Here’s why. When a student confesses these feelings, they’re trusting you. They’re giving you a glimpse of deep pain. Rushing to reassure the student does nothing to heal that pain.
Welcome to the first episode of The Exceptional Educator!
I’m excited to launch a new format for delivering actionable teaching strategies to learning specialists and parents – the podcast. The Exceptional Educator will feature master teachers, authors, thought-leaders, and researchers for in-depth discussions about the best ways to reach every student in the classroom, regardless of ability or learning difference.
I can’t think of anyone better than my good friend and mentor, Pamm Scribner, to kick off the inaugural episode of the show.
Pamm is a world-class teacher and specialist helping kids with ADHD find success in school and life. Pamm is a Board Certified Educational Therapist, and a certified PEERS Coach through the UCLA PEERS Clinic. She is also an instructor for the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) Extension: Educational Therapy Certificate Program and an educational consultant for schools throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. She has extensive experience supporting students with executive functioning disorders and assessing and treating learning disabilities. An all-around-good-person and volunteer in her community, Pamm has been an inspiration to me, and I know she’ll inspire you as well. Please enjoy!
Listen on iTunes or on Stitcher, right click here to download an mp3, or stream below:
Have you heard that kids shouldn’t read too many graphic novels? That they’ll lose a taste for “real” literature? That they’ll never become independent readers?
Telling students not to read graphic novels is like telling kids not to eat their vegetables.
Graphic novels can be a silver bullet. Struggling reader? Read a graphic novel. Dis-fluent reader? Read a graphic novel. Strong reader who’d rather be playing video games? You get the picture.
The just-right graphic novel can transform a reluctant reader into a confident bibliophile.
Last June, I was working with a second grader with severe dyslexia. She was finally decoding accurately, but she still read slowly. On the last day of school, we spent a few minutes reading Amulet #1: The Stonekeeper byKazu Kibuishi. She was hooked. A week later, her mom came in concerned. Sarah hadn’t wanted to go outside or play. Instead, she’d spent the past week devouring all five books in the series. Fast forward one year — this student’s reading fluency is at grade-level.
Every year I hear from parents and teachers who are concerned that their students are reading graphic novels. These are just a few of the concerns I’ve heard:
