When I was a middle school special education teacher, I taught ELA[English Language Arts] and Social Studies. My students were black and Hispanic adolescents who were burdened with the stigma of special needs diagnoses. A group of youth who were raging bodies of pure hormone intoxication, their ‘normal’ behavior, like most kids their age, was difficult to manage on most days. My students […]
Monthly Archives: November 2016
Why It’s Important to ‘Belong’
Belonging is the feeling that one is respected and valued in a given context. Research shows that students are more likely to be motivated, engaged, resilient, and successful if they feel like they belong in school. When people are uncertain about their belonging, they search for cues to help them determine if they fit […]
Ladder of Inference and 2 More Integrative Thinking Tools
LADDER OF INFERENCE The ladder of inference is a model for decision making behavior developed by Harvard professors Chris Argyris and Donald Schoen. Essentially, it helps students slow down and realize which data they are taking into account when they make a decision and how the data they choose is informed by their past experiences. […]
A Nation Divided: Talking Race in America’s Schools
Current statistics indicate that the racial diversity of our national demographic, by the year 2020, there will be more black and brown people than whites in America. The traditional, established ‘majority’ will soon become the ‘minority’ group. That speaks volumes, and statistically alone, there will be changing of the guard, so to speak. Since there […]
