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Working in the school system, I often hear children being asked, “Don’t you know any better?” or “Why didn’t you make a better choice?” These questions are usually met with a confused expression. Then these children look at the ceiling or the floor, searching for a response that won’t get them deeper into trouble. The truth is that there are a lot of children who don’t know better. They have often made the best choice they could, given the information, skills, and resources they had a …

After a long and grueling school year, many teachers enter the summer feeling as if they have poured every bit of their soul into their students, only to enter their summer vacation feeling defeated and exhausted. Typically, I spend the first two weeks of summer sleeping in as late as possible and just getting back to ground zero. I find this two-week period is essential to the productivity of the rest of my summer. After I have caught back up on sleep and not thought about the classroom fo …

H-E-L-P. Four simple letters, yet one of the most difficult words in the English language to say.  From a young age, children are told to “shake it off”, “let it go”, or “get over it”, when they experience minor physical or emotional pain. These messages can come from parents, teachers, coaches, siblings and friends. But what do these messages really teach our children? Do they model compassion? Do they make them feel valued? Do they help them feel supported, safe and protected? …

Excerpts taken from full article originally featured in Teach Magazine.Consider this: You are driving in traffic, it starts raining, and you can barely see in front of you. Your music is blasting so you turn it down to focus on driving. Your brain can only process so much sensory input at a time. In this scenario, your visual and auditory sensory systems are overloaded so you eliminate one (auditory) to focus on the other. This is what is it like for someone with autism who has difficulty …

Two kids + 1 bottle of bubbles = BIG problem! Sound familiar?I watched from across the driveway as my granddaughters went at it! My first instinct was to go into the house and pull out another bottle of the bubbles that was stashed in the closet, then both girls could each have their own. Boy, am I glad I didn’t do that! A few minutes later, my son stepped in… “Hey girls, that’s enough. I think this bottle of bubbles wants both of you to have a turn. Let’s compromise and flip a co …