Psyched About School

I am constantly in awe of the advances that I read about with technology and medicine and how it can connect to the world of School Psychology.  When I see exciting new research, it reminds me of how fortunate we are to have STEM programs in our district, helping to develop the next generation of leaders in this field. In this article, scientists used blood sample data to help predict Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in children.  They were 97.6% accurate in identifying the 83 students with ASD and 96.1% accurate in identifying the 76 neurotypical children.  This was a small study, but the implications for future research and the potential benefits of an earlier, accurate diagnosis of ASD are impressive, You can read more about this research here: Science Daily Article

Have you heard about Restorative Justice?  Although it has been around for a while, it seems to be the buzz word lately as I'm reading about it on many of the educational blogs I follow.  In schools, Restorative Justice offers an alternative to the regular punitive ways we discipline students by focusing student accountability.  However, it holds them accountable in a way that helps them to learn from their mistakes and change their behaviors.  The links below provide information about what Restorative Justice is and how one school made it work for their students. Edutopia-What the Heck is Restorative Justice Edutopia-Why Restorative Practices Benefit  All Students My San Antonio-Restorative Justice Works for Students

If you are a parent in the WS/FCS, you probably have gotten recent reminders to check your child's grades in PowerSchool.  If you followed that suggestion, you may have felt pride (grades are good), surprise (wait, she had A's and B's but now she has C's and D's), frustration (he still got a D in spite of all the tutoring sessions), or even anger (she is failing everything).  Some parents may have discovered that their middle schooler has not been doing homework, even though he's been telling you all quarter that the teachers never assign any.  At the middle school I serve, this is one of the most common problems I see.  Students who are capable of doing well are making poor grades because they simply don't do their homework. In this this article published by the Moultrie News, middle school English teacher Jody Stallings shares his three-step plan with parents for curing Chronic Laziness Syndrome (CLS).  While the steps seems fairly easy, the hard

 There is math help out there for confused parents and kids!  I recently had the experience of being completely unable to help my 8th grader with his Math 1 homework. Fortunately, I discovered some resources for parents when they ( and their children) are confused by their math class and the homework involved.  Among my favorites are Virtual Nerd , which is targeted towards middle grades math and up, Khan Academy , and Fort Bend Tutoring , which even has people rapping math!  Good luck!  There is help out there.

In every job, it is normal for workers to get stressed from time to time.  I'm sure some jobs create more stress than others.  For example, the stakes are quite high for an ED doctor where life and death can be a part of every shift.  But have you ever given thought to the stress teachers face?  Although lots of people outside of education haven't, what I continue to be amazed by is how so many teachers and administrators don't recognize the stress in themselves or in their co-workers.  This article from  The Huffington Post  highlights this problem including causal factors, statistics, and ways to reduce the stress.  We've blogged about this important topic before, Suggestions for Self-Care  Throughout the year, teachers should remember to support each other and find appropriate outlets for reducing stress.  It is also critical for administrators to provide a safe environment where teachers feel comfortable discussing their well-being to maintain a healthy workplace.

We blogged about Sesame Street's newest character back when she was in the early stages of development Character with Autism Joins Sesame Street   A little over a year later Julia, a cute character with bright orange hair AND Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), is now a recurring cast member on the popular children's television show.  As you will see in this CBS  60 Minutes Clip , Sesame Street's development team met with ASD groups in order to determine how to best develop her character.  ASD can take many shapes and sizes with no two individuals having the same exact pattern of characteristics.  Sesame Street wanted to make sure they took that into consideration as they use Julia to educate children about individuals with special needs.

by Angela Fuller, Founder & President of Food Allergy Families of the Triad With an average of 2 children per classroom diagnosed with food allergy, it's common for school age children to have a friend with food allergies.  Food allergy is a potentially deadly disability that affects nearly 6 million children in the U.S.  Special accommodations are often necessary for food allergic children to attend school.  Classmates might be restricted from bringing foods containing allergens into the classroom, the food allergic child may eat special treats during classroom celebrations and the child often carries a special bag containing life threatening medication.  Although such precautions are necessary to keep a food allergic child safe, it can bring unwanted attention from classmates and school staff.  Being perceived as "different" can be an invitation for bullying. A recent study reveals over 30% of school age children report being bullied specifically because of th

As educators or parents, there are certainly times where you want (or need) more information about behavior.  You could want to know how to help a child with his/her behavior at home or in the classroom, or you might want to know more about a certain mental health condition, or something else.  But where do you look?  The Center for Parent Information and Resources has created a marvelous website with a number of resources and links to topics of interest.    click here: Got Behavior?

As anyone who has ever had anxiety knows, it is no joke.  Although there certainly are times when being anxious can be helpful, such as when you are running from a bear, or need to start studying for that test you have tomorrow, at many times it is just plain uncomfortable and not very constructive.  And as we all know, people telling you to relax doesn't help at all.  If you knew how, you would do it, wouldn't you?  There are, however, excellent resources out there to help teens and younger kids to learn about and cope with their anxiety in helpful ways.  For any parent or school personnel that are trying to help someone cope with their anxiety, these websites may be excellent resources.   Resources for families Resources for teens Resources for kids and families

Around this time of the school year, I start hearing about potential candidates for retention.  I sometimes feel like the odd man out during meetings when this topic comes up.  The research simply does not support retention as an effective intervention for increasing academic performance.  To that point, one of our very own school psychologists wrote a blog last year which reviewed some of this research as well as common myths associated with retention. As we begin to make these critical decisions, it seems like a good time to re-post that blog.  To read this blog written by Liz Williams, visit Retention is not an Intervention

Do you remember our blog about the ClassDojo video series on empathy?  Here is a link to that blog ClassDojo Empathy Videos   Did you know they also have a series to help kids learn about Growth Mindset?  The five videos clips teach kids the fairly simple idea that intelligence is not innately set, but can be strengthened over time.  Using colorful characters named Mojo and Katie, the videos, as well as the accompanying discussion guide for teachers and parents, teach students all about Growth Mindset. The videos were created in a partnership between ClassDojo and Stanford University’s Project for Education Research That Scales (PERTS). To watch the video series, visit   class dojo mindset video series