News and Articles

Guiding Students Toward Career Readiness 

by: Sarah E. Ross, M.Ed. 

Footbridge Education LLC 

Northeast Association Of Learning Specialists (NEALS) 

The term “career readiness” appears everywhere—in program outcomes, strategic plans, and everyday conversations with colleagues—but what does it actually mean? In my observations of college, graduate, and medical students, readiness for a career, and especially for a specific professional path, emerges most clearly in how students approach increasingly complex tasks: studying more intentionally, monitoring their understanding, and adjusting when familiar strategies no longer meet the expectations of the work (Cutrer et al., 2019; McGuire, 2015; Zimmerman, 2002). 

By the time first-year students arrive on campus, many have already developed strong recall-based study habits: rewriting notes, following rubrics meticulously, or rereading until the material feels “comfortable.” These strategies often served them well earlier in their schooling. But as cognitive demands rise—particularly in upper-level or professional coursework—I’ve heard familiar refrains: “I studied for hours, but the exam didn’t look anything like what I reviewed,” or “I studied for hours and still failed—I don’t understand how.” Students are often convinced, with all this “failure,” that they’ve chosen the wrong career path—and then start to panic: I thought I was on my way to becoming a nurse/doctor/social worker…so what now? What happens if I don’t make it? 

These questions—about uncertainty, decision-making, and applying knowledge in real contexts—continue to shape how I think about professional preparation. When I began working with medical students, I first encountered the Master Adaptive Learner (MAL) model, and it immediately gave language to what I was seeing. Its cycle—Planning, Learning, Assessing, Adjusting—captures the adaptive moves students are already trying to make (Cutrer et al., 2019), or at least the moves they need to make to develop academic effectiveness and, ultimately, career readiness. 

The MAL model aligns closely with frameworks many educators already use. For example, it resonates strongly with Bloom’s Taxonomy (Louisiana State University Center for Academic Success, n.d.): students often prepare at one level while being assessed at another. They rely on flashcards without practicing application, or reread and rewrite notes instead of engaging in retrieval and analysis. Once students recognize that the task requires a higher level of thinking than the strategy they’re using, their frustration begins to make sense—and their learning becomes more intentional. 

One of the most powerful tools I use to teach this shift—from relying on recall-based strategies to engaging in higher-level thinking—is the Study Cycle, adapted from Frank Christ’s PLRS system (Louisiana State University Center for Academic Success, n.d.) and expanded by Saundra McGuire (2015). Grounded in Bloom’s Taxonomy, the Study Cycle clearly distinguishes

passive review strategies from deeper, retrieval- and application-based learning; it helps students break learning into deliberate phases—previewing and asking questions before class, actively engaging during class, reviewing soon after, and then spacing retrieval and application over time. When I teach it, students can almost always pinpoint where their process is breaking down. 

These approaches reflect broader research on how learners make sense of complex tasks. Ritchhart, Church, and Morrison (2011) emphasize the value of making reasoning visible, helping students uncover misconceptions and clarify their approaches. Zimmerman’s (2002) model of self-regulated learning highlights cycles of forethought, performance, and reflection—skills essential for deeper learning. Nilson (2013) shows how learners strengthen awareness and adaptability when taught to monitor and adjust their strategies. And Oakley, Rogowsky, and Sejnowski (2021) illustrate why students benefit from shifting between focused, detail-oriented thinking and more expansive, big-picture thinking, especially when grappling with unfamiliar problems. 

So, what is career readiness? As a start, it may be most useful to understand it as a series of small turning points: noticing a gap early, shifting from memorizing to self-testing, or adjusting a strategy after evaluating what actually worked. Over time, these moments accumulate and help learners grow into career-focused thinkers capable of planning, evaluating, and adapting. 

Want to continue the conversation? There’s so much more to discuss about this topic—including the social-emotional skills needed to be career ready (and how to teach them), the role of self-regulated learning, how educators can help secondary-school students build strong career-readiness habits, and the reliable metacognitive tools that can transform students’ experiences of school and career confidence. For now, recognizing how students adjust their study strategies as tasks become more complex leads naturally to thinking about how they can become more adaptable, flexible, open, and curious in their professional work. Keep an eye out for upcoming opportunities to explore how we can better support students on the path toward becoming “career ready.” I look forward to connecting. 

