Auditory Processing

Many people ask me about auditory processing: what is it? How can you help? Is it really important to pay attention to? and more. Lynn Carahaly is speaking at LMA, Thurs. May 1 for free :) and she has a recent article posted in Family Talk Magazine that addresses these questions well. For more information on her presentation on May 1, you can contact school at (616)464-3330.

Monitoring Auditory Processing by Lynn Carahaly

RTI Network is Up and Running

RTI, or Response to Intervention, is one of the newest buzzes in the education world, both regular ed and special ed. It is a tiered system designed to better support struggling learners in schools. While I do agree with better interventions and using research-based methods, I do not always agree with the implementation of RTI. One of my largest issues is that even at the simplest level it seems to me to be unbalanced for students with learning disabilities. There are many research-based methods for reading interventions and I do agree that there should be better documentation and less delay of helping struggling students earlier. But, what about math interventions? Where is the support and research for the interventions regarding listening, speaking and/or social skills?

Even so, there is a new initiative designed to provide education and resources for those who want to, or need to, learn more about RTI. Many organizations came together to provide this resource and, while I haven't checked out the whole site thoroughly, this is an issue of great importance and I am excited to see such an initiative out there.

RTINetwork.org is the online home of the RTI Action Network, a national initiative dedicated to the responsible and effective implementation of Response to Intervention (RTI). This Web site provides the information and tools educators and families need to help each child succeed.

For more, check it out at RTINetwork.org.

Perception and Reality

Out of Mouths of Babes

Okay, maybe not babes, but middle school children anyway. This week, one of our parents subbed for a sick teacher and at lunch she told me she had an Out of the Mouths of Babes story she just had to share. She was right - she had to share it and so do I. Perception can be a funny, funny thing - and can come from who-knows-where!

As she was getting ready that morning, she was looking for something to wear and was debating about wearing a skirt. She apparently had this debate out-loud as when she added the "because I might have to shave my legs" her son, who is in my middle school class, told her to "Just do what Mrs. Barto does".

At this point I was more than intrigued, because I was quite positive that I have never talked about shaved or unshaven legs of mine or otherwise in either history or English class, to which he explained: "Just wear tall boots. Tall, leather boots like Mrs. Barto does".

Well, status of my legs withstanding, I was fascinated by his take on my fashion choices. Reality and comprehension are based on perception, and (apparently) perception can come from lots of different thought patterns! Out of the Mouths of Babes indeed......

Resources for Sensory Integration

I was creating a resource tonight for our parents at school on sensory integration resources and decided to post them here as well. I haven't read all of the books, but I have found everything else to be helpful with my daughter and my students. I was at a meeting a few weeks ago with an OT coordinator that specializes in sensory issues who was amazing! One of the parts that I found most fascinating was the distinction between the kids who are tactile-needy and those who are tactile-defensive. I am looking for my notes presently and when I find them, they will be next up on the blog queue!

On the Web

* From Lindsey Biel, OTR/L and Nancy Peske (Raising a Sensory Smart Child)
o Sensory Diet Activities for Home and Away
o Tips for Helping Your Child with Sensory Problems
o Toys, Equipment and Gifts for Kids with Sensory Issues
o Seasonal Tips for Cabin Fever



Books
This is a list of books that I'd formed so far, but rather than take the time to link them all again, here is the link to one of the pages I created originally. Literacy of Teaching has links to all of these. Enjoy!

* The Out of Sync Child: Recognizing and Coping with Sensory Processing Disorder by Kranowitz
* The Out of Sync Child Has Fun: Activities for Kids with Sensory Processing Disorder by Kranowitz
* Sensational Kids: Hope and Help for Children with Sensory Processing Disorder by Miller & Fuller
* The Sensory-Sensitive Child: Practical Solutions for Out Of Bounds Behavior by K. Smith
* Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight: What to do if you are Sensory Defensive in an Overstimulating World by Heller
* Sensory Smarts: A Book for Kids With ADHD or Autism Spectrum Disorders Struggling with Sensory Integration Problems by Chara, Chara, Chara and Berns
* Helping Hyperactive Kids - A Sensory Integration Approach: Techniques and Tips for Parents and Professionals by Horowitz
o Many of the activities in this book and the illustrations are geared toward small children, but the information is applicable to older ages as well!
* Raising a Sensory Smart Child: The Definitive Handbook for Helping Your Child with Sensory Integration Issues by Biel and Peske
* the highly sensitive child: Helping Our Children Thrive When the World Overwhelms Them by Aron
* Raising Your Spirited Child: A Guide for Parents Whose Child is More Intense, Sensitive, Perceptive, Persistent and Energetic by Kurcinka


