i heart reading

I'm not going to lie- I am withholding all judgements on the current administration until after the National Book Festival on Sept. 26th.

Say what you want about Laura Bush, but she put on a great event.

This year Mo Willems will be there, along with David Shannon. So excited to hear them again.

Fingers crossed that it will once again be a piece of readers' heaven.




****(Question: Will the jr league still provide the volunteers, or was that just a Laura Bush thing?)

question for you

We're putting together a back-to-school night program for the parents of children who are eligible for special education. We want to make them more comfortable with the process, answer their questions, and help them understand what everything we talk about so fast at the IEP meetings means.

If you were (or are) a parent trying to navigate the world of special education, what would you want to know? What exact terms would you want defined? Would you want a lay out of how your child will receive services? A list of complicated definitions? A list of resources you could go to on your own?

I'd love your thoughts on what we should include!

Thank you :)

the current debate inside my brain

I'm completely finished with my masters program! I found out last week that I passed comps, so as soon as my university puts the paperwork in I am officially finished :)

And yet... I've found myself exploring different programs, looking for what's next. Because deep down, I love taking classes and I love learning new ideas that change the way I look at my teaching.

I'm not sure I want to teach without taking classes, but I also know that I don't want to take classes without teaching. I love my job too much. So, this post is really me just writing out pros and cons that are floating in my head. I don't necessarily recommend reading it unless you are really bored, because, I feel, it's a bit painful.

I found my dream phd program a few months ago, and haven't been able to let the idea of a phd go. The program is at a nearby private university, and is a special education phd program, but puts an emphasis on neuroscience. Reading the course requirements makes me giddy (I know, I am a huge dork). The brain and early development. The brain and learning disabilities. The brain and attachment. I want to soak up that knowledge. I NEED to soak up that knowledge.

Then I saw how much the university courses cost. $1,450 per credit hour. CREDIT HOUR. Two of my masters classes = 1 CREDIT HOUR. I cried. I can't even take the intro class for fun to see if I'd like it.

So I kept looking at other phd programs. I can't continue at the same university I did my masters because the phd program is only at their main campus, two hours away. My advisor tried to talk me into it- saying I just rent an apartment there, take Tuesday/Thursday classes and live in the two towns while I'm working on it. This is what she did. I didn't want to tell her, but that does not sound like fun. I really like my husband. I don't want to be away from him three days a week. This time-before-babies is fun- I don't want to waste our young years driving back and forth to another town.

Plus, I love my job. I'm not sure I can give up my job to do a phd full time.

There is another university here and my neighbor is actually working on her phd in education there. We go for long walks so I can soak up what she's studying. So it's a possibility. But the required courses don't make me cry with joy like my dream program. But I'd finish with a phd, I could teach full time, and I could live at home without robbing a bank. All good things.

Then I found two different programs that offer the courses my dream program offers. One is a year long masters program at Harvard on the brain and learning, and the other is a 15 credit certificate course on the brain and learning at another slightly-nearby university. So I'd get the learning and the knowledge I am craving. One would involve living in Cambridge for a year, which I'm not sure Mr. Lipstick and I want to do. My husband is a southern boy and has honestly been complaining that the summer here isn't hot enough. The other is a possibility, but while it would quench my thirst for neurology-education, it would be spending a lot of money on quenching that thirst, and not enabling me to do anything I can't already do, like one day, down the line, teaching college courses in education.

So, do I want the knowledge (yes) and the enjoyment of taking classes because I love taking classes? (yes, I am a dork)

What if that means spending a lot of money on a program that is just "for fun" while it is taking funds away from a future phd program?

Do I want to start a phd program that will give me knowledge (but not the knowledge I really want to geek out over) that will one day make it possible for me to do something outside the classroom, or in combination with teaching?

I love teaching and don't see myself ever wanting to do something else. I want knowledge that will make me a better teacher- better at doing exactly what I'm hired to do now. I'd love to be able to pick up extra income, one day down the line, teaching night courses, or perhaps take a year or two off to do research- but ultimately I want more education to make me better at my job. Is that worth spending all of this money?

