- As of 2013 more than 50% of US students are eligible for a free or subsidized school lunch. As this number continues to climb, the challenge of teaching low-income children can no longer be considered a side issue in American education. Helping poor kids succeed is now, by definition, the central mission of American public schools. Achievement gaps between poor and non-poor kids have remained the same by some measures and increased by others in spite of the fact that closing the gaps has been a government priority for decades. If you work with kids who are growing up in poverty or other adverse circumstances, you know that they can be difficult for teachers and other professionals to reach, hard to motivate, hard to calm down, hard to connect with. This book revisits the research that Paul wrote about in How Children Succeed. It extends his reporting to new discoveries, new models, and new approaches to interventions with children, both inside and outside the classroom.
- Social-science literature is rife with examples of small, high-quality programs that seem to become much less effective when they expand and replicate. Therefore, the aim here is to examine interventions not as model programs to be replicated but as expressions of certain underlying ideas and strategies. The second challenge is to find strategies to address the problems of disadvantaged children. Here we consider the developmental journey of children, and particularly children growing up in circumstances of adversity, as a continuum — a single unbroken story from birth through the end of high school.
- We start with the legend of Harrison Ford who was working as a carpenter at the home of the young director George Lucas who was working on his first film American Graffiti. George got to know him a bit and gave him a small part. The rest is history. Certainly, Mr. Ford got lucky so the big question is how do we make our own luck? The idea is to put enough of the right pieces in place so you can take some of the onus off of random chance. Time to join the thrilling journey of discovery that Janice and Barnaby took during the last year that they claim will help you learn the approaches they uncovered that are almost guaranteed to bring more luck your way.
- Shortly after their research began, Janice realized that real luck happens at the intersection of chance, talent, and hard work. Chance is never enough. You also need a bias towards action. You have to be willing to try as you focus on the things that you can control. Since this field is brand new, Janice and Barnaby couldn’t comb through existing research. They had to do their own.
- Most people (67%) think that working hard contributes to lucky outcomes. They (67%) also think that you can get lucky by being curious. Here we have a story about a girl who found a four-leaf clover, a one in 10,000 chance. Her friends told her how lucky she was, but she made her own luck by being persistent and knowing that there would be a lot of failure along the way. Getting the right information is also necessary, which might mean just asking one more question. The most important ability may be to pay attention and notice opportunities. Good attention is also flexible, which allows us to switch between narrow and open focus.
- While about one-third of Americans are obese, this doesn’t mean that your odds of being obese are one out of three. This is a clear example of where you can make your own luck depending on the diet and exercise program you choose. It’s important to take risks, but not all risks are worth taking so you must size up the risks prior to forging ahead. Improbable things are likely to happen and they are not likely to happen to people who don’t spend some time outside of their comfort zone.
- At 405 pages of reading plus 157 pages of notes and index, this is more of a reference book than an easy read. I listened to it first on Audible and then ordered it so I could look up things when I wanted to. As a result, this summary will be less detailed than my usual efforts, but it should still be valuable in its own right. How Not to Die can be summed up in three phrases: don’t Smoke (duh), exercise regularly, and eat plants. These are all things I do. Prior to listening to this book I had been gradually cutting animal products from my diet. Now I am a total vegan, at least at home. I’m also well ahead of my goal of running 1,000 miles this year, and I feel great. I hope this works for you and your family too.
- Most deaths in the US are preventable, and they are strongly related to what we eat. Diet is the number one cause of death and disability. However, only a quarter of medical schools offer a single course in nutrition. When California tried to require nutritional training for doctors the California Medical Association was successful in stopping it. This is because the medical system is set up to financially reward prescribing pills and procedures. They don’t profit from lifestyle medicine. The one thing medical schools do require is pain management and end-of-life care.