Some of our Favorite Products


* Weighted Blankets
My daughter and I found a lap-size blanket at Viking Fitness that is surface washable, but it is also microwavable! We warm it up before bed and lay it over her as she's been tucked in to help her calm her body enough to go to sleep. Love it! (P.S. This picture is from Viking's website, it's not my daughter)


* Theraputty
o A good fidget for stretching, pulling or rubbing (tactile stimulation).

* Water Bottles
Our OT told us that sucking is one of the most balancing activities our students can do throughout the day. This works with hard candy, but water is also a powerful restorative, so we ask them all to bring water bottles.

Blogs About Best Practices

As I wandered the internet this evening, I found a few postings about what should be considered best practices. They are at the very least, good teaching. I thought I'd collect a few here:

An excerpt from Social Studies: Sharpening the Saw

The more I read about scientific studies on the brain and neurolearning, the more clear it becomes that the public schools need to bring more “right -brained” thinking skills into the classroom next to the traditional analysis, application and comprehension activities. We need to integrate synthesis, metaphors, analogies, alinear exercises and visual models with traditional methods in order to maximize student learning.

This social studies teacher uses what she calls "DBQ"'s or Daily Board Questions to prompt the thinking of her students. Imagine, a world where students are prompted to think and take time to discuss rather than plow through a pre-determined amount of content so that two or three objectives could be checked off at the end of the week.

an excerpt from Generation YES: The art of being an unreasonable educator

The problem is that by being reasonable, educators pre-compromise themselves out of strong, defendable positions. Project-based learning is a strong position to come from. There is research on how to do it, why to do it, and lots of examples of success. But by compromising even before you get to the negotiation, you lose out. You have lost your ability to create conditions of success, and you have lost your negotiating power.

Most likely when you get to the actual planning, the people you thought would be impressed by your reasonableness stun you by not appreciating it at all. They want MORE compromise. In your eyes, they are unreasonable. You’ve already compromised (in your head) and now there’s no more to give. How come they get to be unreasonable when you’ve worked so hard before the meeting even started? It’s not fair!

You must practice the art of being unreasonable.

Okay, so I feel that I can easily say that I practice the art of being unreasonable daily -just ask my husband (just kidding). Last week, my history class presented their Culture Exhibits (see last posting for examples), my English class worked to wrap up "filming" of a news conference for the characters in My Side of the Mountain, my Biology class updated their data for their independent experiments and our junior high math lab continued their planning for their Rocketry Challenge. And, even better, I got an A+ for my un-reasonableness!

excerpt from Eide Neurolearning Blog: Music, Your Brain and Attention

For many students (and non-students too), music is activating and seems to help with attention and as well as getting tasks done. We know many time-blind people who become more time-aware with music, but because our brains change with what we do with it, the work of listening might really help us with the ease of listening in the long rung, too. So maybe instead of saying, "Stop listening to your music, and do your homework!", it may be better for us to say, "Start listening to your music, so you can do your homework!"

We are just looking into Listening Therapy for our daughter for her auditory processing and sensory integration. We are also looking at the program at school for our students. This month has been a month of auditory processing and executive functions research for me and this is a topic that comes up consistently - how types of music can help "re-program" the brain. I know that when I was finishing ed school and when I was pregnant for my daughters there was a lot of articles about the Mozart effect and how it makes kids smarter. I don't know that it truly makes them smarter, but I do think that it can certainly help the brain work more efficiently. I tend to think of it as something that can't hurt anyone, but can help so many.

