Special Education Today Newsletter 2(26)

The week’s news and info for 27 November 2022

Dear all y’all,

Here is the 22nd ("twenty tooth?") issue of the second volume of Special Education Today. Happy start of the week following US Thanksgiving 2022.

As usual, this issue refers to posts published on the Web site over the past week. Thus, those folks who check the site frequently will find familiar content in this issue of the newsletter. Others may find new content, and I hope, that content will convince them to switch to a paid subscription.

There is also an updated status report for the community and the newsletter, a note about a new feature, and a bit of commentary at the end. Sound familiar?

Status update

There was limited growth in the number of free e-mail subscribers. In fact, we lost one or two more than we gained, so sorta static. Still, there are nearly 500 e-mail subscribers. I appreciate all y'all who receive this newsletter helping to promote the site and its contents. Keep on sharing!

Browsers made over 3500 visits to the Web site over the past seven days. That's an average of ~500 visitors a day and is fairly similar to the past few weeks. Although there's some variance around that average, over the past month, there were seven days when about 1000 visitors that hit the site.

Flashes of the electrons

Here's a list of SET pals who interacted with the magazine over the last week. Thanks to everyone!

Michael G. (who's a wonderful advocate for SET), Karen A. (a new subscriber who's been quite active), Jane B., Dan H., David C., Michael K., Beth P., Jim K., Clay K., Tina C., Kate B., Susan O., Mary-Anne L., Joel M. (I call him "the NY feed").

Special thanks for those who dropped comments as well as likes: Tina C., Michael G., David C., Michael K., Beth P., and Jim K. I keep hoping that the comments will break out, that people will start interacting with each other.

Thanks, too, to y'all who tweeted, retweeted, and liked notes on Twitter. Please follow @SpecialEdToday to get notices about posts. As some of your may know, I don't send e-mail notices for each and every post on SET, but I usually slip announcements into Twitter.

The ToC for this week

So, there were only eight new posts on SET this week. Remember that you can find the latest SET posts by simply going to the main page at the home page.

Here's a catalog of new posts during the past week.

• Hey, Hechinger Report, are you sure you want to promote such stuff? Why would a respectable news organizagtion publish bologna?

• Updated Web site What the heck is he doing?

• Thanksgiving dinner

• Thanksgiving message What'll you be eating today?

• J. McLaughlin is retiring from NCSER commissioner post What will the top US agency for funding research do?

• Timeline: HB, Zig Engelmann Who knew what counts as teaching?

• Updated Web site #2 Hunh?

• "I’m done saying sorry for being deaf – I want to change how society treats people like me" When I first wore hearing aids I was ashamed of my deafness. Learning not to blame but to advocate for myself changed that

I think these are terrific stories. I may have presented them poorly, but I hope readers are intrigued by them and peruse them. Note, please, that I’m begging you to let me know what you like and don’t like. Add comments to the posts and write to me directly to provide feedback!

Commentary

I'm still basking in the glow of my experience in Tempe a couple of weeks ago at the meeting of Teacher Educators for Children with Behavior Disorders. As mentioned in posts, Melody Tankersley and Tim Landrum made wonderful plenary presentations at the conference. In the lead up to Melody’s talk, I told my former colleague, Jim Kauffman, it was not safe for Jim and me to be seated near other people during these talks, because nearby people were likely to be injured by the buttons that would pop off our clothing while we watched our extraordinarily accomplished former student make great a presentation.

Despite my warning, Jim and I foolishly sat together for Tim’s talk, too. As far as I know, our buttons didn’t injure anyone. Mine were popping, for sure, though. What a benefit for we old professors.

There are lots of reasons for liking the job of a professor. Professors get to do reading, arithmetic, and writing for a large part of their work. They get to make their own hours (even if they have to work late grading papers or preparing funding proposals—maybe 60-70 hours a week). But the best part, in my view, is getting to hang out with smart, eager, hard-working, young people who elect to come to school for the opportunity to work with you. What flattery! What joy as they learn things!

Melody and Tim are only two of the advanced students with whom I had the opportunity to work since the 1970s. It would be quite difficult for me to catalog all of them, and I suspect the following list misses some who are subscribers, but I'll list names of those who should be familiar to the readers of SET: Alfredo A., Beth P., Betsy T., Bill G., Bruce A., Clay. K., Ed S., Jane B., Jean C., John R., Kat A., Kristen S., Laurie d., Li-Yu H., Michael G., Paul M., Paula C., Peggy W., Sarah D., Sean J., Shanna H., Susan O., Vicky V., Virginia W.

I'm terrifically flattered that these folks are subscribers—still following this old man's work. I'm very happy that these people spent time (years!) in proximity with me. But, the really good news is that these people are or have been teaching others about special education. From my perspective, I learned from these wonderful contributors to special education. I’m especially glad that they are carrying the work ahead.

It's a source of button-popping pride, but it's humbling. I am so honored that students chose to hang with my colleagues and me. I hope readers of SET will watch for contributions by these fabulous people, whether here or elsewhere, and promote them.

Now, here are the usual admonitions: (a) Wear your seatbelts: Remember to affix them when you get into your car! (b) COVID: Get vaccinated, keep safe social distance, wash your hands, and use masks. And (c) please, please teach your children well.

JohnL

SET Editor guy

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. Despite my appreciation for CEC, this product is not designed to promote that organization.