- Our genes only account for about 10 to 20 percent of death risk. The rest is essentially our diet. Rates of heart disease and major cancers differ up to 100 fold among various populations around the world who have different diets. There is wide agreement in the research that healthy diets are plant-based and non processed. By this measure, the Standard American Diet with the ironic acronym SAD, scores pretty low. Although life expectancy has increased there are fewer functional years at the end. Some indicators suggest that life expectancies will decrease. In the early 1900s, the main causes of death were infectious diseases. Now we are likely to die from lifestyle diseases like heart attacks and cancer. Diseases run in families because diets run in families.
- This part of the book features a chapter on each disease. While every chapter deals with plant-based nonprocessed diets as the primary way to not die, each has its own details. Here is a list of the 15 top killlers.
- 1. Coronary heart disease
- 2. Lung diseases (cancer, COPD, and asthma)
- 3. Iatrogenic diseases (diseases that result from doctor errors, drug side effects, and hospital-born infections)
- 4. Brain Diseases (stroke and Alzheimer’s)
- 5. Digestive cancers (colorectal, pancreatic, and esophageal)
- 6. Infectious (respiratory and blood)
- 7. Diabetes
- 8. High blood pressure
- 9. Liver disease (cirrhosis and cancer)
- 10. Blood cancers (leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma)
- 11. Kidney disease
- 12. Breast Cancer
- 13. Suicide
- 14. Prostate cancer
- 15. Parkinson’s disease
- Until he read Dr. Dene Ornish’s Lifestyle Heart Trial in 1990 Dr. Gerger’s diet was full of animal fat, salt, and sugar. He, therefore, speaks from experience regarding how a healthy diet can keep one healthy. To help you know what to eat more of, he created the Traffic Ligth system. Green foods are unprocessed plant foods, Yellow foods are processed plant foods and unprocessed animal foods. Red foods are ultra-processed plant foods and processed animal foods. USDA guidelines tell us to eat less added sugar, calories, cholesterol, saturated fat, sodium, and trans fat. That’s code for eating less junk food, less meat, less dairy, fewer eggs, and less processed food. They can’t say that for political reasons as the people who make unhealthy foods donate and lobby the government to prevent it.
- For the purposes of the Traffic Light model Dr. Greger thinks of “unprocessed” as nothing bad added, nothing good taken out. Tomato juice might be better than tomatoes as all of the good things are still there. The removal of fat from cacao beans to make cocoa powder is a good thing, but try finding something to eat that contains cocoa powder with no added sugar. It may be difficult for most people to eat only plants, but the closer you can get the better, and your body can recover from the occasional insult like when you visit friends who kindly serve you animal products. It’s the day to day stuff that matters the most. Like most people, I eased into a plant-based diet by gradually removing meat, dairy, and eggs from what I thought was already a healthy diet. While some go “cold turkey” on these foods, most don’t.
- Doug: Although he doesn’t focus on it, eating plants is also good for the environment as a it takes roughly ten pounds of plants to create a pound of meat. This saves water, cuts down on pesticides and fertilizers, and greatly reduces the production of greenhouse gasses. Animal lovers can also feel good as no animals are slaughtered for the sake of their diets. Dr. G also recommends organic foods and foods that are grown locally as they are also better for the environment.
- This second half of the book shifts from why to how. There is a chapter for each of Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen, which are the things you need to eat and do every day. Here you find specific information for each along with suggestions for preparation. The number of daily servings is in parentheses.
- 1. Beans (3)
- 2. Berries (1)
- 3. Other Fruits (3)
- 4. Cruciferous Vegetables (1)
- 5. Greens (2)
- 6. Other Vegetables (2)
- 7. Flaxseeds (1 Tbl/day)
- 8. Nuts (1)
- 9. Spices (1) (Dr. G is big on tumeric, but just about all spices except salt and suger are good for you.)
- 10 Whole Grains (3)
- 11. Beverages (5) (Water, various teas, and coffee are good, but you are better off eating whole fruit than drinking sugar laden fruit juice.)