Barto Earned an "A+"

Valentine's Day
I can't really say that Valentine's Day is my favorite in-school holiday and this year, with two classes of middle school girls mostly, that remains true! However, in addition to our Valentine Celebration we had two other events, one was a student organized talent show (about which I am sure I will have more to say later) and a Culture Fair put on by my middle school History class.


Culture Fair
This was our first Culture Fair, and apparently, for many of my 7 exhibitors this was their first time really exhibiting their work. Each student chose a culture we have studied this unit to present in a small exhbit on their desk top. Not a surprise to me, we had only Maya and Aztec represented, because who can resist a good temple or sacrifice right? For two weeks, students worked in class and at home to design a visual display, an artifact and a written presentation. They needed to find something that would make a good desk cover and they needed to be prepared to man their exibits for 30 minutes for walk-through exhibitors.

As I went to bed last night, I was telling my husband that I was hoping that no one was disappointed today. We used a small portion of our classroom for the display, there was no stage, no glitz or glamour. These were truly student made projects, not parent made, or ordered online kits. These were true planning and problem solving projects: sugar cube temples; corn-fields of painted drinking straws; craft stick and modeling clay huts . . . and the most amazing part for me, these were projects by learners who often struggle with sequencing, planning, problem solving and expressive language, not to mention anxiety of "performing" in front of their peers, forget parents, students, teachers and grandparents! And it was wonderful!!!!! The only disappointment was for those who had to wait for an opening at the exhibit they wanted to visit next or the researcher who had a lull in the action as visitors were at other exhibits.

Each of my researchers had to explain their project many times and field questions. They had to fluctuate between communicating with people they knew and people they didn't know. They also had the opportunity to explain their work to an audience of more than me and earn some appreciation in addition to a grade. I have heard that it takes 7 positive statements to make up for 1 negative statement. Today, I was proud and humbled that our Culture Fair was able to make up for a lot of negative feedback that some of my students have received in the past in regards to their performance and output abilities! I was proud that my students were proud of themselves! I was thrilled that my students got to see that their work matters to more than just me or their own mom and dad! I was gratified to know that my students know that they are part of a learning community! On top of all these proud moments today, one of our dads stopped by me on his way out the door and very quietly let me know that he thought I got the A+ today for what our Culture Fair did for our students' learning and, more importantly, for their self-esteem.

If Valentine's Day is about caring and warming the heart, then I suppose I did change my mind some. I really did enjoy this in-school Valentine's Day after all. . . . . .

Samplings of Our Exhibits (Enjoy!)

Musings on Executive Functions

Executive Functions

The term executive function describes a set of cognitive abilities that control and regulate other abilities and behaviors. Executive functions are necessary for goal-directed behavior. They include the ability to initiate and stop actions, to monitor and change behavior as needed, and to plan future behavior when faced with novel tasks and situations. Executive functions allow us to anticipate outcomes and adapt to changing situations. The ability to form concepts and think abstractly are often considered components of executive function.

- from Encyclopedia of Mind Disorders


Our theme of study this year for our staff and educational presentations has been executive functions. Today in the Teacher's Lounge, a colleague and I were reliving the morning while laughing and crying - without tears- as we discussed what was basically the executive functioning (and/or dysfunctioning) of our current students. We ended the discussion with the light-hearted plan of creating a documentary titled something like The 100 Reasons You Should Care About Executive Functioning.

This evening, I was reading Winnie the Pooh's Valentine with my daughter and, after I stopped enjoying the vocabulary like "enthralled" and "plummeted" and after Rabbit needed a wheelbarrow to "consult" his thick dictionary, I realized that Pooh and his gang are often examples of executive functions - and why they are important.....

In this adventure for example, Pooh was tacking up felt hearts in "all the most strategic places" and had remembered that Owl had explained that strategic places meant
"the places where things were sure to be in the way and, therefore, attract the most attention. At least, that's how Pooh remembered Owl explaining it, which, as far as he was concerned, made it as true as if Owl had actually said it just that way . . ."


Memory and attention . . . . . hmmmm.... then, as Pooh was contemplating his handiwork [monitoring his own actions!], Roo came in to ask Pooh a question. In standard Pooh-fashion, there was some miscommunication for a page or two as they worked through that - problem solving at its best!

