Sue's Special Education Blog

You know the saying, "You never get a second chance to make a first impression." This most definitely holds true for the classroom as well. You're about to make your first impression to your students and one thing I adhere to is "If you say it, mean it!" For instance, when it comes to discipline never use idle threats, for example: "If you don't stop talking you'll miss recess." Therefore, if the talking doesn't stop, recess must be missed. Always remember to mean what you say and say what you mean. Keep your expectations high, if not, how can you expect students to rise to meet them? And most of all, my favorite habit is to be fair but be firm.

For setting up classroom rules, determining consequences, handling all behavior types, dealing with parents, and using some great ice breaker worksheets, be sure to see 'Back to School Central'

Go slowly. With physicians prescribing drugs for drugs for ADD/ADHD, depression, bipolar disorder, panic disorder, vitamin D deficiency, iron deficiency, lack of fluoride, calcium deficiency, recurrent ear infections, obsessive compulsive disorder, autism, conduct disorder and anorexia, it is really important to do the research and be well informed about the choices of medications and their potential side effects. Just because adults are taking some of these drugs, doesn't necessarily mean children should be taking them.
See the Boston Globe's full article on Go Slow on Medicating Children.

Whether you've been spammed with it or are just surfing the web and you see these amazing ads appealing to you with degree information that almost sounds to good to be true. Well, you know the saying 'If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.' Just like everything else, do you homework and do the research before embarking on a 'fake degree'. Learn how to avoid registering for degrees and diplomas that really have no accreditation or merely lead to a fake diploma.

The US Department of Education provides you with all the resources you need to become more informed. You'll learn how to define diploma mills, picking out scholarship scams and find out whether accreditation is valid. See also, Diploma Mills from our Distant Learning Guide.

A certain amount of being a kid means to be impulsive. However, sometimes impulsivity becomes a an impediment to academic success or other successes for that matter. Knowing when and how to respond to impulsivity is an important life skill that many children need help with. Learning how to quickly assess the impulsive action also helps you to be more equipped with a great response or intervention. Ready to deal with your impulsive child? Read on.....

See also: The Signs of Impulsivity from our ADD Guide.

Even though going back to school signifies the end of the summer holiday, if you embrace it with enthusiasm you'll set yourself up for a great year. Get off to a terrific start this year by embracing the best of the best!

First of all, make sure your classroom is welcoming and that you have a plan in place to greet each student and to learn something about each one of them. Next, be ready to keep your students engaged in the learning process, you'll also need to have plans in place to support students with special needs. And......let's not forget how important it is to work with your students to come up with the classroom code of conduct, rules and consequences to abide by and although you may know what these need to be, it is important to involve the whole class when determining them. Finally, remember to enjoy each and every day, make the best of it and share the never ending willingness to become a lifelong learner.

More on the back to school special.

I was pretty convinced that symptoms of ADD and ADHD tend to lessen as 'more birthdays' occur. My belief here however, was solely based on my nephew who really seemed to outgrow most of his symptoms. Perhaps, I wasn't so far off the mark. New research shows that some of the ADHD symptoms decline during a child's teen years, even though they may not completely disappear. See the full story in the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

See also:

• Checklist to Support the Student with ADD/ADHD
• Signs and Symptoms of ADD/ADHD

You can learn a lot about the reading strategies used when listening to children read. When you understand more about the strategies used, you are much better equipped to help extend their strategies and thus, help them to become a better reader.

For instance, if a child skips the word and reads on, you can have them make sense of it through the context of the rest of the sentence. If they guess at the word, are they using logical, content based guesses? Do they derive meaning from the pictures as they read? Do they use the beginning of the word sounds to sound out a word? Do they self-correct after reading on? Do they know when to ask for help? Try using miscue analysis to help children with their reading strategies. You may also find this checklist to diagnose a struggling reader helpful. Most of all, remember to keep reading an enjoyable activity by showing great enthusiasm while the child reads and by reading enjoyable stories to the child.

This interesting article shares Barack Obama's answers to questions surrounding the main issues in education. Find out where Obama stands on:

• Merit Pay
• Charter Schools
• Early Education
• College Tuition
• After School and Summer Programs
• No Child Left Behind

Although not quite as extensive of a review, you'll also find some statements on John McCain's position on Education. If you're an educator or have children in schools, the lowdown on these sites will provide you with some helpful information to assist you to make an informed decision at election time.

Wright's Law is a definite bookmark for those individuals clearly wishing to understand the laws governing special education in the United States. Regardless of your position, (parent, student, educator, advocate, or attorney), the amount of excellent information and resources will support your legal questions and needs. Their website is accurate, informative and best of all, it's free.

So you think you can teach? Do you know what both teachers, students and parents want in great teaching? I used to think that a lifelong desire to learn, patience and a love of children pretty much summed it up, however, here are the top 10 qualities that make for a great teacher. I'm sure there are more but if you have this going on, you'll go a long way to develop the academic and social life of students.