Show #103 Dr. Susan Johnson- Commonwealth Academy- Advisory and Organization

One of the most amazing things I learned by visiting Commonwealth Academy is how everything in the school is student-centered. The advisory program is one piece of that puzzle, where kids are mentored and supervised on how to keep themselves organized and prepared for class, and where discipline is handled pro-actively and rarely interferes with the learning of the other students. This is possible because the faculty and staff really know the students, and can anticipate their needs, much like parents do. But like good parents, the goal is to make the kids independent over time and able to stand on their own. Another important part of this equation is developing a sense of trust with the students and with their parents, which can be a challenge after some rough previous school experiences.

Dr. Johnson's years of experience in both public and private schools, and her candor about how important developing a sense of trust and community is to their success is palpable in every aspect of the school. I know you'll love hearing about the innovative and often simple approaches Commonwealth takes that empowers the students to find their voice and gives them the confidence to try new things, to risk and to succeed.

In our next show, #104, we'll conclude our interview with Dr. Susan Johnson as we discuss IEP's, remediation and the future of education.

Click here to download Show # 103, Dr. Susan Johnson- Commonwealth Academy- Advisory & Organization (For Students and Parents!)

Sharon Martin, Speech and Language Pathologist

In today's show, we feature an interview with Sharon Martin! Sharon is a well-known for being part of the DivaCast, best described as five girlfriends talking about what matters to them, and having fun doing it! Sharon's becoming a part of the LD Podcast, because she's also a Speech Language Pathologist (also known as an SLP) teaching in schools in Georgia.

Sharon has her Masters in Education, Speech Language-Pathology and is licensed in Georgia, and is a member of many professional organizations for SLP's including the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA), and National Student Speech Language Hearing Association, (NSSHLA).

Sharon has worked with special need students who ranged from profound/severely impaired to mild articulation disorders. This work has included students with learning disabilities, language impairments, autism, down syndrome, mitochondria, CP, cochlear implants, apraxia, phonological processing disorders and emotional behavioral disorders.

She has also participated in specialized training and tasks forces involved with Response to Intervention (RTI), literacy/language interventions, and special education regulations. Sharon's planning on becoming a regular part of the show, and future shows will focus on topics like Response to Intervention and IEP's.

In this show, I also talk about the results of our "Daily journal" over the summer experiment, getting kids back to school and trying to keep them organized. One question I received by email recently asked:

"What type of planner or organizer would you recommend for kids with LD? The one we get from school has really small writing areas, making it hard to fit in all the information, let alone notes back and forth from home and school."

My recommendations:

What most kids need: Big space to write, securely bound, monthly and weekly views.

What I've tried for myself and the kids:

Personal Digital Assistants, like Palm Pilots; various calendars and systems, wall calendars, wipe-off dry erase calendars, etc. Electronic versions of calendars, ranging from Google Calendar, to the calendar/alarms on my various cell phones, and Skoach, an online calendar/task management system developed in part by well-known and respected ADHD researcher, Dr. Kathleen Nadeau. (Also a prior guest on the LD Podcast).

What Really Works for Me- paper calendar/agenda with both weekly and monthly views. Usually, the medium to large ones give me enough writing space- mini ones are far too small.

Brands I like:

Mead actually has a a website to help you choose a planner (I was surprised to find this out!)

The Quick Notes Calendar from At-A-Glance has weekly and monthly view, along with plenty of spaces for notes and reminders. This runs about $20.00

TimeToo has some interesting looking family trackers, but you kinda have to choose between weekly on monthly, not both. The RSVP space on the bottom is a great idea- these are almost perfect.

The GoMom planner from Daytimer has that weekly/monthly views, and is a good basic planner-a "mommed" up version of the At A Glance.
Mead Upperclass Student Organizer - Available plain ($12.99) or with a bungee cord to keep closed ($13.79) This one can work well with kids or adults- not a bad choice for that master family calendar.

Secret Indulgence and Pricey Version- Levenger has a bunch of interesting products, based on it’s "circa" system- a way you can pretty much customize notebooks. This means you can add what you need- to do lists, expense reports, notes, etc. and rearrange, without losing anything and maintaining the pages securely fastened together. (If you wanted to try it to see if it works, the 2008 agenda is down to only $4.95, and might be a good investment if you think you might like the flexibility it offers.)

Downsides- expensive and addictive. Runs calendar year, not academic year. I do use this notebook system, more than the planner, to organize projects, in part because the paper is thicker than normal and is fantastic to write on, and I can move stuff around easily as needed. It is more of an initial investment, but I do refill them, and I love these notebooks.

Click here to listen to Sharon Martin

Show #68 Conversation with Rick LaVoie

In the second part of my conversation with Rick LaVoie, we discuss ADHD, organization, seeing things from your child's perspective, how we need to set a good example for our kids, helicopter parenting and how to motivate them.

Rick Lavoie has worked in special education for over 30 years. He has three degrees in Special Education, and has produced the single best selling educational video over the past 20 years- "How Difficult Can this Be? the F.A.T. City workshop" which shows teachers and adults what it's like to be a child with learning disabilities in the classroom.

One of Rick's greatest gifts is helping us see what the world looks lke through our children's eyes. By doing that, and illustrating his ideas in such a way that they are memorable and better still, actionable, Rick's thoughts are not just more words about what you SHOULD do, they're about things you CAN do, easily, now, to make a huge difference in your life and that of your child.

Today, we talk about a wide variety of topics. the most important of which is also the topic of Rick's new book, "The Motivation Break-through- 6 secrets to Turning on the Tuned Out Child". By breaking down how motivation works, we can understand how to help our children become motivated to succeed in every aspect of their lives (and it's pretty good for the rest of us as well...)

Most importantly, the book gives you specific pointers and action steps to take, to help your child today. He even has a great chapter in the book about explaining learning disabilities to your child,and how to explain things so it is not a "negative" just a difference, that can be dealt with, just like any other challenge in life.

If there's one gift you can give yourself this year, it's reading "The Motivation Breakthrough".

I encourage everyone to go to Rick's website and to check on his upcoming speaking dates. If he is in your area, don't miss an opportunity to see him present in person.

Next week, we'll have an interview with Nina Straightman, a reading and language specialist at the Centreville School, a school for children with language-based learning disabilities.

We are looking into doing a call-in show to answer your questions- please drop me an email if you are interested at ldpodcast@gmail.com. We also have a new voicemail numner (206) 203-4616- please call and leave your comments and questions and we'll answer them on the show!

Click here to download and listen to Conversation with Rick LaVoie Part II