Special Education Today newsletter 4(16)
The week’s news and info for 14 October 2024
Dear subscribers to Special Education Today (and this message is going to all y’all, free and paying),
Welcome to the 1071st post from SET, and it probably represents something like the 160th issue of the newsletter. Those few of you have been around since the get-go may feel a little ennui settling in after reading so much drivel; anyone who gets bored should just keep reading and let that nappy feeling overwhelm her…succumb to a morning, afternoon, or evening snooze.
About three years ago in the then-current issue of this newsletter, which was number 1(17) published 11 October 2021, I started with the following paragraph:
Here is yet another e-mail about Special Education Today. You're getting it because someone forwarded it to you or, at some time since about June of 2021, you submitted your address to the list for this publication. (In case you're getting the forwarded version, please create your own entry in the email database; its free; just click the button at the end of this paragraph). If you no longer want to get the newsletters—and, oh how I hope you still want to receive them—you will find an "unsubscribe link" at the end...it'll only work if you have your own subscription, not if you're getting someone else's forwarded message—you might unsubscribe the person who sent it to you!
This 17th weekly issue of the first volume-year of SET has some pretty predictable content. As usual, it refers to articles published on the Web site this past week. There is also a brief status report for the site and the newsletter, and a bit of commentary at the end. The organization should sound familiar to most regular readers!
Well, pretty much what I wrote then is still accurate with regard to the structure and content of the SET newsletters…except that I wasn’t running a photo feature in the newsletter in October of 2021. With this issue, you can find those same features I mentioned in October of 2021, but I’m adding a photo! (It makes preparing the issue more fun for me…sorry if it’s just another soporific for some of you.)
Photo
Well, shoot, it’s a great time to drop the first of this year’s Hallowe’en images! As regular readers know, I’ve posted photos of decorations I’ve seen around my neighborhood in the past —see, for examples, newsletter 2(22) and ghostly entrances1—so this seems like an easy opportunity to post a photo from 2024.
After I took this photo, I wondered whether a living individual with a skeleton like this might qualify for special education services. Are those disabling deformities or are they yoga positions, dance moves (practicing for Tic-Toc), or what? Now, I recognize that my photo doesn't show the skeletons face, so it’s really hard to know what that person is feeling—happiness, sorrow, anxiety about having its photo in this newsletter. But, please tell what you think in the comments.
Flashes of the electrons
Speaking of comments, let me shower some love on readers who have commented recently. Thanks to Michael K. (commented on Lloyd Family Awards), Katie D. (Too Smart for School), Sally B. and Nancy C. W. (How many ways can we teach reading?), Luann D., Shari M., and Tina C. (an old discussion thread), Sally B. (again! Research and practice), and Tom Z. (Preventing safety problems).
While I’m spreading some love (like icing on a cake?), let me flash my electrons (tip my chapeau?) again to the people who have been alerting other people in their networks about the existence of SET. As I reported previously, Jan H. is the far-and-away leader in sharing SET. She brought in over 400 visitors! Yay, Jan, and thanks! But I should not overlook the fact that Betsy T., Bryan W., Mike N., Carol W., Tina C., and Cheryl Z. have collectively brought in hundreds and hundreds of viewers. The flashes of light must be distracting to other drivers…my hat is very much flapping on my head. Thank you, each and every one of you, including those whom I did not name here, who have been sharing SET with others.
Thanks, too, for tweets, retweets, and likes on Twitter. I am sure there was some activity there the past few days-weeks-months, but I didn't log it. Sigh. Probably I missed tweets from followers or others who liked or retweeted content, as Michael K. and Tina C. often do. I appreciate y'all spreading the word!
And this week’s ToC
Well, I posted nine notes on SET proper since the last newsletter.2 I hope that they are helpful. Here's a listing:
Special Education Today newsletter 4(15)
Here's an update for the week that began 30 September 2024
What's upcoming on the ever-popular show with the US Supremes?
Special education election news: 1
What's happening in the election of 2024 in Washtenaw, MI?
Lovitt's Lines: What did Professor Lovitt report in SET for July 1984 after meandering around a school?
What does ProPublica's reporting reveal about the continuing saga of state and local education agencies paying for placements in residential schools?
How many ways can we teach reading?
What can we learn about contemporary concerns by reviewing a conference presentation from 1968?
What minor changes did I make in an aging post about reading instruction?
Don't you know someone worthy of an award for research?
What are some studies that have examined how to keep kids safe?
Forthcoming
This is such an ad-hoc operation that it is tough to predict what I’ll publish tomorrow, let alone days from now. However, I hope to post a couple of notes this coming week about topics that readers may find of interest. In addition to one of the last few installments of “Lovitt’s Lines,” watch for posts about (a) a special series of articles examining connections between and practices for improving coordination between schools’ implementation of Positive Behavior and Supports and families and (b) instructional practices that, despite an abundance of good-heartedness, can lead students to failing to learn concepts. Sometimes these forthcoming posts will be available to paying subscribers only, so please upgrade your subscription as needed.
Commentary
This week includes the day when my long-term roommate (legal for most of that time) begins another trip around the Sun. In anticipation of that birthdate, Pat, Corey, Angie, Harper, and I had a fun dinner at a cramped table at Bang! where we had lots of small plates. Also leading up to the celebrations, Pat and I have had a lot of wonderful times together.
So, bonus photos! Some readers know Pat. She’s a remarkable person. Caring. Smart. Informed. Good-humored. Gentle. From good stock. Pal. Hot.
These photos3 (l-r, t-b) are from (a) a local dive-diner called “Mooses,”, (b) somewhere in Taiwan (thank you, Li-Yu), (c) a lunch somewhere in Portugal (thank you Paula), and (d) a street in Charlottesville about an hour before things went bat-poop crazy 17 August 2017…little did we know what was going to happen.
You know, when you get lucky, you ought to acknowledge it. My luck has been remarkably great for the many years I’ve known Pat. Happy birthday, Pat!
Okay, here are my familiar admonitions:
Wear your seatbelts: Remember to affix them right away when you get into your car!
COVID-19 and other preventable diseases: Get vaccinated (I am getting a booster before I travel to a conference4 next month!), but understand that having a vaccination doesn't solve the problem. A solution will require that we take other evidence-based steps to prevent transmitting disease to others (sharing of the wrong kind).
And, I implore you to teach your children well (including teaching them how to behave safely in life and health threatening situations).
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.
I think both of these examples of photos related to Hallowe’en are “on the free side.” You might look for others by searching the archives…and some might also be on available to all subscribers.
I wrote “proper” because I wanted to acknowledge the “notes” I posted on the more chatty part of Substack. There are some things that appear there but not on the main site.
Photos by John Wills Lloyd. Please do not reuse, repurpose, or republish without express, written consent.
Thanks to an invitation from my much-admired colleague, pal, and long-time reader of SET, C. Michael Nelson, I shall be participating in discussions about behavior disorders at the annual conference called “Teacher Educators for Children with Behavior Disorders” in Tempe, AZ in late November 2024. I hope to see some of you readers (in addition to Mike) there! There will be celebrations about the late Jim Kauffman…some of us will probably cry.