It turned out that Roo's dilemma was that he wanted to give a valentine to his mom and didn't know how. Pooh however, being a bear of little brain but lots of executive functions, knew that they would be able to figure it out. Pooh was faced with a novel situation and adapted!

His solution, of course, was to gather all of the other great brains of the Hundred Acre Wood for a brainstorming session. During this session, Piglet first identified the most important thing about a valentine - defining the concept.

A valentine must say 'I love you'! Definitely important. Then Rabbit, being the highly functioning Brain that he is, continued defining their concept with the important point that, since 'I love you' are "the most important words one person can say to another, . . . . a valentine should say them in as many different ways as possible". Looking ahead - great planning Rabbit!

After much gathering of tools and teamwork, Roo had his valentine: a giant boulder that Gopher had chiseled into a heart shape, Tigger had painted (orange with black stripes of course) and that Roo wrote I LOVE YOU on in his best handwriting. Then came Rabbit's thick dictionary brought down the hill in the wheelbarrow. Great planning on Rabbit's part, the dictionary I mean. Anyway, Rabbit's dictionary allowed him to include all of the important phrases that mean I love you, such as "Kiss me good night" and "Do your homework" and "Eat your vegetables" - perhaps the self-talk feature such as "does that make sense?" was not working effectively there.....

All of the team is quite impressed with their impressive creation, until little Roo asks what I call the EFT (Executive Functions Trainer)question: "How am I going to get this to my mother?".

This is when I started laughing and laughing, because it reminded me so much of the students who wanted to make a diorama of an island by building the whole volcano first and the city inside it later (oops, couldn't fit our hands in anymore let alone would we be able to see the city....) or the child who occasionally puts on his shoes and then realizes that he only has one sock on...... talk about planning and anticipating outcomes!

Now, just in case you are worried about poor Roo's valentine, never fear! Eeyore points out that they had one way of doing a valentine. Pooh is thrilled with Eeyore's observation (so full of encouragement is our Pooh, which takes everyone else by surprise because it takes quite a bit of processing to truly find those effective alternatives, but Pooh points out that if there was one way of doing a valentine, then there must be a "two way" because "one does not, after all, mean only. It means the something before the next thing. . . ". Pooh is applying his skills to adapt to the changing situation!

Having processed all of this information and observing everyone else's behaviors and decisions, Roo realizes what the "next thing" is and is able to apply that knowledge independently in his own way. Roo gives his mom a beautiful bunch of colorful wildflowers.

He was also able to verbalize his processing (another high level skill). He explains that his flowers are good valentine because they say "I love you", and, since they are all different kinds, they say 'I love you' "in lots of different ways". And, since the flowers were small and he is small, they were the "most impressive" valentine he could carry all by himself. What a thinker that Roo is!

During our discussion in the Teacher's Lounge, I know that I made the statement that I have to admit that I am glad that our students do need some training in executive functions, etc.... because that's one form of job security for us. More importantly, it ensures that my days are never boring and that I often receive the reward of seeing growth during my time with them (various degrees of growth and various lengths of time, but still, evident growth most of the time). That reward is a huge part of why I do what I do; but, the next time I feel that I am shaking my head and thinking "why, why, why?" or "how does that work up in that head exactly", I can now remember (after a few deep breaths I'm sure) that I can rest assured. If the crew in the Hundred Acre can always pull through, we can too!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

The Power of Words

I found an old notebook I used to collect quotes in and thought I'd just post some of those (and some newer ones) today. I tried to give credit to those who originally penned these words and apologize if I missed crediting anyone who lent me the power of their words!

