Light the Tunnel: 2023

Work in Progress--Please Help!

1. Posts are organized into four categories:

* Core Beliefs

* Nuts and Bolts (specific strategies and plans)

* Things Students Need To Know

* Things Helpers Need To Know

2. Because of the branching nature of my practice, continually altering course in response to evolving student behaviors, the final form of this book will have a "Choose Your Own Adventure" format. In the blog, I will be giving the most "common" response when describing students' reactions and comments, but if you find yourself thinking "but what if...?" please let me know and that will likely become an "If____, turn to page___" in the choose-your-own-adventure version.

2.This is written in my own voice, carelessly employing jargon and switching tone at will. To make this task approachable, I put priority on getting the ideas down first. Organization, editing for audience, tone, and style will follow. Kind comments along these lines are very welcome, too!

3. I am a sponge. I won't knowingly present someone else's ideas as my own, of course, but I am sure I have reinvented the wheel numerous times. Thus, "you should read____" comments are also greatly appreciated!

4. Thanks so much for any level of engagement you can muster. I hope you find something that you can use here!

Mike
January 2017

The Mysterious Sloppy Brainstorm (topics to come)

**If one of these strikes your fancy, let me know and I'll write it sooner!**

Core Beliefs:

School fits few

The presence of a feeling is the proof that feeling is justified

They are paying attention, just not to you

Success motivates

MUST know and teach the micro-tasks involved in a challenging task, there is a trove of sub-successes among the weeds of meta-failure

Students are doing more things right than wrong; prove it to them and celebrate

Be genuine, make mistakes,

Playing dumb is OK, but be transparent about it

I We You (Okay to simply show, as long as you follow it up with collaboration, and independent work, transparently)

Comprehension Retention Expression

Autonomy, Belonging, Competence

Hitting the Wall

Motivation

Cultural context

White fear of interactions with parents of color

Institutional racism

Know what’s at stake for everyone in a meeting

Parents, teachers, admins...everyone's freaked out and needs clarity and to feel heard.

Always communicate two kinds of progress: student relative to self & student relative to peers/expectations. Parents need both.

The terrible synergy of Anxiety and Attention challenges

Mental Bandwidth

Dyslexia and Math (not dyscalculia)

Perception, Processing, Production

Backpocket Writing Solutions (when you're stuck, you know what to do)

Radical Non-violence (invite and suggest, but really be willing to change gears if the invitation is refused)

Micro-, Mid-, and Macro- writing practice (hopscotching to keep things lively while subtly assessing retention)

Accuracy versus Conceptual Understanding in Math

Phonetic, Orthographic, and contextual decoding

Word Problems for number-centric thinkers and language strugglers

Self-defeating behavior and a million tiny presents

Attention: from lost-in-space, to "what's the thing?!," to Holey Moley I can do this!

Self-advocacy is freaking hard and it's not fair

Light the Tunnel

Tuesday, June 6, 2023

Impromptu Morphology Overview--Powerful Dyslexia Intervention and Vital Language Arts Reform Content

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