References 

Cutrer, W. B., Pusic, M., Gruppen, L. D., Hammoud, M. M., & Santen, S. A.

(Eds.). (2019). The Master Adaptive Learner. Elsevier Health Sciences. 

Louisiana State University Center for Academic Success. (n.d.). Bloom’s

Taxonomy.

Louisiana State University Center for Academic Success. (n.d.). The Study Cycle

(adapted from Frank Christ’s PLRS system). 

McGuire, S. Y. (2015). Teach students how to learn. Stylus Publishing.

Nilson, L. B. (2013). Creating self-regulated learners: Strategies to strengthen

students’ self-awareness and learning skills. Stylus Publishing. 

Oakley, B., Rogowsky, B. A., & Sejnowski, T. J. (2021). Uncommon sense

teaching: Practical insights in brain science to help students learn. Tarcher Perigee. 

Ritchhart, R., Church, M., & Morrison, K. (2011). Making thinking visible: How to

promote engagement, understanding, and independence for all learners. Jossey-Bass. Zimmerman, B. J. (2002). Becoming a self-regulated learner: An overview. Theory Into Practice, 41(2), 64–70.

Recap of NEALS' Member Meeting at Taft School

On Wednesday, October 15, learning specialists from independent schools across Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York gathered at Taft School in Watertown, CT to reflect on the start of the academic year and share ideas for strengthening student support.

Discussion topics included: 

• Engaging Students in the Learning Process
  We explored ways to help students focus on how they learn, not just on getting the right answers. Members shared creative ideas for rebuilding process-oriented study habits and carving out time for reteaching within already full schedules.

• Using Data to Guide Our Work
  The group discussed approaches to tracking student use of academic support services and considered how this information could inform departmental goals for the year ahead. Participants shared meaningful, manageable systems for data collection and use.

• Rethinking Staffing and Scheduling
  Members compared strategies for staffing, coverage, and scheduling student meetings or test/exam proctoring. The conversation surfaced effective practices and opportunities to adjust systems to better meet student needs.

• Growing Through Professional Development
  We exchanged workshop ideas and training models that have helped faculty deepen their understanding of learning support and inclusive teaching practices.

• Clarifying Student Referral Pathways
  Together, we clarified the steps involved in self-referrals, internal screenings, and determining when external testing is appropriate. Members reflected on how to make this process transparent and supportive for students and families.

• Managing Accommodations with Care
  The discussion wrapped up with strategies for balancing administrative responsibilities, maintaining communication with families, and supporting students as they grow their independence and prepare for the transition to college.

The biggest takeaway from our conversation was that, despite differences in our centers and processes, we are all working toward the same goals in supporting our students and colleagues. These meetings are such a valuable opportunity to learn from one another, and we’re already looking forward to the next time we can meet. 

If you’re interested in hosting an upcoming member meeting, please reach out to chrisouellette@nealsonline.org —we hope to see you at one later this year!

Ruminations About Our Students’ Anxiety

by Melissa Rubin, Principal at TheStudentFirst and NEALS' Secretary

Believe it or not, the last two weeks of summer represent one of my favorite times of the year. I know. That sounds crazy, especially because the end of summer means school starting up again. But as a former tennis player, to me, the last week of August and the first week of September simply mean the US Open, the final grand slam of the year. So while I no longer head to New York for the true in-person experience (oh, the stories I could tell!), I watch the matches intently on TV. This year, while watching, I’ve been struck in particular by how much of the conversation among the commentators and players alike has revolved around mental health. And rightly so. All four of this year’s women semi-finalists openly discuss their struggles with anxiety and advocate for the importance of seeking help. Two of the women, Naomi Osaka and Amanda Anisimova, both took over a year off from tennis to focus solely on their mental health - and clearly they are better for that decision. 

In stark contrast, students don’t usually have the option to “just step away” from school to focus on how they are feeling. Despite also suffering from anxiety, stress, and even depression like professional athletes, students are still expected to function normally, learn, and excel at everything they do. 

Frequently, as learning specialists, these students end up sitting in front of us. This is not to say that anxiety is these students’ primary issue - but certainly when dealing with learning difficulties, how they’re feelings about themselves and their situations come into play. I have found the comorbidity of anxiety with learning disabilities to be profound. 