"Our greatest national resource is the minds of our children."
— Walt Disney

"Throughout history the exemplary teacher has never been just an instructor in a subject; he is nearly always its living advertisement."
— Michael Dirda

". . the humanities encourage the development of our own humanity. They are our instruments of self-exploration."
— Michael Dirda

". . if you are given lined paper, write crosswise. At least occassionally."
— Michael Dirda

". . . there's no use trying to live in other people's opinions. The only thing to do is live in your own."
— Emily in Emily Climbs by L.M. Montgomery

"Remember that "Help us grow this grass" is a far more effective sign than "Keep off the grass"."
— Norman Vincent Peale

"Children need models more than they need critics."
- Joseph Joubert

Faces by Jess Moss in The Other Side of the Door
There are millions of kids in the world,
all with two eyes, one nose and a mouth
And of those millions of faces, no two are exactly alike.
You'd think that by now there'd be no way left to put together
eyes and noses and mouths to make faces that
are different from any other face
But that's what's amazing is that there will keep on being
millions and millions of different ways forever
And no two faces will ever be exactly the same.

There are millions and millions of kids in the world - each with one brain. No two are exactly alike and no two ever will be....... (this part was all me :)).

A Parent's Journey: Part II

Part one of this journey was posted in August of last year and was What We Do For Our Daughter and the Evaluation Process. I realize I haven't been very timely in updating this journey, such is the life of a teacher/mother/Fibromyalgia fighter.

Anyway, we have completed the Evaluation and have entered the phase of "Addressing the Needs of our Child". This is a phase that will be never-ending and I imagine cyclical at times as she grows out and back into certain needs, etc... The cliff-notes of the past few months are:

The Insurance Company
We received the form letter in response to my letter that explained where to find the codes that explained how these decisions are made, etc... Basically, what I expected.

The Evaluation
We did not have our daughter evaluated through the school because she was not really showing much evidence of her struggles at school enough yet and I wanted a comprehensive eval not one that had to focus on what they would be able to support her with at school. We went through a center that is newly formed in our area and one I highly recommend to anyone in the West Michigan area. They're website is www.brainspotential.com.

Knowing the evaluators (by reputation and reports) and having a high professional opinion of them helped alleviate some of my own anxiety, but not all. I don't know that that's entirely possible when you are turning over your child, even for a short time to someone else. Once they put on paper their conclusions, it became permanent. That is a scary thought. I had to remember that I had faith in these people and enough of my own professional expertise to ensure that the report would be an accurate description of my daughter.

As I said, the people at BRAINS are wonderful and we received a comprehensive evaluation and my daughter was comfortable throughout the evaluation! In fact, she was playing around with the evaluator and I felt good leaving because I knew that he would see her for the precocious, loving little wonder she was and that she had been playing - not saying no and being defiant. . . but I digress.....

The short version of the eval was: Auditory Processing Disorder, Sensory Integration Disorder and Generalized Anxiety. No ADD (which is what I thought but feared would be the stop-point) and no dyslexia (at this time).

Again, I feel blessed that I have been called always to work in the field I work in and to be good at what I do. I have a multitude of resources and information available to me - BUT I continue to be amazed at how challenging it can be for me with all of those benefits!! We started with the sensory piece and have been working with trying to even out the sleeping patterns. We have again been fortunate with her teacher and current school situation. She is in a 1st-3rd grade montessori classroom which provides the structure and movement she needs as well as an appropriate level of sensory stimulus.

Steps Down the Path
My first step was to read through the report a few times and I highlighted or jotted down kind of an outline of important things/phrases I needed to remember. What my daughter did well with versus things that were challenging.

After discussing my thoughts with my husband (and my friend at school) I shared the results of the eval with her teacher and took with me my notes that covered what I thought were the main points for understanding my daughter (as a learner). I asked her teacher if she had seen any struggles with these things at school after pointing out some things that we had noticed at home. Her teacher was wonderful and open to information and strategies as needed. We discussed her reading which was coming along well. Her teacher had noticed some of the auditory mis-cues, but they hadn't been creating a big problem in the classroom. Neither of us felt that we needed to seek support services through the school system at this time. WHEW!!!

Sensory Another highly recommended stop in Western Michigan is Viking Fitness! They are awesome - and their center is a great place to start for sensory tools. We found a weighted blanket that can also be heated in the microwave which we use at bedtime - very soothing! We also found some excellent fidget tools and exercise bands. I purchased some chew tube for her and for some students at school and we are looking into a hammock like swing to hang in our basement for the vestibular stimulation.