- 12. Exercise (1) (If all you can do is walk, that’s just fine.)
- No matter how closely you adhere to the advice in this book, you can always get hit by a bus (metaphorically or literally. You should take precautions when possible like wearing your seat belt and bicycle helmet. Make each day count with fresh air, laughter, and love for yourself and others. People get great pleasure from eating calorie-dense foods that contain lots of sugar and fat. (Think icecream) With effort, the same pleasures can be had from eating calorie-sparse plants.
- Once you finish this book it’s time to go to Nutritionfacts.org. It’s free but it does accept tax-deductible donations. It continuously keeps track of the thousands of research articles published on nutrition each year. The goal here is to give you the information you need to empower and inspire you to make healthy changes in your life. I know it has done that for me. The idea is not to “go on a diet” but to permanently change your diet. Living a long and healthy life is a choice. We are all going to die, but we don’t want it to be our fault. Thanks Dr. G.
- Michael is a physician, author, and internationally recognized speaker on nutrition, food safety, and public health. He runs a popular Web site NutritionFacts.org, a nonprofit, science-based public service providing free daily videos and articles on the latest nutrition research. He is the director of Public Health and Animal Agriculture at the Humane Society of the United States.
- Gene has written many books on plant-based nutrition, including the #1 New York Times bestseller Forks Over Knives. He has also cowritten the bestsellers The Engine 2 Diet and Living the Farm Sanctuary Life.
- Like all chapters this one starts with a recipe since like recipes math has both ingredients and methods. In math, however, the method being used is probably more important than the ingredients. Once you find a technique in math you can always find more things to study with it. The two key concepts here are abstraction and generalization. Math is abstract in that it studies ideas of things, rather than real things. The invention of numbers to represent things was perhaps the first-ever process of abstraction.
- To do math you have to step away from reality. This is where math finds its strength. The idea that two things cost twice as much as one thing applies to all things, for example. Here we have a process that generalizes. Maps are abstractions of reality. The key for map makers is to find the most appropriate level of abstraction for the given moment. There are a number of math problems here that show how procedures work regardless of the specific numbers involved.
- When making any recipe, it helps to understand the principals of the ingredients and finished products you are working on. Understanding the principles allows you to take shortcuts and substitute ingredients without ruining everything. Recipe books, however, rarely explain such principles. Understanding is power in cooking and in math. At the heart of math is the desire to understand things rather than just knowing them. The chapter goes on to spell out the principals for the natural numbers we use for counting.
- Flour, butter, water, and salt can make a delicious puff pastry, but only if you follow a specific method. Math requires the proper method also and further requires that almost nothing is basic or given. The rules of logic must be followed. Eugenia shows how you can make two mistakes in math and still get the correct answer. At the heart of math is the need to understand things rather than just knowing them. In other words, the means justifies the end.
- Benedict is an award-winning science reporter who has been at The New York Times since 2004. He is one of the newspaper’s most emailed reporters. He has a bachelor’s degree in math from the University of Colorado, and a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University. He has written about health and science for twenty-five years and lives in New York City.
- Benedict starts with his own story about how he got mostly A’s in school along with low SAT scores and couldn’t get in to any of his desired colleges. Along the way he discovered many of the techniques he covers in this book that allowed him to integrate the exotica of new subjects into daily life, in a way that makes them seep under his skin. He has mined the latest science to so how you can make learning part of living and less about isolated choice during his writing career.
- Benedict starts with a simplified explanation of how the brain is structured. Thanks to the study of brain injured patients, science has developed some understanding of how the brain stores and retrieves memories. At the bottom center of the brain is the hippocampus, which is vital for the formation of memories. One type of memory called episodic is used to remember events that take place over time like the first day of high school. The other type is semantic, which deals with facts rather than experiences. When we retrieve a memory of an event, we need to reconstruct it. As a result, the story is likely to change over time as one doesn’t put the story together the same way each time. The basic plot, however, should not change much if at all. In essence, using our memory changes our memory.
