Percy Jackson

I'm not sure how I existed this long without reading Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. My school is completely enthralled with this series. I dare say, my school is more into this book than Harry Potter or Twilight. It probably helps that our school librarian is into the books as well. I'm a big Greek mythology fan, so this book was a delight. I know a movie was recently released, but like all adaptations, there are some differences between the novel and the film.

Although the book was printed in 2005, there may be some of you out there that haven't read it yet. Well, I suggest that you do. It's a great story for kids with disabilities. From a school psychologist standpoint, there is a lot to like about the story. Percy is dyslexic and has ADHD. But when he finds out that's he's a demigod, or half-blood (half-god, half-mortal) he learns that his impairments are actually strengths and by-products of his "godliness". His dyslexia stems from the fact that he was meant to read ancient Greek, not English. (clever!) And his ADHD symptoms are in fact his battlefield reflexes that allow him to respond to his opponents' moves (hyperactivity) and see things that others cannot (inattention). It's very clever and gives those that have these disabilities a hero that they can identify with. As a plus, Percy also has some absentee father issues, and I know I have plenty of students that can relate to that. The Percy Jackson series is intriguing and I can't wait to read the next one.

BBC

A Change to No Child Left Behind

The Obama Administration is planning a change in the No Child Left Behind law. There has been a lot of grumbling about the proposed changes and what they might look like for a few months now. First the administration announced the initiative "Race to the Top" which was their way of encouraging schools to make changes, including dismissing ineffective teachers. I believe that many states have applied for the program, but there were some that didn't qualify. The main difference is less emphasis on standardized test scores. Under the current law, every school would have been on the failing list because by 2014, each school had to have 100% of its students meeting goal on the state standardized test. This was impossible and if we reached 2014 with the current law intact, it would have been the tipping point. For now, the administration wants to make significant changes, including getting rid of the goal for 2014. Now there is a different goal: All students are college ready or career ready by 2020. These are admirable goals, but I feel that NCLB needs to have a significant parental component. There are parents that do not understand nor accept their responsibility in their child's education. It is frustrating when they think that the school can do it all. In order for there to be true education reform, parents have to play a part.

BBC

Teachers Are Made, Not Born

Recent article in the New York Times Magazine examines the training that teachers receive before they are employed. Lately, there seems to be a lot of stories in the media about teachers. My latest Newsweek has a cover story about bad teaching. I'll have something to say about that article once I read it. The article in the Times Magazine focused on teacher-training programs. I was disappointed to read that those that were examined are designed for teachers in charter schools and Teach for America. The author mentions that university training programs are lacking, and that most first-year teachers do not feel ready to teach once they enter the classroom, but there wasn't a lot of info in the article about how universities are working to improve their education programs. One of the researchers, Deborah Loewenberg Ball, created a curriculum for teaching teachers called Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching, or M.K.T. M.K.T. gets teachers to consider how others think about math, not what they themselves know about math. If you can understand how someone can think and misunderstand math, then you can teach it effectively. That makes so much sense. The one takeaway for me in the article was the idea of cold-calling: instead of having students raise their hands, whenever I ask a question anyone can be called upon, therefore everyone has to pay attention and think of the answer. I like that one. I think I'll use it next time I do a Second Step lesson.

BBC

School Psychologists in Pop Culture 2 - "Parenthood"

I happened to watch the premiere of "Parenthood", the new NBC drama airing on Tuesdays. Click here to see the premiere episode. It's an interesting show about the trials and tribulations of being a parent. But I'm not a tv critic, I'm a school psychologist. I won't spoil the plot, but there is a moment in the episode where a child gets into trouble at school and the administrators suggest that the child may need more than just discipline to address his behavior. When they make the suggestion, they refer to the "educational therapist." Then they mention an evaluation to determine what would work best. That's when it hit me: "Hey wait a minute, they're talking about a school psychologist." But I had to wonder why they used the term educational therapist. Is school psychologist still too esoteric for people to understand. Educational therapist sounds like a possible job title if this didn't recently happen. I see this as a missed opportunity for our profession. They should have been consulting a school psychologist!

BBC