So, as school amps up, I mention these facts to serve as a reminder that much of our responsibility as learning specialists is to help our students learn the skills that help them manage themselves, including their feelings, so that they can be open to learning in the classroom. We are not therapists, but that doesn’t mean we can’t help students strategize for how to handle difficult situations they might face (i.e., an assessment, a presentation, etc). We can offer examples of relaxation and/or grounding techniques - breathing practices, using fidget toys, etc. 

I present these thoughts for your consideration and welcome feedback. 

Cheers to a successful school year for everyone! 

Melissa  

You Matter!

By Laura Foody, Director of Learning Support at Dedham Country Day School and NEALS' President

Being a Learning Specialist can be hard.  We teach struggling students.  We consult with anxious parents.  We coach and support overwhelmed teachers.  Sometimes.  Other times, we celebrate our students’ successes.  We guide families to the tools and resources that help their children thrive at school.  We watch with joy when a teacher successfully differentiates a lesson.  Our career calling has many ups and downs.  Sometimes, it may seem easier to throw in the towel and seek employment in another field or go into another form of teaching. But I implore you to hold that towel and don’t give up because you matter.  You matter to your students.  You matter to your families. And you matter to your colleagues.  I consider Learning Specialists to be the heart and soul of a school, and we are vital to the organizations in which we work and the students we serve.

About ten years ago, I was co-teaching a third-grade Math class.  We had a very bright but very anxious student who thought he couldn't get through the class on his own.  At the beginning of each class, he would hand me a slip of paper on which he wrote “Reservation With You.”  I always made sure to check in on him throughout class to make sure he understood the content, remained calm, focused, and on task.  And you know what, by the end of the year, he no longer handed me the “reservation” ticket because he knew I would check in on him, and he also knew that he could succeed in Math class. I began to collect the “reservation tickets” and notes from students and families. They rest in an old shoe box in my closet and come out at least once each school year to remind me why I am a Learning Specialist. When I feel burnt out, these notes remind me that I have made a difference in the lives of so many people over the years.  And then I remember, I matter, and I continue to matter.

I suggest you get your own shoe box and collect the notes (and emails) you receive, and when the work day has been tough, take out the box and remember why you are a Learning Specialist and that you matter to many, many people.  

Wishing you a wonderful school year. The NEALS Board has been working hard to plan events throughout the year that will empower and inspire you.  We look forward to seeing you soon!

Warm regards,

Laura

Summer Reflections: My First Consultant Role

By Chris Ouellette, M.Ed., NEALS' Board Member

Happy August Folx! After taking a year away from the NEALS organization to focus on family, I’m excited to return to the fold! Our Board recently spent a few days together in Wolfeboro, NH, planning and preparing for the year ahead. We're looking forward to offering a range of monthly events and written pieces. With that in mind, thank you for taking a moment to read as I reflect on my first year-long consultant role!

In May 2024, I was honored to be selected as the Visiting Scholar for the Student Support Services department at a school in the Midwest. The position was made possible through a generous alumni gift, aimed at strengthening and refining the school’s support lens, a meaningful and complex endeavor. The work of student support in independent schools offers a powerful lens through which to examine both student growth and institutional challenges. While it highlights meaningful impact, it can also surface tensions within a school’s overarching goals. A natural push-pull exists as schools strive to find the right balance between academic rigor and necessary support. Faculty and staff often bring differing understandings and entry points around neurodiversity, special education, accommodations, modifications, and inclusion, differences that can lead to moments of uncertainty and difficult decision-making about what is truly best for students. Striking this balance is not simple; it demands courageous, ongoing dialogue about pedagogy, equity, and deeply held experiences. When schools are able to center these conversations around students with honesty and purpose, the balance between rigor and support becomes not only possible, it becomes fully attainable. 

It was an absolute privilege to work with another school community throughout the 2024–2025 academic year. The alumni-funded gift that supported this initiative was exceptional in its focus: advancing Student Support through a practical, actionable lens. I deeply valued the opportunity to engage with various stakeholder groups, listening to their hopes, their tensions, and need for greater clarity. This work allowed me to navigate complex scenarios, support strategic decision-making, and celebrate important professional milestones alongside this community.

