Special Education Today newsletter 4(23)

The week’s news and info for the week of 25 November 2024

Welcome to the 23rd newsletter for the fourth year of Special Education Today. This issue, which covers the week beginning 25 November 2024, includes the usual eye candy in the form of some photos, some notes about the status of SET, a list of posts that appeared during the covered week, and some unusually personal comments.

Photos

Readers who are familiar with my neighborhood and my activities in it know that Blue Moon Diner is one of the places that I frequent in these parts. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving was the last day for the Diner. Its owners are closing it. I could not miss that last day. I want to commemorate the passing of the Diner. Here’s a photo.

The view from the Diner’s stage, where Pat and I were seated on the last day of service. The place was packed. We got there 10-15 min before it opened and snagged a place about 20th in line. At the extreme right of this photo you can see a stack of boxes; they contain pies from The Pie Chest that community people had ordered and agreed to pick up from the Diner. If you look at the details, you’ll see that the Diner is a bit quirky. C’ville may not be as weird as, say, Austin, but it does have it’s share of unconventional, eccentric, and idiosyncratic places. The Diner was a peer among the best of them, and might not have had a superior. Photo © 2024, John Wills Lloyd, Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

The Diner hosted live performances, fund raisers for charities (e.g., the Charlottesville Lady Arm Wrestlers) see following photo), and (of course) fed people. Read the report on the Web site for a more complete (and trustworthy) recounting of its history.

The referee calls an arm-wrestling match in 2008 out the back of the Diner. Photo by John Wills Lloyd, 2024, Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

I’ve eaten breakfast, lunch, and dinner there. I’ve been there with wonderful people like the late Patty P., the late Jim K., and the very-much-alive Pat, all of us watching Jim Waive (solo) of Jim Waive and The Young Divorcees.¹

Although I’m sad to see the demise of the Diner, I am eager to see what the owners (and friends) Laura and Rice do next. I wish them well.

Flashes of the electrons

As I mentioned previously, one the joys about publishing SET is seeing readers’ interactions with the content. Most mornings, I open the dashboard for SET and scan the activity on the site. It’s a pleasure to see likes, restocks, and comments.

Comments

Jane B., Betsy T., Tom Z., Mike N., Kathy M., & Dan H. left comments on posts this past week. Thank you, one and all!

Restacks

Pe Jung H. and Sandra D. resetacked posts. Sandra did yeoperson restacking this week: four of them! Thank you both lots for letting others know about posts from SET.

Likes

Jane B., Mack B., Sean (picking the best-written books), Jen W., Mary K., Larry M., Angelique W., Sandi R., Laura M., Allison L., Katie D., Priscilla P., Dan H., Leena (AKA FAPE4U and Special Education Foundations), Clay K., Mike N., and Pe Jung H. That folks, seems like a lot of likes; and, that estimate doesn't count the number of folks who dropped multiple likes this past week (cough-cough…Sean…cough…best books..hack-cough…others…cough).

Thank you all for your support. I haven’t gone back to count over the previous ~170 weeks, but this seems like one of the highest totals in the history of the of the newsletter.

Welcomes

Here’re special “howdys” to Zeleen B., Tracy G., Jean K., Jim B., and Ava A. It’s extra nice to have new subscribers joining in with all the rest of us. Y’all are joining an august group of readers. In addition to parents and teachers, there are administrators (including three former assistant secretaries of education for the US Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services), noted scholars, and 100s of others who subscribe to SET. Happy reading, folks.

And, just in case it’s helpful, here’s a link to share this post!

This week’s ToC

Okay, I posted 10 notes on SET proper since the last newsletter.² And, yes, that is 10…in retrospect, it seems like quite a few! I hope that readers have found them valuable. Here's a listing:

1. Special Education Today newsletter 4(22): The newsletter for the week of 18 November 2024?

2. M. Yell on IEPs, FAPE, and the law at TECBD ‘24: What did those attending Mitch’s talk learn about providing legally trustworthy special education?

3. To abolish or not to abolish: What are the questions?

4. Happy turkey day!: Seeing a bird for the holidays?

5. A little helping of history with your Friday Photos: What's the history connection with this turkey display?

6. B. Nosek on changing scholarly publishing: What's Brian got to say about improving the knowledge base?

7. Happy birthday, IDEA: It's a good thing you didn't die at birth, and it was close!

8. Guidance and a Webinar on analyzing behavior issues: How about an opportunity to learn more about FBAs and FAs?

9. Sorting ID, DD, IDD, and more: What does it matter if we have a common language about disabilities?

10. Return of a valuable resource: What does 'Fred' have this week on The Fixed Interval?

Please don’t choke on the volume of reading material. If you’re already a paid subscriber, go back and read them at your leisure. If you’re a standard subscriber, you can ensure that you can read them later by becoming a paid subscriber.

