Special Education Today newsletter 4(6)

What's been happening here in SET land?

Another week has passed since I last posted a newsletter. Probably no one thought I’d forgot, because they are, after all, only weekly posts. But, just in case you thought you might have missed it—whether I messed up or note—here’s the newsletter for Special Education Today for the week beginning 29 July 2024.

Photo

On my way to meet my niece (late brother’s daughter) and grandnephew at UVA, I saw this cluster of mushrooms. I took a couple of seconds to photograph them, as you can see here. If I was a better mycologist, I would have turned them over to see the gills and the stalks…fail. So I don’t know whether these are Puffballs (see Wikipedia or Jenny’s entry) or some other variety.

I posted a copy of this photo to iNaturalist.org, a social network that allows one to share with a community one’s observations about the natural world. Other members share their ideas about one’s observations. The photo will be accompanied by meta information about the time, date, location, etc. of the observation. We’ll see what the folks in the community call these ‘shrooms.

Clearly, I didn’t learn mushroom identification to mastery. I sorta got a little ways better at identification and learned a little about how to go about it, but I am not very skillful. This experience reminds me of the importance to teaching to mastery. If we want our students to be independent learners, we need to make sure that we have shown them how to do something and provided sufficient practice to do a better job than I did with identifying this mushroom. To be sure, there’s no shame in drawing on community knowledge to aid one’s identification of birds, mushrooms, plants, and more. Indeed, using something like iNaturalist should be part of the instruction we provide…when you’re stumped, get competent help!

Status

Little has changed since last week, but readers may have noted that I posted the 1000th message to SET. Woohoo! As you’ll see in the next section of this newsletter (if you didn’t see it earlier in the week), I marked that post by offering discounted annual subscriptions.

Although we lost a couple of subscribers recently, we picked up enough that the net loss was one. There are now something like 720 subscribers to SET with another 160-or-so who follow SET.

Special thanks to all the paying subscribers for sticking with SET (yay for renewals!). In addition, here’s a shout out to Tom Z., pal and colleague of long standing. Not only has Tom been dropping comments recently but from his recommendation on his own ‘Stack, SET has received perhaps 10 new subscribers. Thanks, Tom.

Recent contexts

Here are the post from the previous week.

• Special Education Today newsletter 4(5): If you'd read all the messages from the week of 22 July 2024, would any of this content be news?

• Special education policy changes in GB: Do a think tank’s recommendations make sense?

• Playing dumb, acting bright: Do individuals with disabilities score differently on tests when they are led to think their scores will affect their future living conditions?

• Retro SET: Arithmetic and mathematics: What posts appeared in the SET series about arithmetic & mathematics?

• 1000th-post and end-of-summer sale!: SET is on sale all of August!

• August 2024 SIAT newsletter is available: Wouldn't you know that there is content worth reviewing?

• Olds: Helmer Myklebust 1910-2008: A pioneer in language disorders and learning disabilities

• Food truck co-owner has Down syndrome: How about another instance of people with disabilities making their way as adults?

That’s probably enough for this week, no? I hope that readers enjoyed the content. Remember that post stay on the public side for between one and two weeks and then most of them go behind the pay wall. So read ‘em soon…or click this link to subscribe at the special discounted rate that’s available until the end of August.

Notes & comments

It was a hard week—seemed long, too—here at SET central. It’s probably all the energy I’ve put into watching the Olympics, right?

I’m a sucker for athletic achievement. I see these young people and they are pouring everything they’ve got into their event, match, game. Just being good enough at something to compete at the Olympics is really impressive…then to take a medal when competing against so many other elite athletes is way impressive.

It’s easy for me to find myself catching my breath, feeling choked up, and having to calm myself when I watch these games. It’s not so much about athletes from my country winning (thought I appreciate that), but about seeing so many young people—so many look like they’re only in the mid-teens!—risking failure and loss to take on difficult runs, jumps, flips, hits, strokes….

And talk about mastery! Which one of those 1000s of athletes hasn’t gotten really close to (capital M) Mastery? Sheesh.

I know the thrill of accomplishing things athletic. I’ve played competitive volleyball, run log distances, and such. I certainly never performed at the level the Olympians do. So I don’t know the joy they must experience from being in those Olympic competitions, but I have glimpsed the training that goes into getting there. And I know the extraordinary sense of accomplish that comes just from finishing.

And, then there are advertisements that get to me, too. Yes, even though I regularly avoid advertising,¹ I’m the sucker whose emotions the advertisers are pushing around with the sappy or inspiring bits. I bite on the stories of little kids getting to do fun athletic stuff, the comebacks, the illustrations of virtue and fairness in competition.

Before I leave this topic, two more quick observations:

1. I am pleased to see that advertisers have included individuals with disabilities in some of the ads; I know that it sometimes seems gratuitous, but I’m glad to see those actors who have Down syndrome or who are missing part of a limb getting work (and I hope the residuals pay handsomely). I know that such positioning in advertising has a touch of cynical stretching for more sales…even if, in some ways, disability is being “used,” I’m glad that it’s not being hidden or pitied.

2. The Paralympic Games are coming! I am eager to see the athletes in those events!

While we await the beginning of the Paralympics (and watch some more of the current Olympics), I hope every one will heed the usual admonitions that appear in this last paragraph of the SET newsletter: (a) take care of yourselves and those around you, (b) share some joy with others, and—naturally—(c) teach your children well.

JohnL

John Wills Lloyd, Ph.D.

Founder and editor, Special Education Today

1. Except here on SET of course.