Open Heart Surgery to Treat High Blood Pressure?

You might find the title of this post a bit ridiculous and that is it's intention. In the field of special education and school psychology it is common to have children referred for evaluation and special education placement when all they really need are some simple interventions. Why send a student to a resource classroom if their main problem is seeing the blackboard? This is akin to treating a mild case of high blood pressure with full blown open heart surgery.

Many students who are failing academically are experiencing difficulty in the home. Whether that be due to family break-ups/divorce, physical/emotional abuse, or simply neglect, children often find themselves in survival mode. These kids are in need of interventions. However, they are often able to learn quite well when afforded the proper educational/learning environment.

Some things to consider before jumping to special education placement are:

1) Has the student failed a recent vision/hearing screening?

2) If prescribed glasses, does the student wear them?

3) Does the student regularly attend school? More than 2 weeks (10 school days) of absences can be significant.

4) Language of the student. Does the student speak English? Is English their dominant language?

5) Teacher input. Nothing beats a competent, caring, and experienced teacher. These professionals can quickly identify the true reasons a student is faltering. They may not be able to explain why the student can't learn but the surely will be able to tell you they need help.

6) Have other less intrusive interventions been attempted for sufficient time. Many times things get worse before they get better. When attempting interventions be sure to allow the student sufficient time to change to the new behavior. Also, no intervention works right the first time. They need tweeking and they need to be progressive in nature. Much like preparing for an athletic event, the intervention must have a purpose and be specific, measurable, obtainable, realistic, and tied to a deadline. This is the essence of teaching.

My Favorite ipad applications for K-3rd grade.

Steve Jobs has left quite a legacy. From his marketing genius to his inventions he will long be remembered. One area I feel his impact has yet to be fully appreciated is in the field of education. The ipad is beginning to revolutionize how kids learn. Especially special needs students. The ipad's revolutionary design allows interactive learning to take place in a fun environment. Children can learn at their own pace and new programs/applications are coming out daily which cost pennies or are even free. Here are my top 10 favorite interactive learning applications for children K through 3rd grade. These applications are especially good for those children who have difficulty attending and need to have what has been learned in the classroom reinforced at home.

1) Math Bingo

2) Monkey Math

3) Rocket Math

4) Create a Car

5) Teach Me: First Grade

6) Teach Me: Preschool

7) Word Bingo

8) Word Zombies

9) Math Zombies

10) Math Ninja

11) Pocket Change

12) Counting Board

13) I Tell Time HD

14) Starfall ABCs

15) Analogies for Kids

Just run a search for these titles on your itunes account and they should appear. As with anything....you will need to get to know these applications while your child/student works along with them. Pick and choose those you feel comfortable with. Some have advertisements that may appear and if you have wireless on your ipad be sure to block your child's access and ability to purchase further applications within any app. This can become expensive and is also quite dangerous since children usually will begin to exceed most adults ability levels on how to use new technology. It is best to not have your child playing with the ipad without your supervision especially when access to the internet is available.

Enjoy these applications. Most cost $1.00-$2.00 and/or are free. I hope they help your child to become more successful in the classroom.

Suicide Prevention

Using Your Android or Iphone for Behavior Modification

Here is a great fee android or iphone application called "BuzzClock". This application was originally intended to be used to remind busy businessmen and women of the time without having to take out their phones or watches and look at them. However, this application can also be used when assisting a child in self-monitoring their own behavior.

Once you have sat down with your child and come up with a target behavior (Positive behavior change that you want to increase.) that both of you agree upon you can then set your "BuzzClock" to go off on fixed and/or random interval schedules. The phone will quietly vibrate reminding your son or daughter of the target behavior you have agreed upon. This behavior maybe as simple as picking up their clothes, doing their homework, exercising for 30 minutes at the end or beginning of the day, or treating their brother or sister or teacher with a little more respect.

It is highly important that you and your child agree upon the specific behavior and that there is only ONE behavior chosen to focus on. Picking several behaviors will not work. Find that one behavior you both feel is holding your son or daughter back the most and define it in positive terms. For example, if Johnny is disrespectful to teachers, define the target behavior as, "Johnny will show respect to his teachers by asking before he gets out of his seat." The fixed or random interval schedule on the phone will vibrate reminding Johnny of this target behavior and will better increase his compliance to the target behavior. This is also a great application for those who desire to lose weight and have identified over-eating or eating sweets as a limiter to their goal.