Next stop: the health store for some liquid melatonin. Our pediatrician recommended checking dosages recommended at the AAP site, though I have to admit that I had a hard time finding a good source. We have seen that this helps her sleep at night, though it is more successful with 1) a regular bedtime routine and 2) the weighted blanket. We've also worked with yoga for kids and remind her to practice her breathing when she's thinking she can't sleep (which can still be almost every night sometimes - I wish my husband and I were more in sync with administering the melatonin).

Next, we've tried to work in regular physical stimulation for her each day. Deep pressure with tickling or wrestling, rolling an exercise ball over her, using the electric massager or kicking a standing punching bag. She also likes to jump around on a gym mat which she got for Christmas. For vestibular, we're looking for a swing, she likes to do somersaults and we have an exercise ball she rolls around on. She also likes to sit on a wiggle seat at the dinner table, though she often likes to sit on it on her knees with the pointier side up... to each his own....

We're still trying to find a good balance for strategies when she gets overloaded, but she now has her own "quiet room" which is a small closet in the hall by her room. There's a lamp and a beanbag in there now. Her "private" belongings that she doesn't want her sister to mess with and some books. It's small with low lighting and she can basically de-stimulate herself in there when she needs and feels like she has something that just she controls (for the most part) so it also addresses her anxiety. It's awesome really.

At this point in the school year, her reading was At Grade Level on her report card and will more than likely be Above next quarter (she's gone from struggling with c-a-t in the fall to reading just about anything put in front of her). We are at the point where we are getting ready to tackle more of the auditory processing, especially since her physical hearing seems to be intact but she has trouble with processing what she hears - especially on the phone! So, next stop: evaluating therapies and interventions for auditory processing.

Building Literacy One Book at a Time

I'm not always huge on Award Winning Books with my students, because they can sometimes be too thick or require too much inference for my reluctant readers; BUT, thanks to our gift of snow days this year, I have stumbled across the Schneider Family Book Awards though and am excited! The Schneider Awards which:

". . . honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences. . . . . The book must emphasize the artistic expression of the disability experience for children and/or adolescent audiences. It must portray some aspect of living with a disability or that of a friend or family member, whether the disability is physical, mental or emotional." [Teenreads.com]


Some of the picks I have added to my Need to Read List are:
o (2007 Teen) Hurt Go Happy by Ginny Rorby From School Library Journal
Grade 6-9–Joey Willis is deaf, and her mother won't allow her to learn American Sign Language. Her isolated existence is turned upside down, however, when she meets her elderly neighbor, Dr. Charles Mansell, and his sign-language-using chimpanzee, Sukari. Against her mother's wishes, Joey begins to learn to sign, and Charlie, whose parents were deaf, opens her eyes to a future filled with possibilities. When he dies, Sukari's fate is left in Joey's hands. Rorby has clearly done her research. From the dialogue gaps that allow youngsters to share the frustration even a skilled lip reader feels, to a brutal scene in a chimp-filled research facility, the wealth of details support but, unfortunately, often overwhelm the story. The tale is so dense that many plot threads are abruptly abandoned, and the narrative skips ahead at random intervals. Laden with issues–parent-child relationships, the treatment of research animals, and child abuse (Joey's deafness is the result of a beating by her father)–the book often gets bogged down in its own seriousness. However, the writing shines when Rorby focuses on what is obviously her true passion: Sukari and the fate of chimpanzees like her.–Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, MD [Amazon.com]

o (2006 Middle School) My Thirteenth Winter: A Memoir, written by Samantha Abeel and published by Orchard Books, a division of Scholasticis the winner of the teen book. The book was chosen for its honest and sensitive portrayal of the author’s youth as she struggles with dyscalculia, a learning disability in mathematics. The syndrome also affects one’s ability to perform simple tasks, such as telling time or following directions. Abeel’s diagnosis at age 13 helped her and her family make sense of why she excelled in literature but didn’t know what change to expect when buying groceries. She shares her gift of language in this compelling memoir. [ALA]

In Memoriam of an Inspirational Leader

I once had the opportunity to hear an amazing lady speak at what could have been a very boring dinner/awards ceremony - you know how they can be . . . This amazing lady was speaking about teaching students with learning disabilities and her words, though not necessarily academic, were some of the most inspiring I have ever experienced in my teaching of these exceptional students.

