Psyched About School

  I have always been an anxious person. I have the tendency to overanalyze, overthink, and obsess over every little thing. After the pandemic hit, my anxious tendencies shifted to obsessing about safety. Do I have Covid? Is that surface I just touched contaminated with the virus? Will my family be okay? It didn’t take long for these thoughts to totally consume and control my mind. The majority of my thoughts surrounded Covid and my family’s safety. The constant worry was exhausting. How could I be a school psychologist and not have control over these thoughts? How can I help others when I cannot even control my own worry?  After some gentle prompting from someone else in the helping field, I started to journal. I found that I was instinctively using a technique called stream of consciousness journaling . Stream of consciousness journaling is a writing technique used to narrate and keep track of thoughts. When I cannot shift my obsessive thoughts to something positive, I open m...

There's so much information coming at us from so many different directions right now.  Not only are we trying to keep up with news about this pandemic and how to keep our families safe, but we're experiencing disruptions to our social lives and our jobs.  The cherry on top of this COVID-19 sundae is that many parents are now being asked to step into what is, for many, a brand new role: distance learning facilitator.  (Make sure you put that on your resumes from now on! 😉)  Parents, students and educators are ALL scrambling to learn new routines and new technologies with very little - if any - warning, guidance or training. Recently, the Twitter feed for @teachergoals.org  posted something that really resonated.  When I feel myself getting overwhelmed by the "tsunami of stuff" coming at from me all directions, I revisit this tweet : Since this blog is written by a bunch of psychologists, it's probably no surprise that student mental health is our pas...

·         North Carolina is moving towards implementation of  a multi tiered  system of support (MTSS) where students who have academic difficulty are required to go through targeted intervention before being referred to special education. MTSS as a framework is designed to provide students with high-quality instruction and intervention that match their needs. MTSS considers several factors that may impact a student's ability to learn in order to ensure that we are not inappropriately  referring students to special education.         Referring a child to special education services without proper investigation of environmental factors is not an effective solution. Special education is not mutually beneficial and misclassification could lead to expectations that are not consistent with the learner's true ability (Flannagan, IASP 2015: Sheperd, 1975). In other words, telling a child and their family that they h...

The Edutopia website is one of our favorites.  The article " Extending the Silence " discusses the strategy of using "wait time" effectively in the classroom.  Research has provided evidence that " pausing for three or more seconds showed a noticeable positive impact on learning."  However, research also shows us that "the average length that teachers pause was found to be 0.9 seconds."  The author notes that, while silence in the classroom can be uncomfortable for both teachers and students initially, students need time to process new information, make connections to previous learning/experiences, and then prepare a thoughtful, organized response.  That's a lot to ask for in 0.9 seconds! Here are some strategies from the author for incorporating this information in the classroom: "Provide wait time: Give students five to 15 seconds to formulate a response to a question for which they should know the answer. Not every learner pro...

We wanted to pass along  this article  about a creative option for engaging students in the writing process known as BoomWriter .  Research tells us that more technology has not necessarily translated into improved writing skills for most students.  In fact, Ken Haynes, the BoomWriter co-founder suggests that "the negative effects of excess screen time and shorter attention spans due to social media are corroborated by recent studies that show only a quarter of American high school students are proficient in writing assessments, and one out of five have 'below basic' writing skills." Here is Mr. Haynes' description of  BoomWriter from the article linked above: After a teacher signs up for free, here’s how BoomWriter works. 1.  Teachers provide a prompt, story start, problem to solve, or single directive for all their students to read and respond to. 2.  Each student writes and submits his/her entry for review and feedback from the teacher....

We recently came across this article on the concept of academic 'red-shirting' as it relates to Kindergarten students and, with the end of the school year fast approaching, it seemed like a good time to pass this information along to parents who may be in the process of making decisions about Kindergarten for next school year: Is Your Child Ready for Kindergarten? If you are not familiar with this concept, it refers to the idea of delaying Kindergarten enrollment with the idea that this improves overall student outcomes.  However, as the article notes, there isn't a clear research consensus on the pros or cons of this academic red-shirting practice.  The author offers the following advice for parents who are currently facing this decision: "Despite the weightiness of the decision, rest assured that a child is likely to be successful whichever path his parents choose."