Continual reminders and self-monitoring of behavior has been proven to increase successful performance of the agreed upon target behavior. Best used with individuals age 12 and up.

First Day Of School

I just dropped of my little son for his first day of Kindergarten. It is not easy for a parent to do this. It is good for me to experience what so many parents go through when leaving their kids in the hands/care of today's educational system. Things haven't changed much. I remember like it was yesterday when I was dropped at school for the first time. The fear still is in me. I could see the same fear/anxiety with my son so it was definitely difficult to let him go there. Luckily I know the school, administrators, and teachers so I can't imagine how hard it must be for so many parents to drop off their kids at schools where they do not know the staff so well. Even more scary it must be for those parents with special needs students who are even that more worried about their children and their education. This puts a new perspective on things for me from a school psychologist's viewpoint. I believe it will make me better for it in many ways but especially as a professional trying to help parents deal with this world.

What is YOUR Sphere of Influence?

The concept of "spheres of influence" is not new. It has been commonly used in sociological studies as well as marketing campaigns. It is a systematic way to view how your surrounding environment influences who you are and who you will become. The phrase "Birds of a feather flock together." comes to mind here.

This concept is not earth shattering but it can be beneficial to think about in terms of your own immediate life. Not only is this concept applicable to students, children/adolescents. It is also applicable to adults, businesses, and governments. I often ask myself the question; What company do I keep? How are these people and their behavior and views affecting my life?

As the diagram above illustrates how each part of your life overlaps and affects the outcomes in your life. Individuals fall somewhere in the smaller triangular shaped curve where all three spheres overlap. The diagram and theory attempt to help one realize how their family, community and school/work life interact with their personal life. Believe it or not, our environment and who we interact with dictate who we are now and who we will become later. One can not insulate themselves from these affects but one can focus on one sphere more than another to create more productive outcomes. For example, if you are coming or came from an abusive home life that sphere of influence will continue to affect who you are today. At that time of your life you may have had a positive sphere of influence in either your community or school or even family that compensated for this abuse and helped you get through it. This example is meant to make people realize that if you can identify your negative sphere of influence and replace that with a more positive one you will have a better chance at having successful outcomes.

So take a look at your life today and identify those areas/people who are not positive influences in your life and replace them with more positive influences. This is not easily done and takes quite a bit of hard work and thinking along with purposeful action. However, with determination and some guidance you can begin to point your life in a more positive direction.

Building Self-Esteem

What is self-esteem?

Self-esteem is probably the most in demand commodity and it is in very short supply. This is not something that can be obtained in a jar/bottle or in pill form although many have tried. It can't even be obtained solely by reading books or dreaming about it...although both of these activities help lead to it's acquisition. In fact, there is no recipe for it but there are certain things you can do to help create the right environment for your mind to develop it.

I am not a big believer in counseling to develop self-esteem. I believe most healthy individuals could use improved self-esteem in order to maximize their functioning in school, at work, and at home. I am, however, a big believer in laying the ground work and implementing purposeful planning to develop it. Once this is done it is time to go out and start taking action to improve your self-esteem. This is where the reading, self-assessment, and talk need to take a back seat to going out there and interacting with your environment.

Self-esteem encompasses quite a few different things. Sometimes positive activities lead to self-esteem or positive self-statements help build it....but really, no one knows if these activities help develop self-esteem or if they are simply by-products of an individual who already has a well developed self-concept. Much like developing the mind and body one must work at developing their self-concept and self-esteem on a daily basis. When working on improving any aspect of yourself you need a plan. When we go to college we follow a plan that leads to a degree.

When we prepare for a triathlon or marathon or any athletic event we have a certain training regiment we follow with certain strategies that are designed to provide the highest possibility of success.

It is common for teachers and psychologists to state that you or your child has low self-esteem but it is not so common for any of these professionals to devise a plan that will help you to develop this attribute. Why not? Well, for one reason it takes time, plenty of thought and some creativity on the part of the professional facilitating or coaching the person seeking this. It also takes courage, communication, strength, determination, motivation and trust in the one being coached and doing the work/exercises on a daily basis. As an athletic coach knows, you can write the best workouts in the world and if they are not followed by the athlete with the utmost discipline and motivation they really won't do any good.