Commentary

My comments this week will be similar to those last week in a way or two. I say that not because because both weeks addressed technology. Unlike last week, this week’s won’t take you on a tour of obscure and arcane interactions between clients and servers. But it will be similar to last week’s in that it’s not about an issue in special education,³ but about my work flow for SET.

Sometimes in real life, people say, “What do you do now that you’re retired?” I often give a somewhat flippant answer (“I’ve gotten really good at computer solitaire”). Here’re some of things I do each week:

• I read a lot—a heckuva a lot—about special education. Although some of what I read has virtually zero probability of appearing in SET, I need to go through lots of content to find things that are relevant…and to develop background for posts.

• I take a nap (o two…or more…days).

• I create graphics that I hope will make the posts more understandable and attractive (horrible as they are—I’m not an artist!).

• I stare out my windows at the birds and squirrels.

• I reply to comments on SET, and I read a lot (didn’t I already mention this?) of posts in others’ ‘stacks.

• I pet our cats, who are 100% indoor cats…so I also clean the litter box daily.⁴

• I fret about what I could do to make SET more attractive to readers and to attract more subscribers. I examine the number of readers for different posts, the readers’ interactions with posts (beyond those likes and such that I write about in these newsletters—links clicked, for example). I look at the reasons given by people who drop their subscriptions (“content,” “autorenew,” “price,” “time,” and my favorite “advertising”).

• I read and reply to your back-channel correspondence in what I hope is a timely manner (you can test that by simply hitting “reply” to this message when it’s in your mail client). I sometimes send personal notes to new subscribers and to those who have bailed on SET, hoping that I can learn what they like and don’t like about this rag.

• I take walks for exercise and entertainment. (Sometimes those walks give me fodder to SET posts!)

• I make notes for posts and then fail to return to them. I have dozens and scores (...maybe even a gross) of posts I’ve started and not finished. I fret about failing to finish stuff.

• I eat and sleep pretty much every day (really).

• I think about words (communication) a lot.

• Pat and I split dinner preparations (three days a week each) and we continue to have dinner together almost every night. That’s one of the joys of my life; our daughter joins us pretty much once a week, and she sometimes brings a delightful guest; those are doubly joyous dinners.

• I listen to podcasts, some of which are about SET-related content (e.g., reading instruction), but many of which are about current affairs (yes, dammit, politics), special interests (e.g., history), and health (e.g., running, though I haven’t run a real foot race in 10 years⁵).

• I think about adding new forms of interaction to SET. How about a monthly visit via live video? Should I provide voice versions of posts? What if I conducted video or audio interviews and published those. Girl, there’s a lot to think about there…and I start looking out the window…and I begin feeling nappy….

• And it’s over.

Thanks for reading this issue of the newsletter. Thanks, especially to those of you who make a financial contribution to the SET endeavor. And, hugs to Li-Yu, Kathy, and Mike for their super support.

I encourage each and every one of you to do things that will help ensure that you can continue to read SET. Take care of your health, take care of those around you, and be sure to teach your children well.

Love and peace,

JohnL

SET Editor guy
Once-upon-a-time teacher and researcher
Charlottesville

SET should not be confused with a product with the same name that is published by the Council for Exceptional Children. SET predated CEC’s publication by decades (see “Lovitt’s Lines” for examples from those days). Despite my appreciation for CEC, this product is not designed to promote that organization. I’m not selling anything here other than what you read in the posts.

1. Jim is playing from the stage. If you imagine what he would be seeing ahead of him from that spot, you’ll be seeing the view shown in the first photo in this post.

2. I wrote “proper” because I wanted to acknowledge the “notes” I posted on the more chatty part of Substack. There are some posts (either for paying or all subscribers) that appear there but not on the main site.

3. I suppose someone who wants to draw on the meaning of the word “issue” might contend that what follows is about an issue of special education today.

4. Yes, it’s a glamorous life.

5. Did I ever tell you that I once ran often enough and fast enough to be something beyond “a jogger?” Oh! I didn’t? Well let me boast: My PRs are just over 40 min for 10K, just under 71 min for 10 miles, and too damn much over 3 hr 25 min for a marathon (meaning that my 3:26:40 didn’t allow me to qualify to run Boston). Now there are plenty of higher achieving runners among the readers of SET (I am pointing at you, David B., Michael K., and others), but those faster folks have the experience to know that I was only a sorta-slacker.