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 no denying the high activity level in some little boys.  I remember all too well my own feelings of exhaustion trying to chase after my busy five year old son.  As he entered kindergarten and began learning to read, I often worried that he would never slow down long enough to do that. Thankfully, he did learn to read in spite of all the time he spent running around.  Turns out, there may be a correlation between higher levels of physical activity and the development of reading skills in some boys, according to the results of a recent study out of Finland.  This study may have important implications for schools trying to figure out the balance between time spent on physical activity and time spent on learning.  To read more about this study, visit  Time Magazine

As we come to another long break for the holidays everyone is looking forward to relaxing at home and spending time with loved ones. Unfortunately, we know this is not true for many of the students that we work with and serve. It is especially important during this time that we are aware of the words we use and behaviors we exhibit around our students.  Many of the ones who live in poverty find comfort and safety in school that they do not have at home. Below is important information provided by Michelle McDonald written for the NASP publication (Volume 41 Issue 7). Also below the information are important resources/ contact information to help our students in need. The Impact of School Breaks on Students Living in Poverty By Michelle McDonald    Summer and winter breaks from school can be highly anticipated times for students and educators. However, for students living in poverty, the break from school can bring hidden challenges that school psychologists should b...

We mentioned in a previous blog that we would be posting strategies to help students prepare for the end of year tests.  That preparation should include not only recommendations for how to study but also ideas for how to manage the anxiety that might accompany the tests.  This page from the National Education Association includes all kinds of links to websites for test taking tips.  They have links for students, parents and educators in grades K-12.  To learn more, visit  http://www.nea.org/tools/lessons/Test-Prep-Review-Strategies.html

Are your students worried about the upcoming End of Grade tests or exams?  There are lots of great suggestions for how to prepare for them (be looking for another post about that), but here are some ideas from PBSKids for how to manage the stress once the test actually begins.  To see them all, visit  http://pbskids.org/itsmylife/school/teststress/article10.html

There seems to be much discussion about the rigors of the kindergarten curriculum.  This article from The Atlantic compares the Common Core expectations to kindergartens in Finland, where teachers basically develop individualized learning plans for each student when they enter school.  The guide for what is included in the plans is the child's own interests and readiness. To learn more about kindergarten in Finland and what some of the research on this topic says, visit  http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/10/the-joyful-illiterate-kindergartners-of-finland/408325/ To hear more about what our own Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Schools believes, visit  http://leaders.edweek.org/profile/steve-oates-assistant-superintendent-of-elementary-administration-early-childhood-education/?cmp=SOC-EDIT-FB

I've recently seen several articles and blog posts about "Sketchnotes."  This term was new for me and, after digging around online, I learned that Sketchnotes refer to a visual note-taking system that may include doodles, pictures, arrows, charts and other visual elements, combined with some brief writing.  Simply put, it's note-taking with both pictures and words.  Research indicates that this visual method of note-taking not only increases the amount of information you retain and improves attention, but it may also help you better understand the "big picture" of the lesson.  Blogger Amy Mount provides a great description of Sketchnotes in the following post, and also provides examples of what these may look like, including the notes pictured above on Differentiated Instruction (how appropriate!): Sketchnoting If you'd like to learn more about Sketchnotes, here are a couple of other resources you may want to check out: Visual Note-Taking Doo...

Check out this list of brain breaks from Minds-in-Bloom. Brain breaks give students a few minutes of physical and mental activity during the school day to keep their minds actively engaged in learning. http://www.minds-in-bloom.com/2012/04/20-three-minute-brain-breaks.html?m=1

Earlier this week we posted a blog about how more movement throughout the school day could increase student learning.  That article was looking at the importance of movement for elementary-age children.  This article from the Washington Post takes a look at how valuable it can be for middle school students.  And the author looks at it in a unique way-by going to a middle school and trying to follow the same schedule the students do.  To learn more about how her day went, visit  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2014/12/03/a-therapist-goes-to-middle-school-and-tries-to-sit-still-and-focus-she-cant-neither-can-the-kids/

There is a lot of talk in educational circles about the benefits of increasing physical activity in students.  Observations from teachers who have tried this strategy suggest that students are more focused and less fidgety when given the opportunity to be active throughout the school day.  In this story from the Today Show, they visit a Fort Worth, Texas elementary school that is trying out the LiiNK Project ( http://liinkproject.tcu.edu/ ), whose goal is to develop the whole child through increased recess and character development.  To learn more about the positive results they are having, visit  http://www.today.com/parents/want-kids-listen-more-fidget-less-try-more-recess-school-t65536

In a sample of more than 6,000 students nationwide, African American children were the only group where preschool oral narrative skills were a significant predictor of emergent literacy skills. Research out of the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute shines on light on something in education we may be missing. As we talk about development we first learn to speak, then read and then write, each skill providing us with essential information needed to move onto the next. This is an intriguing article, that I hope we can reflect on, share discussion about, and hopefully change how we foster this skill for our students, who knows it may be the key to unlocking a magical door. http://fpg.unc.edu/news/storytelling-skills-support-early-literacy-african-american-children

Are you looking for some new ways to check for understanding in your students and to find out what they have learned?  The folks over at Edutopia have complied a list of 53 ways to do just that!  Check it out! http://www.edutopia.org/resource/checking-understanding-download?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=checking-understanding-link