The experience also presented personal and professional challenges. The academic year began with the profound loss of a parent and the simultaneous transition into a senior leadership role at my home institution. Balancing the competing demands of both communities proved difficult at times, resulting in a temporary communication gap that required honest dialogue and recommitment to move the work forward. 

Supporting a community in weighing ideal solutions against realistic constraints is a learning opportunity in itself. These moments often bring with them strong emotions, divergent opinions, and the friction that comes with meaningful change. Within that tension lies the opportunity for growth. When we frame our problem-solving through the lens of long-term vision and student-centered purpose, the result is not just compromise, it is a stronger, more resilient program shaped by shared intention.

As we get ready to head back to school in just a few weeks, take a moment to soak in the words of Bob Marley: “One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” Let the rhythm carry you through these final summer days with my Summer 2025 Spotify Playlist.

Cheers,

Chris

Supporting Confident, Self-Regulated Learners: Resources for Helping Students Build Strategies for School and Career Success 

Sarah E. Ross, M.Ed., Footbridge Education LLC

In my most recent history as a learning specialist at the University of New England, I worked closely with students in undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs to help them build key study and learning strategies for school and career success. I designed and taught a study and learning strategy course to first-year students although I mostly worked with students one-on-one in my office, most of whom would express the same sentiment when they showed up at my door (what I’ve heard routinely from students of all ages over the past 25 years): “I can’t do this” - pass the test, write the paper, give a successful presentation, talk to a professor, get started on a project. I imagine all learning specialists can relate to and empathize with this particular moment, as the instinctive answer from the helper (learning specialist), aside from empathy, is, by the end of the session: “You can!” (I have repeated these words to myself as I am about to revive my educational consulting practice with two of my UNE colleagues. And I have also reminded myself of the strength gained through collaboration.)

When people ask me about the most important skill I teach students (all students), my answer is always the same: self-efficacy - in other words, believing in your ability to accomplish challenging tasks and that your ability can grow with effort. While my general experience supporting students tells me this, there is some theoretical backing to my answer that I love sharing with students as part of a larger conversation about what it means to be a self-regulated learner - in other words, someone who is able to make a plan, monitor their plan, make changes to stay on track, reflect on what worked, and identify what could be improved the next time around (Noonan & Erickson, 2017).   

As Schraw, Crippen & Hartley (2006) illustrate, self-regulated learning relies on cognition (involving problem solving and critical thinking), metacognition (knowledge and regulation of cognition - e.g., how one thinks, not just what they think), and motivation, which involves self-efficacy and a drive to engage in learning. My observation is that while most students may have developing or even strong critical thinking and problem solving skills, most students haven’t yet learned metacognitive strategies (routinely thinking about their learning - planning, monitoring, reflecting), and many students lack the motivation they need to feel that they are truly in control of their own learning - and so to manage time well, stop procrastinating, or succeed on the next test. 

How do we help students build these skills and strategies? Here are a few useful resources I’ve relied on to help me teach students about metacognitive, self-regulated learning, and critical, interrelated social-emotional strategies:

Teach Yourself How to Learn: Strategies You Can Use to Ace Any Course at Any Level  by Saundra Y. McGuire with Stephanie McGuire and Mark McDaniel (2018) 

and its companion: 

Teach Students How to Learn: Strategies You Can Incorporate Into Any Course to Improve Student Metacognition, Study Skills, and Motivation by Saundra Y. McGuire with Stephanie McGuire and Thomas A. Angelo (2015)

While Saundra McGuire doesn’t explicitly teach about self-regulated learning in these books, she does discuss several metacognitive strategies that have helped motivate my students toward greater academic success and that help facilitate efficient, effective, deep learning. The study cycle strategy is invaluable, with five key steps that promote metacognition and self-regulation: preview, attend, review, study, and assess. I have both read Teach Yourself How to Learn with students and discussed the companion text for educators with colleagues. Students routinely thank me for teaching them about the study cycle which helps them self-regulate their learning and studying. If only I had learned about this strategy when I was in high school!     