Welcome inside my head. It hurts, I know, going round and round like this. Luckily we go back to school on the 27th and I wont have time to sit around all day by the pool thinking about the pros and cons of my future education.

reading, reformed theology, public schools, & scary masks

Today the Presby-geek and the Edu-geek in me merged in a beautiful celebration of public schools. We celebrated John Calvin's 500th birthday in church (this involved very scary Calvin masks handed out to little children- I may have nightmares that I'm being chased down the church hallways by three-foot old men with long beards and holes where they eyes should be). My pastor shared the impact John Calvin had, not just on Reformed Theology, but on education in general. Calvin had a desire for everyone to be able to read the Bible for themselves, but hit a wall with his effort because only the wealthy elite could read. So, he began the first public schools in Geneva, Switzerland in order to teach everyone, not just the upper class, to read.

Beautiful, isn't it? Reading for the masses! Educating the public! Regardless of his religious intentions, I always love a story that involves making reading accessible to everyone.

to be held in one's mind

Now that I have time to read anything and everything I've been browsing my way through books on various education topics that I wanted to read throughout the year but couldn't find the time. One book I picked up is Attachment Theory in Clinical Work with Children edited by David Oppenheim and Douglas Goldsmith (2007). It's really a collection of research articles, or research reports intended to be read by counselors to help with their clinical practice. Even so, it's given me a greater understanding of attachment disorder, and I've picked up some ideas here and there that I think will benefit my little ones.

One of the simple interventions that stuck with me is the importance of letting children know you think about them even when they are not around, or "being held in one's mind". Goldsmith writes, "The comfort and delight of being held in mind provide a critical human connection that produces a sense of safety and containment for the child. Such an experience is a critical building block that leads to the development of a secure base..." It lets our children know they are worthy of care and for our little ones with attachment disorder it chips away at their inner working model of their self, which usually tells them they are not worthy.

It's so simple- telling a child, "this weekend I saw a cardinal, and I thought about the story you wrote about the red bird!" or, "WOW! I thought about you last night during the thunder storm. I can't wait to see what you write about it today!" Debbie Miller suggested occasionally leaving books for children on their desks with a sticky note that says "I thought you'd love this book!" It's something I love doing because I delight in watching the children's delight in getting a recommendation note.

I think it's something we naturally do- letting the children know we think of them, but also something that we forget to mention when we get busy. Or, for me, it's harder to do for the child that's already pushing my buttons from the moment he walks in the door, even though he's probably the child who needs it the most.

I love knowing that something so simple- letting our children know they are "being held in one's mind" can be a part of building them up. When we're frustrated and feeling we're not making headway, it's good to remember these little pieces are slowly chipping away.

outside the think tank

On my "Hike Colorado By Day but Eat, Drink and Sleep in Nice Places By Night" tour I met a couple of parents who have children with special needs. As I listened to them talk about their struggles with teachers and how they watched their children begin to like school less and less I'd find myself offering suggestions for what the teachers could try with their child (I know! I couldn't help it- I don't know the kid, I could be making it worse!). The parents would throw their hands in the air, or bang on the table, saying, "EXACTLY! We just wanted the school to listen to who our child is!"

Trust me, I know that we can't modify our instruction to meet every child's needs, but my suggestions were small- ones that at my school we'd do for any child, without thinking twice. The idea of trying to force a square kid into a round hole sounds painful for everyone involved- the teacher, the parents, the other students, and especially for the child.

I love that I work in a think-tank- where it's not about any one person being a better teacher, or having perfect lessons. It's about putting our heads together to find the right solutions-as a team- for our students. I love the creativity we get to have on the job- how working together with the "well, what if..." allows us to try new ways of looking at our kids and our teaching. Our parents have complaints about us- they wouldn't be human not to- but I have never heard them complain that we aren't working hard enough for their child, or that we don't know their child.

I'm on to you

As we prepared for take off on my flight out to Denver the flight attendant stopped by our row of seats to give her safety speech.

"Would you help me?" she asked, "Will you hold these for me?" and she distributed her props- the seat belt, oxygen mask, etc to the seats around us.

As I held the oxygen mask and paid attention to the security talk for maybe the first time ever it occurred to me that this is exactly what I do to encourage the more rambunctious children to pay attention. Give them something to hold under the auspicious of "helping me" in order to encourage them to pay attention.

Hmmmm.... I don't know if I feel tricked or if I'm just impressed at the flight attendant's airplane management strategies.