- We have another kind of memory that remembers physical skills. This is called motor learning and is not dependent on the hippocampus. We also have conscious and subconscious systems and a lot goes on while we are at sleep. Thanks to surgery on patients with split brains, we know that the left side is the wordsmith while the right side is the visual expert. The left brain interprets what we experience and makes stories that we use to remember what happened. We have at least thousands of brain modules that perform skills like calculating changes in light, tone of voice, and changes in facial expression, and they all run at the same time.
- The goal is to help educators and parents conduct meetings that are legal and efficient and build positive and trusting relationships as they get the job done. All of the relevant legislation is considered here in a way that anyone should be able to understand. This just deals with the law and Supreme Court decisions, not politics or pedagogy. It also does not weigh in on whether the law is good or bad. IEP’s are developed for students with disabilities so they can receive a free and appropriate public education (FAPE). Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is an anti-discrimination law that requires schools to provide eligible students with disabilities the same opportunities as their average peers. Written 504 plans aren’t legally mandated, but they are considered a best practice.
- The purpose is to develop a plan that provides a FAPE for the student as it offers the parents the opportunity to participate in a meaningful manner. They must be provided for students whose circumstances adversely impact their educational performance. It’s the school’s job to identify these students, although parents can bring it to the school’s attention. Appropriate here means that the plan is calculated to help the child make progress and receive educational benefits in light of their circumstances. It should strive to close the gap between their current performance and their potential. It need not close the gap between students and their age-level peers. IEPs are about learning, not passing.
- The plan should also be provided in the least restrictive environment (LRE), which usually means a regular classroom. The plan needs to include the child’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance along with appropriate measurable goals that will demonstrate progress (evidence). Slow progress and repetition of goals from year to year are legal. That doesn’t mean that goals shouldn’t be ambitious. Some states define education to include emotional, social, behavioral, and physical needs.
- These plans are designed to provide eligible students with disabilities the same opportunity to access, participate, and learn as their nondisabled peers. They often include accommodations, services, therapies, and even placements. They provide an equal opportunity while IEPs provide benefits.
- 1. They require that you provide what is needed, no more and no less. If the plan offers more it must be provided and may have unwanted side effects. 2. They are developed by teams, not individuals. Members need to discuss, reflect, and think, but voting should not occur. 3. If the team can’t reach consensus the school representative makes the call. 4. They aim to provide what the child needs, not what the parent wants even if they have a doctor’s prescription. 5. The plans belong to the child. If the parents dispute it they can seek due process. 6. The educators are the experts while the parent provides input about the child (WHO). Teachers know WHAT they teach and they know something about the child (WHO) as well. As long as schools have cogent explanations, courts generally defer to their judgment rather than the parents or third party experts that parents hire.
- 7. Team members need to know how to include the child appropriately. They should be aware if they are fundamentally altering any aspect of a program of study. Accommodations provide access without fundamentally altering the standards or expectations. Modifications provide access, but they also lower standards and expectations. For more on this see Grading, Reporting, Graduating…and the Law. You need not include standard classroom practices provided to all students, but it’s a good idea to include them. 8. Avoid providing more than the child needs such as overuse of 1:1 aides, inflated grades, or too many adaptations. They are often used to make parents happy. Schools are not required to hold meetings simply because parents want one. 9. Parent consent for IEP meetings must be voluntary, informed (plain language), written, and revocable. 504 plans do not need parental consent. 10. Educators need to avoid jargon and speak simply. There are samples here.
- The law mandates who will attend IEP meetings, when the team needs to meet, and how it should proceed. For 504 meetings the district develops its own policies and practices.
