The Boy Who Threw a Book at My Head

Date: December 24th, 2013

I spent the weekend trying to resurrect an inviting classroom from a carnage of mismatched plastic furniture. Every chair and desk wore battle scars or patches of duct tape. The closet overflowed with garbage. I’d been hired just three days before school started so, with almost no preparation time, I was grateful I’d be teaching an old favorite for my first class, “Catcher in the Rye.” Officially my title was teacher of the Emotionally and Behaviorally Disturbed; unofficially, it was 9th grade English.

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Understand the parents’ heartache or lose the battle.

Date: December 19th, 2013

Watch this video [1:39] to see how to work with parents of difficult children.

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If you give an accommodation, teach ’em how to use it

Date: December 12th, 2013

Watch this video [0:46] for a funny little story about what can happen to a kid, or anybody, who has an accommodation but doesn’t know how to use it!

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Asking a question is a complex social skill

Date: December 5th, 2013

Watch this video [0:39] to learn the basic, social-skill components of asking a question.

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