To support every student in their intellectual and personal growth every day.  This, I believe, is the purpose of public education. Students will struggle to "grow" in either area if mental health issues prevent them from developing the cognitive regulation, emotional regulation, and social/interpersonal skills appropriate for their developmental stage. June 30, 2019, Sunday edition of the New York Times featured an article titled, What You…

Creating Conditions to Promote Wellness in Schools: Systemic change to reduce mental health and substance abuse problems.

Robert Tymann, EdD

I struggled with the title of this article, specifically with the word "reduce." I want to say eradicate or eliminate, but that is not possible. There are too many factors beyond the control of our schools. The National Institute on Drug Abuse, (NIDA) writing about early childhood…

The phrase “stay in your lane bro,” worked its way into popular jargon in the last few years. In my experience, it is used more often by those 30 and younger in a jovial context among friends. I interpreted the phrase as a catchy way of chiding a friend about one’s superior command of an area of expertise. What harm could there be in that? A little good-humored ribbing among friends. But context is important. Recently I heard the phrase used in my professional life and I found the use in a…

I am not sure if we are in the middle of a series of reforms, finishing another round, in a lull, or just really getting started. I think the answer would be different depending on whom you ask, and the most popular answer may be “all of the above.” In this confused state, many dedicated educators are trying to sift through the issues of compliance and reform to maintain focus on our purpose: student learning and classroom instruction. We need to find the right leverage points within each…

The first year of teaching can be overwhelming.  Trying to navigate an often illogical system and find your niche in the school culture that you hope to thrive in is stressful enough.  Add in trying to apply all you have learned about teaching and learning during four years of college while struggling with classroom management, student motivation, and parents, and there are a lot of sleepless nights.  I remember questioning my choice to be a teacher often…

In the present anti-testing climate how can we gather relevant data on student achievement and use that information to improve classroom instruction?  One initiative that holds great potential is a regional assessment consortium, organizing teachers from multiple districts to develop a common assessment for their classes.  My district is presently involved in such an initiative through the Peconic Teacher Center in Southampton, New York.  There are seven…

Recently, the administrative team from East Hampton Schools and representatives from some surrounding districts participated in a full day workshop on the relationship between DOK and content complexity.  The presenter, Erin Quast, is from WebbAlign, working out of the Wisconsin Center for Education Products and Services (WCEPS).  The presentation was excellent, Erin is very knowledgeable and was able to help us…