- Who: Parent(s), at least one regular education teacher, at least one special education teacher, the district’s representative, an individual who can interpret the instructional implications of evaluation results (Doug: It was the school psychologist for my meetings.), others with knowledge or special expertise, and whenever appropriate, the child. The district representative must be knowledgable about special education, general education, and the district’s available resources. The district must make a serious effort to get parents to the meeting. Just sending letters and leaving voice messages aren’t enough. Some members may be excused, but they must submit written input to parents. IEPs can be amended without meeting as long as the district and parent agree and it’s not the annual meeting.
- Goals on IEPs need to be specific, measurable, contain Action words, be realistic, and be time-specific. The first letters spell SMART. It is vital that good baseline information is available for the child at the start of the meeting. The team also needs evidence that the program they propose works. (evidence-based) Miriam suggests a pre-team huddle prior to starting the meeting with the parent to review available data. (Doug: I never did this as the meetings were already too long.) Team members need to have an open mind, but not an empty mind. Making decisions prior to a meeting has been found to be a denial of FAPE by the courts. If the school and parent disagree, the student “stays-put” in the last agreed-upon placement until the conflict is resolved.
- Written plans are not required, but you should have them. Standards should not be lowered so use accommodations, not modifications. 504 students have an impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities and they need accommodations as a result. This meeting must determine if the child needs a 504 plan. Plans can be implemented without parent acceptance, which means there are no stay-put rights. The parents still have due process. Accommodations should be personalized not boilerplate. Don’t give more than the student needs, and don’t make it a consolation prize for students who don’t qualify for an IEP.
- Preparation prior to the meetings is key. Prepare an agenda, find a comfortable room that is large enough, and neatly decorated. Assign seats and make sure team members understand their roles. Miriam provides a list of “cringe words” that you should avoid. Make sure everyone understands the ground rules. Start on time. Don’t allow interruptions or side conversations. Turn phones off. Track issues agreed upon on a flipchart. Keep the meeting moving so it ends on time.
- The district representative should chair the meeting. This person needs to let other school employees know what is expected and how to behave. This person also needs to make sure that the parent’s rights are respected. At the end review what has been agreed on and make sure everyone understands the next steps. The focus should be on the future and what the student needs going forward. Smile and offer a friendly demeanor. Make sure school staff avoid negative body language. The goal here is to build TRUST with families. Members should actively listen and be succinct. Follow up with parents and reconvene if things don’t work out. Provide drinks and a snack. Miriam also gives two pages of advice for when things go wrong.
- Miriam is an attorney and former teacher who works with people who want better schools. As an immigrant to America at elementary-school-age, she was empowered by public schools and works to help educators teach all children. She works for the Boston firm of Stoneman, Chandler, & Miller where she gives lively and practical presentations, training, and consultations. She co-founded Special Education Day, authored eight books, and has written for many national publications. If you are interested in her presentations visit schoollawpro.com and contact her at miriam@schoollawpro.com.
1. Adversity
2. Strategies
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How luck Happens: Using the Science of Luck to Transform Work, Love, and Life by Janice Kaplan and Barnaby Marsh
Wednesday, April 18th, 2018
How luck Happens: Using the Science of Luck to Transform Work, Love, and Life by Janice Kaplan and Barnaby Marsh lays the groundwork for the new field of luck studies. This is a fine piece of qualitative research that can help you and your kids understand how to lead a luckier and happier life. Parents and leaders alike should read this groundbreaking book to help themselves and everyone they touch.
Preface
Part One – Understanding Luck – 1. Prepare to Be Lucky
2. Some People Have All the Luck—And You Can Be One of Them
3. Pick the Statistic You Want to Be
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How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease by Michael Greger, M.D. with Gene Stone
Monday, June 15th, 2020
How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease by Michael Greger, M.D. with Gene Stone explains what you can do to avoid dying from the 15 most common causes. It can also serve as a reference for current research on health and wellness with a focus on nutrition. Consider listening to it on Audible as I did and good luck living up to the title.