This dynamic, vibrant, strong lady spoke about appreciating the postives and remembering why we do what we do.... all of the language confusions, the memory gaps, the "outside-of-the-box" thinking, the organizational disasters . . . those are the things that make our kids memorable. These characteristics can be very challenging but they are also the things that make our jobs so rewarding. These are the kids who need someone to make a difference and Sally Smith did this through the Lab School in Washington D.C., through her books on Academic Club and learning with art and drama (which we now use at my school within our history curriculum)and through her work with the Learning Disabilities Association of America.

Sally passed away a week and a half ago, but we in special education are fortunate to have had Sally in our field and will remember her for years to come. She will be greatly missed.

In Memoriam on NPR

Building Community

Topics that I seem to see frequently are how to build solid learning communities and how to prepare our high school students for their future in the work world. I was fortunate to have witnessed both of these in action in our school over the past two weeks.

Our school currently includes students in grades 2-12 and our population is 100% students with LD and/or ADHD. Often our students have not been successful in school and/or have not had many opportunities to act as leaders in the school. These are the skills our students need to be successful as adults and require experience and shaping. This fall, our high school students tackled a leadership challenge and I am extremely proud to say that I was able to be a part of it.

It should be noted that we have 9 high school students and 20 younger students which often gives our whole school events, our community building events, a less "mature" aura which often contributes further to our high school students often feeling as though they are not as "good" as other high school students. Halloween is often a time when this disparity is more evident . . . . younger kids means more "tame" Halloween celebrations or having to select from a limited amount of videos, etc.. We often expect much grumbling on the part of our older students when their Halloween enjoyment is reigned in. This year however, we had quite a different experience. Our high school students organized a Haunted House for our younger students and they exceeded our expectations even on their meager (non-existent) budget.

As a group, students with learning disabilities often have difficulty with organizing materials and time, they can struggle with interpersonal communication and planning multi-step projects. They can have weaknesses with spatial organization but strengths with language based tasks, or vice versa and their memories can be inconsistent. Our group fits that generalization fairly well as a group which can make group work challenging at times. This project however was different. Yes, they had some adult help - we have a sociology intern this year in our building 2 days a week and she was able to prod them to manage their time and plan things out, but our high school students actually balance two high schools and only attend LMA in the mornings. They managed to organize schedules and materials to completely transform one classroom into a haunted maze within a week and a half using approximately 1 to 1 1/2 hours of biology work time and 1 hour of advisory time (10 min. per day)in addition to time they came in before school or stayed through their lunch periods. They managed 8 different individuals and everyone had a job on Halloween. They developed rules for the attendees, asked for $1 admission, restricted entrance to two people at a time and tailored the "rounds" for each section; low intensity for the 2nd-4th graders, slightly more intensity for the 5th & 6th graders and high intensity for the 7th & 8th graders. They reigned in their own impulsive behaviors to keep from going too over the top and made sure everyone had an enjoyable time and all received credit for their efforts.

Sure, this project caught their attention and they hoped to raise money for their year-end trip, but more importantly they were successful. On the Fri. before Halloween, the original design (a box maze) wasn't working coming together well. The three officers who had started the project weren't sure they were going to have anything worthwhile, but they opened up the project further to others, some teachers offered some structural suggestions and the students picked the ball back up and ran with it. Our intern kept working with them on her days, helping them select assignments for the days she wasn't in and kept encouraging them that they could be successful and it would be worthwhile. (The fact that our intern is an alumni of our high school made it an even more impactful event.)


I realize that I am blessed to be at a small school where we have more opportunity to set up experiences like we had this week, but the biggest key was the students following through. They had a valid, life-based challenge and they met it. They received some support, but not too much, they were given restrictions, but not too many and they were treated with respect. They were expected to meet the expectations - and they did. . . and they enjoyed it. In fact, they worked their haunted house for almost an hour and a half straight in masks, sweatshirt and plastic walls. They entertained elementary and middle school students, service providers who were visiting our building that morning, teachers, staff and parents. I know that a few of them really enjoyed being able to "pay back" some of their teachers or service providers for all the work we make them do :). In short, they developed skills they will need to survive in the world of work after graduation.