So it takes a team approach by two individuals who are working towards a common end. Both sides need to communicate and share ideas and thoughts on how to move forward. Each party learns from their mistakes and improves upon the plan. The plan becomes a living and breathing animal that almost takes on a life of its own while at the same time propelling both the client to new heights of success and self-confidence. Each activity and exercise has a purpose and moves the client forward in a positive direction focusing on and maintaining their strengths while at the same time improving their limiters. Activities and exercises are driven by the client's dreams, goals and objectives that begin to become reality as the client starts to interact with their environment in a positive way. Above all else, a constant stream of communication between the client and the coach is available for when the client has a question or idea that he or she would like to express to or bounce off of the coach.

So how do YOU go about building self-esteem?

I have developed my own plan that is partly based in the fields of psychology, education and athletic training. These are the three fields of discipline I am greatly familiar with and have been proven to get results in common ways. Each field or discipline is dedicated to improving an individual's performance whether it be within their own inner mind (Psychology), their field of study (education), or physical performance/health (athletic training). Within these next few paragraphs I hope to sketch-out the steps to be taken when working with a student/client/individual who is interested in improving their self-esteem.

STEP I:

Identify your personal/behavioral strengths and limiters. This is a critical part of laying the ground work or base for your self-esteem development. Being honest and truthful here is critical and taking a good hard look at yourself is mandatory. Finding out what you are doing that is holding you back and impeding your progress is one thing you have to come to grips with before you can start making change. Otherwise you will be driving with one foot on the brake and one on the accelerator. In addition to determining your biggest limiter it is important to determine your biggest strengths. This is where we look at what is working right within your personal behavior. The main idea is to focus on your strengths while we address your limiters.

Step II:

Identify those individuals in your life that are supporting your positive life changes and those that are dragging you down. This is where many of us need to look at those we associate with with a very critical eye. Are your friends moving you in the positive direction that you want to be moving in? Who are those in your life that mean well and want to help but are creating what is called "resistance" to change by their overzealous nature and pushy behavior?These are usually those people closest to you and who have your best interests in mind but who are emotionally involved in your behavior and unable to help due to this dynamic playing out in your everyday interactions with them. These individuals are usually a well intentioned parent, teacher, counselor or friend in your life.

Step III:

Begin to develop your dream life and picture of how your life would be with improved self-esteem, confidence, and positive interactions with others. This is the time to dream big and challenge yourself. No dream is really to big or too outrageous but it is mandatory that the hair stands up on the back of your neck when you think about it. It is also extremely important that you see this dream as a possibility, albeit a long shot.

Around this dream your 3-month goals and annual goals will be built with benchmarks set by you the client. As you begin to work your way towards your dream goal it will become evident that your dream goal is not such a long shot after all but begins to start to look like a real possibility.

This is the beginning of your plan and what all your daily and weekly exercises and activities will be based of off. It is imperative that your dream be tied into your emotions and that your dream is something you want more than anything else. Your dream is just that. Your dream. You determine it and you decide the criteria that will indicate to you that you have accomplished this dream. As with any plan, nothing is set in stone and is subject to change but your dream will point you in the right direction .

Step IV:

Set-up challenges that will move you towards your dream goal. As in athletics if someone is interested in finishing a long distance triathlon they usually set out to complete an event that is shorter in nature but still challenging. This helps build self-confidence and conditioning for the "Big Event". Your big event can be whatever you want it to be, and guess what?, your chances of success are actually quite good if you are able to follow the plan and stick with it. Same goes for your self-esteem/dream goals. Your 3-month or 6-month challenges will be significantly related to your dream goal but will not be long shots at all but will be challenging.

Step V:

Revisit steps I-IV and keep what works and throw away what isn't working. Revise your plan as necessary and move forward in the process.

Conclusion:

As you can see there is no magic pill to developing your self-esteem and your dream life. It takes hard work, purposeful activities, objective evaluation, and positive support from friends and family. This is what I like to call educational coaching. Although you can call it what you like. It is focused on you the client. It is focused on moving you forward, what is working right in your life, and it is focused on your successes not your failures. You are in control and it is designed to move you in a positive forward direction with you controlling the pace. This is not a program intended for those content with stagnation in their life, those that find it hard to motivate themselves, those that rather find excuses than solutions. It is a challenge to those that want to improve themselves in all areas and aspects of their life but need support, objectivity and a daily plan to help move themselves forward. You bring the motivation,,,,I bring the plan.