Doug’s Introduction
Dr. Greger’s Introduction
Part I – How not to die from each of the 15 most common causes of death
Introduction to Part 2
Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen
Conclusion
Dr. Michael Greger
Gene Stone
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How To Bake ∏: An Edible Exploration of the Mathematics of Mathematics by Eugenia Cheng
Tuesday, June 5th, 2018
How To Bake ∏: An Edible Exploration of the Mathematics of Mathematics by Eugenia Cheng uses classic baking recipes to illuminate many math concepts. It helps take math into the real world as it helps to make some math seem easier to its readers. At the very least, it should find its way into the hands of every math teacher and serious math students.
Part I: Math – 1. What Is Math?
2. Abstraction
3. Principals
4. Process
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How To Deliver a TED Talk: Secrets of the World’s Most Inspiring Presentations
Wednesday, January 23rd, 2013How To Deliver a TED Talk: Secrets of the World’s Most Inspiring Presentations (© 2012) by Jeremey Donovan, gives you a step-by-step guide to doing your own inspiring TED-style presentation. If you haven’t seen a TED Talk it’s time to start. Click the icon below to purchase this quick, quality read.
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How to Tell Liars From Statisticians Robert Hooke
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010Although this book by Robert Hooke was written in 1983, it is still applicable today. It can help you avoid being persuaded against your will if you only look at the numbers spouted by the data pushers with a critical eye. This book and my summary were written for people who don’t especially like numbers, as well as those who do.
Click here to see my summary of How to Tell a Liar from a Statistician.
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How We Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where, and Why It Happens by Benedict Carey
Monday, December 15th, 2014Learn academic writing with AcademicHelp.net. See a lot of free writing guides and samples.
How We Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where, and Why It Happens by Benedict Carey summarizes research on this topic, much of which educators have yet to implement. Education’s leaders need to read this book and work to reform the system accordingly. Click the icon at the bottom of any page to get a copy for educators you know.
Benedict Carey
Introduction
1. The Biology of Memory
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How well are you Connected? – Nicholas Christakis
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives by Nicholas A. Christakis, MD, PhD and James H. Fowler, PhD is another must read for anyone who wants to understand how our social networks impact our lives. All educators should consider the implications of this work.
As the authors studied social networks, they began to think of them as human super organisms. They grow and evolve. All sorts of things flow and move within them. This super organism has its own structure and a function, and they became obsessed with understanding both. Once we see ourselves as part of a larger network, we can better understand our actions, choices, and experiences. These connections are natural and necessary and a force for good. Just as brains can do more than single neurons, so can social networks do things that no single person can do. To know who we are, we must understand how we are connected.
Click here to see the summary of this book.
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IEP & Section 504 Team Meetings…and the Law by Miriam Kurtzig Freedman
Monday, July 27th, 2020
IEP & Section 504 Team Meetings…and the Law by Miriam Kurtzig Freedman joins her book on Grading, Reporting, Graduating… and the law as must-haves for your school’s special education library. Both are quick reads and provide educators and parents with all the need to know. Principals should put a few copies in the faculty room and parent support groups should have some for parents to borrow.
Introduction: You’re kidding! Another law book for educators and parents!
What is the purpose of an IEP team meeting?
What is the purpose of a 504 team meeting?
Similarities between IEP and 504 meetings
Differences between IEP and 504 meetings
IEP team meetings: Who, when, where, why, how
Section 504 team meetings
Good practices for both types of meetings
Miriam Kurtzig Freedman
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Improving Your School One Week at a Time – Jeffrey Zoul
Tuesday, January 10th, 2012Improving Your School One Week at a Time: Building the Foundation for Professional Teaching and Learning by Jeffrey Zoul (© 2006, Eye On Education: Larchmont, NY) offers a year’s worth of practical and specific advice one Friday at a time. It is the kind of book that lets a principal provide the type of leadership that research sees as a solid way to support student achievement. It also helps a school community engage in continuous improvement. If you purchase the book, you can download each chapter and modify it to suit the purposes of your school. Click the icon below to order the book today.
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