As for community building, not only is our high school a stronger community of 9,but our younger kids made thank you cards for the high school students to let them know how much they appreciated all their work - and the really neat thing about that was that the high school students then argued about who had the best card :). They are now part of our learning community, no doubt about it. In fact, I think they're already planning some type of Thanksgiving event for the younger students....

When I tell people that I work at a non-profit school for students with learning disabilities and/or ADHD in grades 2-12, I often hear "oh wow", or "you must be a saint" or "oooh, I couldn't do that" followed by "why" or "what made you go into that" often with a modifier such as "I've worked with those kinds kids once" with a story that often is about more physically or cognitively impaired students than mine. I don't really have an easy answer for them to their questions . . . . in fact, I usually go into "nerd" mode quoting varying researchers, statistics or diagnostic definitions. Weeks like this week though are when I don't need the statistics or research to explain my enthusiasm for my kids. I just answer, "because I can"!

Educating Brains

I am sometimes what could be considered an educational "nerd". I've been watching this new show this fall, something about the Big Bang, whose premise is two physics geniuses (often labeled as "nerds") befriending a beautiful blond across the hall and the inconsistencies in their social skils. This week, one of the physicists dressed as the Doppler Effect for Halloween and while he was quite excited about it, other people were more amused at his excitement as opposed to his creativity. I can relate to what's-his-name since I often get the courtesy nod when I am off and running about educational research. It's not that others are not interested, I'm just a nerd and act like I have received my Limited Collection whatever-would-be-cool to other people when I get educational journals or when I find interesting research online. I was like a kid at Christmas when I got my copy of the current Handbook of Learning Disabilities and squealed like I'd seen a mouse when I found an Educator's Diagnostic Manual (the educational version of the DSM). . . . I get groupie-like when I hear names like Sam Kirk, Levine, Lavoie, Lerner or other names that I've read in journals or textbooks. Working with LDA of MI, I have been fortunate enough to meet many folks I have read or who have been the "backbones" of LD or educational research and I admit I tend to be amazed to meet the people behind the names. I realize they are all people, mere humans, but these are people who often inspire me in my profession. These are the people who challenge my mental sets and provide me with tools for continually improving my practice. They are my "teachers" in a sense.

This fall, I have been practically glowing because I had the opportunity to one of my top favorites: Dr. David Sousa. Of course, I have to admit that my glowing was tempered with hope, because there are times when you meet some of your idols and it's not as pleasant as you would hope. Chalk it up to stress, jetlag, focus on their work,or simple personality differences, but it can be disappointing to meet someone you admire and realize that you admire their work more...

Well, Dr. Sousa spoke at the Learning Disabilities Association of Michigan's Annual Conference at the end of October and I was not disappointed in any fashion. Dr. Sousa was a fantastic and educational speaker as well as a friendly and gracious person. I consider myself fortunate to have heard his keynote and was inspired when he defined the necessity of having good educators. He said that educators "changed brains" and that only educators are expected to change brains daily as part of their job. Even neurosurgeons are required to take a certain amount of hours between brain surgeries so their bodies can return to a healthy pattern of regulation.

What a powerful statement! Learning is a process of developing, or changing, the brain and (hopefully) training it to work more efficiently as we work to gain larger knowledge bases. As educators, this presents us with what can be an overwhelming responsibility, but this responsibility is also exciting. We are changing brains daily and classroom teachers are working with the same brains daily which is an honor not many professions can claim.

If educators have the responsibility for changing brains, then we certainly have a responsibility to understand the brain to the best of our ability. I have to admit, I am a huge fan of Dr. Sousa's so I am slightly biased, but I am a student of his work because his work makes sense.

As a teacher, and as a parent with children in Montessori classrooms, my other favorite part from his keynote address that day was: What types of teaching methods are we using? How old is our knowledge of the brain and how it works? We are now living in 2007 with PET scans and MRI's. Children are coming to school with 2007 Brains. What brains are we teaching to?