playworks: Play and Recess to Support Emotional Learning.” I have written about social and emotional learning before. Many are […]
More Social-Emotional Learning Hype
Helping children with their emotions is something teachers have done for years. Certainly, assisting children and teens with appropriate, caring behavior is an important task. And, yes, there are ways to help children feel good about who they are and what they can contribute to the world. Of course educators should address a child’s feelings […]
New Social-Emotional Standards to Complement Common Core
If you thought Common Core State Standards were bad, look out! Here come the new social-emotional standards to complement Common Core—because nothing says children have feelings more than benchmarks! Today’s Common Core State Standards are aligned to high-stakes testing that closes schools and pushes good teachers out. Of course, many parents have not been happy […]
Student Socialization in Public Schools
Socialization you could say is how a child interacts with their peers. There are many definitions, but in school, socialization mostly involves how children play and get along with each other. We think of recess when considering socialization. We wonder how much socialization children miss when they don’t get recess. Public schools can go a […]
States Lacking Mental Health Services for Kids–And Some Glimmers of Hope
Marcie Lipsitt is a special education activist for children in Michigan, and she sent out a report about the serious loss of services there for children with mental health problems. It’s entitled, “In crisis, mentally ill children forced to wait days or weeks for hospital beds,” and includes the plight of a parent who has […]