Tag Archives: school

A Shout Out to All the Great Teachers

Photo by radina grancharova I want to give a shout out to all the good teachers that make up our public school system. So often we only hear about or talk about the “bad” seeds. This is especially true in the city where I live, Milwaukee. The school district has a bad reputation. But this past week I have been very impressed with my 17-year-old son’s English teacher who has decided that teaching is about more than just earning a paycheck, it is about inspiring her students. While my son is incredibly smart and never studies for tests, yet gets … Continue reading →

Middle School Can Be Brutal

Middle school can be just brutal. And the funny thing is I always thought it was worse for girls. But my daughter is about to officially end her middle school years in just a couple of weeks. Although it hasn’t been problem-free, it has certainly been much better for her than it has been for my boys. I tend to think it is the fact she stayed in a K-8 school, while my boys went to middle schools. I could be wrong but all I know is that I will be glad when the next two years are over with. … Continue reading →

Tips For A Better School Year

A new school year is starting. Are you ready? For families of students with special needs, getting ready for a new school year involves more than buying new shoes, and gathering up school supplies. It also involves a partnership between parents, teachers, and school administrators. As a former teacher, who has worked in classrooms designed to meet the needs of children who had a variety of special needs, I thought I would share some advice that can help your child have a great school year. While some kids cannot wait for the new school year to start, this is often … Continue reading →

Before Asperger’s Syndrome

One of my brothers has Asperger’s Syndrome. He was not diagnosed until after he became an adult. He is now in his 30’s. Not as much about Asperger’s Syndrome, autism, or the autism spectrum was recognized or understood then, compared with what we know now. Most people today have at least heard the term Asperger’s Syndrome before. When my brother was a child, people thought he was odd, but did not have any context to explain why he was so different from other kids his age. I think most of our family realized that something about my brother was atypical … Continue reading →

Impress Your Teachers

For better or for worse I’m around a lot of teachers this time of the year (and throughout the coming year). This is the time when most teachers are preparing their courses. They sit and create outlines. They type up their syllabi. They consult the required textbooks for the course they are about to teach. In all of this preparation (something that most take very seriously) there is an underlying anxiety that is manifested from horror stories and past experiences of teaching. This anxiety is expressed normally as a joke to lessen the sense of unease these teachers feel as … Continue reading →

BIC School Supply Giveaway

Very soon the kids will be going back to school. You will have to make your annual trip to the store with their school supply list in hand and buy them all of those “essentials” that are on the list. Just in the nick of time BIC is here to help some lucky winners. Fifteen winners, to be exact, will win a BIC prize package that will contain some very handy school supplies for your child to use in school and at home. This prize pack will include markers, correction tape, pens, pencils, highlighters and other great and handy BIC … Continue reading →

Being Balanced with Teen’s Grades

One of the things that I strive really hard for in parenting is to be balanced. I don’t claim to be perfect. In fact, I am far from it. However, I do make every effort I can to make sure things are fair and balanced. I think this has more to do with my own childhood. In some areas my parents weren’t very strict, like with my grades at school but then in other areas, they were over the top strict. An example would be telling me what I could go to college for. When I announced the field I … Continue reading →

Talk to your Profs

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There’s a little known fact about doing well in school. It has nothing to do with studying or re-reading or writing or any of the normal things one might be inclined to do the night before a big test or large assignment. And despite what you might be accused of (schmoozing) or being (“teacher’s pet”) it doesn’t really have anything to do with those terms either. The simple fact is this: talk to your teachers. Today I had the great pleasure of having a reason to speak with my professors. Since we are out of the regular term and prior … Continue reading →

Sleep and Habit Forming

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This last week I’ve been setting my alarm clock a little earlier than normal. My attempt was to be up by five in the morning each weekday in order to work on the various writing projects I need to work on over the summer (in addition to the reading). I’ve been thwarted, however, by exhaustion. My wife and our son have been sick during the past weeks and apparently it was Dad’s turn. So my nose runs, I have a cough, there are headaches and droopy eyes. I don’t know why I intended to get up at five in the … Continue reading →

Final Presentation

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I just finished a day where I had to give two 20 minute presentations over two topics in one day. This was an interesting project for me because I really like to give personal presentations without notes or specifically written down arguments in order to let those listening influence my presentation held together by the forward progress of selected slides. On a day when one presentation determined my ability to continue as a doctoral student there was no room for error (Don’t worry, I passed). I’ve never so fully planned out and plotted a presentation before. One of the things … Continue reading →