Donald J. Asbridge, Ed.S., School Psychologist Are you trying to start RtI in your district but are hopelessly mired down?  You haven't even started your new 1500-page RtI procedural manual?  Check out the new LIM RTI IRL model.  It's FREE and it's a start... Click here to download the 12-page PDF document (672 KB)

Hi all,      Have you been noticing what I've been noticing?  I've noticed there's no "team" in "IEP Team" any more.  I'm really sad.  It's very difficult to arrive at an IEP team diagnosis and forward IEP team recommendations when there's no IEP Team!  All of us are only as effective as the team we're on.  It's just really difficult when there's no team!  Sorry, not trying to be a bummer or anything, just wanted to identify another opportunity for you.  I hope you'll take some time to somehow form a highly effective multidisciplinary team to serve students.  Good luck!      See you next month!           Miss Diagnosis

Arvin vs. Taft
Donald J. Asbridge, KOG Sports Reporter

     Speaking of teams, I've been following with great interest the seasons of the Arvin Bears and Taft High's Wildcats.  The regular season culminated with a showdown between the two schools battling for the SSL championship on Friday, November 3rd, 2006 in Arvin.
     Arvin won the championship in brilliant fashion.  Arvin's coaching staff made the right call.  Arvin fulfilled it's potential.  Arvin wanted it more.  Arvin's coaching staff, players, parents, athletic department, and fans all need to be commended and congratulated.  This year's team personified what high school sports should be all about.
     My compliments go out to the Arvin Bears, who showed up and did what it took to get the job done.

It has come to the KOG's attention that there are some psychologists and others who are consistently recommending that parents take away their kid's football, basketball, or other sport if he doesn't complete his homework... come on, give me a break!  That won't make him do his homework, it'll just make him angrier and hate school more.  Sports [can be] good for kids... find a different way (a more positive way) to get him to do homework!  A better solution would be to take away the teacher's cell phone and Starbucks Card until she quits assigning three hours of homework a night.  Let the kids have a little success and enjoyment in life.  Quit using homework as a method of punishment and control.

Dear KOG Editor,    I like your new LIM RtI IRL model.  Do you think it will ever actually be implemented in the schools?                Signed, "Principal" Dear Principal,    No.  It makes too much sense.  It's too easy.  It's utilitarian.  It doesn't involve a five-year task force meeting at great expense to the taxpayers.  It's not based on an administrative decision.  It's too logical.  It would work, therefore, it doesn't stand a chance.                Signed, KOG Editor

Dear KOG Editor,    I'm a sophomore in high school and am thinking about joining the Young Republican Club at school.  But the problem is there are 45 students in the Young Democrats Club and only 12 in the Young Republicans Club.  Which club will give me the best opportunity to obtain my goal to be future president of the United States?                Signed, "Future President" Dear Future President,    It really doesn't matter, Republicans and Democrats are both, um, pretty much the same.                Signed, KOG Editor Dear KOG Editor,    I was impressed with your letter to the ACLU and USDE in last month's KOG.  Does this mean I won't be discriminated against any more just because I'm a boy?                 Signed, "Tired Of It All" Dear TOIA,    No.                Signed, KOG Editor

MORON LABELING

Labeling Links...
Donald J. Asbridge, Ed.S., KOG Editor

Special Education 201:
For all who have forgotten what we learned way back when, sometimes it's nice to go back and remember and review what we once learned in our undergraduate days -- and then forgot.  In the study guide (page 2) from UNM, the class is thinking (if your a behaviorist, that means they are engaged in automatic reinforcement) about the, uh, advantages [sic] and disadvantages of labeling children.  Just for fun, you might want to click here for a blast from the academic past.  I commend and admire the students and the professor for at least thinking about this issue -- soon, though, the students will graduate from college and become, hmmm, part of the system... http://www.unm.edu/~bricheer/sgch1-5.htm

Disabilities fall on the normal curve?
I found this website while searching for terms such as "labels and rights."  It was a pleasant surprise for me to see there is at least one more person out there somewhere in the world who seemingly feels we should treat the individual and not the label and that disabilities (i.e., strengths and weakness) are human conditions.  There are a lot of interesting insights at this site: http://www.disabilityisnatural.com/articles/index.htm

National Association of School Psychologists (NASP RWOL Position Statement):
I just always have to throw in this link whenever I address the subject of labels.  Everyone just stares at me as if I'm crazy so I always remind them that this topic/view is not something I just thought up one midnight... it's a subject addressed by great leaders and thinkers in our profession; NASP has an official position statement at:  http://www.nasponline.org/about_nasp/pospaper_rwl.aspx

My ongoing question....
Is there any public school district in the country (aside from the multitude of alternative systems springing up around the nation) using the RWOL approach to serve students?  The only two answers I've ever received were, "um there's some district up in Oregon doing that," and "that'll never work."  I've searched and searched and still can't find that elusive Oregonian district; and I guess I'm a slow learniner -- I think RWOL would or could work (at least better than many of our present service delivery options).  Please, I have to find a district that uses RWOL!  If you are aware of such a district, contact me at shrink@igalaxy.net

SOCIETY

Continued Controversy Slows Nation's Progress...
Donald J. Asbridge, Ed.S., KOG Editor

When does the daily commute actually start?

So our nation remains divided on this important and ongoing controversy.  Any ideas?  Some have suggested empathy, communication, and humanistic approaches while others have promoted the use of logic, science, and common sense as possible pathways to the solution, but so far to no avail.  The KOG holds no official position on this matter at the present.

How will it all end?  Ultimately the courts and lawyers will decide it.

NEXT MONTH:  The KOG addresses another important issue dividing America:  When does breakfast actually begin?

TIMEly observations...
 

"I wish more people were provocative.  I wouldn't ever say there's censorship in this country,  But there's a lot of peer pressure.  Because when anybody says anything that's the least bit feather ruffling, everybody just goes nuts.  If anybody in this country is forced to undergo a single moment of discomfort, the person who caused it must go away."      Bill Maher      June, 6th, 2006 (Time Magazine, p. 6) ----- Bill, have you been reading the KOG again?

"Young boys are dropping out of high school, but they've memorized the lyrics of difficult rap songs, and they know how to braid each other's hair... never before has life been so perfect for you [historically black women's Spelman College in Atlanta] to take charge."      Bill Cosby, Ph.D.,       University of Massachusetts      June 6th, 2006 (Time Magazine, p. 79) ----- Bill, you're a day late and a dollar short.  Women took charge over twenty -- no, thirty -- years ago.

1 in 12  (8%)... "The number of pregnant women who report drinking alcohol."      Christine Gorman      June 6th, 2006 (Time Magazine, p. 75) ----- Let's see... that's about the same percentage of students who are diagnosed with learning disabilities.  Hmmm.

Happy  Holidays!

Here is an EMPOWERMENT POSTER just for, um, empowerment!  This is the KOG Editor's holiday gift for you (i.e., your students).  Most students don't choose to become empowered just because of a poster on the wall, but every now and then, one actually does...  Click here or on the poster for the larger-sized image.  Print it out and put it on your wall for your students -- maybe one of your students will take one moment to look at it and -- think (if you're a behaviorist, that would be to engage in some repetitive automatic reinforcement) for just one moment about it?  You never know in this soft science of education.  Either way, happy holidays!