(One of NISCE’s partner schools, Dearborn Academy, works exclusively with learning disabled students and has been developing a better understanding of the impact of childhood trauma on learning. We invited Linda Johnson, the Clinical Coordinator at Dearborn Academy High School, and Howard Rossman, Director of Dearborn Academy, to share some of what they’ve discovered. Linda is responsible for helping the Dearborn High School, Elementary/Middle School, and STEP become trauma-informed … [Read more...]
A New Driver for Expanding Access to Early Education?
"Parents—and this is a real sea change—understand the infant-toddle years as learning years." —Betty Holcomb, Policy Director, Children's Initiatives An article recently posted in the Wall Street Journal focused on the growing competition to find excellent early childhood programs in New York City. The change in this case is that the demand appears to be driven by affluent parents who are newly convinced that their very young children need the stimulation and guided instruction available … [Read more...]
Opportunities for Meaningful Education
When I first started working at Dearborn Academy, I had a colleague who'd been around for a number of years. He had a gentle soul and his love and respect for our students was manifest. One day the two of us were playing a pickup game of basketball, a game at which he excelled, against a pair of middle schoolers. I wasn't sure how hard I should be playing against such over-matched opponents, and when I got a chance to do so unobtrusively I asked how hard we should try to win.His response … [Read more...]
Jonah Mowry’s Story
Eighth-grader Jonah Mowry posted this extraordinary personal video on bullying and suicide, What’s Goin’ On, on YouTube last December. His video has been viewed over a ten million times and has generated more than 350,000 comments Jonah's video can help schools, families and parent-teacher organization begin a conversation on on issues of bullying and acceptance, and his courage and honesty can be an inspiration to us all. … [Read more...]
Educators Building Interpersonal Bridges
Boston University’s School of Psychiatric Rehabilitation provides a public resource to educators looking to build better relationships with students struggling with disabilities. On their How-to Tips for Educators page, they review interpersonal strategies that we feel can be seen as not only helpful to the student with disabilities but to all students in our nation's schools.The following tips are suggested to help educators:Interpersonal strategiesDevelop a working alliance with … [Read more...]
The Brain’s Development and the Importance of Relationships and Education
In their book, Born for Love, Bruce Perry and Maia Szalavitz report the ability of a child to access higher level problem solving, executive functioning, and thinking skills ultimately depends on the learned ability to self-regulate, and that these capacities are developed through consistent and reliable connection with safe and caring adults.In simple terms, it is the care and protection of adults that allows infants and children to develop neural pathways in the frontal lobe that transcend … [Read more...]
Redshirting: What Would You Do?
CBS' 60 Minutes recently reported on the idea some parents are implementing of holding a child back one year or "Redshirting" kindergarten students. The approach is driven by desire to have that particular student be among the oldest, rather than the youngest, in their class when they started school. The hope is that by doing so the child would be further along developmentally, be more of a leader over time, do better in sports, and have an overall advantage over the other children in his/her … [Read more...]
Lady Gaga’s Foundation – Preventing Bullying Begins With Us
Dr. Richard Weissbourd, a member of the Dearborn Academy Professional Advisory Board, was featured in yesterday's Huff Post commenting on the importance of constructively addressing the problem of bullying.The article's focus moves from simply blaming the bully or inoculating our own children to withstand bullying or harassment. Weissbourd recommends teaching our children to go outside of themselves by finding ways to care for and about each other.Dearborn Academy's Human Dignity Program … [Read more...]
Cognitive, Emotional and Developmental Differences in the Classroom
There is variety among students, including those that are outside the mainstream student population, and we know that each learner is unique in his or her manner of learning and of expressing what he knows. However, there are reasonable limits to the degree and types of variance that any teacher can be expected to manage effectively. There are cognitive, emotional, and developmental differences that stretch beyond the capacities of any single classroom.Consider developmental differences. These … [Read more...]
Part 1 – Do You Know What Inspires and Motivates Your Teachers?
In Part 1 of the brainstorming session at the NISCE Launch event the focus was on the educators.When asked to give brief examples of what makes them feel successful after a day's involvement with students:Watching a student truly engage with a lesson Watching students achieve goals they set Watching a student demonstrate self awareness in a tough class projectWhen asked to give brief examples of what helps them feel energized and inspired, they noted the following:Being a mentor to … [Read more...]