The Skills that Matter: Teaching Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Competencies in Any Classroom by Patricia M. Noonan and Amy S. Gaumer Erickson (2017)

In their book, Patricia Noonan and Amy Erickson present six key social-emotional skills needed for school and career success, including self-regulation, goal-setting, self-efficacy, assertiveness, conflict management, and networking. I’ve routinely used these key skills in my teaching, working with students to name key connected strategies. I’ve also regularly accessed Noonan and Erickson’s website, www.cccframework.org, for an especially useful College and Career Competency Wheel and other related resources. The wheel names several interrelated interpersonal and intrapersonal skills that are great jumping-off points for conversation with students and colleagues and ones I explicitly teach students in my learning specialist sessions. 

Uncommon Sense Teaching: Practical Insights in Brain Science to Help Students Learn by Barbara Oakley, Beth Rogowski, & Terrence Sejnowski (2021) 

Barbara Oakley’s Uncommon Sense Teaching has helped me teach students about the neuroscience behind how they learn and to have related discussions with their teachers about inclusive teaching and supporting motivated, lifelong learners. In addition to the book, the Uncommon Sense Teaching co-authors have created a free multimedia Coursera course that is self-paced and fun!

Wanna dive into more conversation together about supporting self-regulated learners? Be in touch and/or join the workshop I’m co-facilitating with Kerrie Husband-McGregor on February 25, 2025, 7-8 p.m. ET: “Helping Students Design their Path to Academic Success,” designed for learning specialists working with students in middle school through higher education. Kerrie and I will share strategies and resources we’ve used successfully with students and there will also be ample time for participants to share their resources and engage in discussion. Click here to register and I’ll see you soon!  

References 

McGuire, S. Y., McGuire, S., & Angelo, T. (2015). Teach students how to learn: Strategies you
      can incorporate into any course to improve student metacognition, study skills, and
      motivation. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. 

McGuire, S. Y., McGuire, S., & McDaniel, M. (2018). Teach yourself how to learn: Strategies you
      can use to ace any course at any level. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. 

Noonan, P. M., & Erickson, A. S. G. (2017). The skills that matter: Teaching interpersonal and
      intrapersonal competencies in any classroom. Corwin, a SAGE Company. 

Oakley, B. A., Rogowsky, B., & Sejnowski, T. J. (2021). Uncommon sense teaching: Practical
      insights in brain science to help students learn. TarcherPerigee, an imprint of Penguin
      Random House LLC. 

Schraw, G., Crippen, K. J., & Hartley, K. (2006). Promoting self-regulation in science education:
      Metacognition as part of a broader perspective on learning. Research in Science Education,
      36(1–2), 111–139.

Sold a Story: The Aftermath

by Susan Cole Ross

The aftermath of the podcast, Sold a Story has been fascinating, and so has the race to embrace a science of reading at a national level. 

I remember how difficult it was to get trained in decoding during my first master's in special education in the late ‘80s and in the course of my second master’s in secondary school reading and language arts, 20 years ago. On the advice of an advisor, I got the training on my own.  It informed and enhanced my career for 40 years.  In demand now, I have been begged out of retirement to address children’s needs through a pandemic of illiteracy and to support teachers out of fumbling approaches to reading.

Teachers love their foundational training and balanced literacy. I don’t blame them. Indeed reading should be joyful, and I love sharing the concept of the reading zone with reluctant readers. I love creating space for a student to get into a reading and lose track of time and space as if they were watching a movie. But for so many of my students, that does not come naturally. Increasingly, it doesn’t come naturally for up to a third of students in the upper elementary in early middle school grades. 

The answer is not to be found in special education, though many parents have defaulted to that route in a system where students have to be identified to receive individualized decoding instruction and have to fail to be identified. But schools are on the right road.  Dyslexia screening has helped to put more teeth into multitiered systems of support. Direct instruction in all aspects of reading, including but not restricted to phonemic awareness, is increasingly available to all students. Hallelujah.

Thoughts on College Transitions

By Melissa Rubin, Principal of The Student First

Lately, as seniors and their families “get serious” about applying to college, I have found myself having conversations about how students with learning differences can frequently be better equipped to transition into college than their neurotypical peers. I’m sure you all have had similar discussions. While at first dubious, these students tend to walk away with more self-confidence, knowing they have the skills they need to succeed in college. 

Here are the skills I think of - I wonder if you all have others to add to this list:

• RESILIENCE AND ADAPTABILITY: Inevitably, our students have had to face and overcome challenges in their academic careers. Oftentimes, the students I end up working with are only diagnosed with a learning disability in middle or even high school. That just shows you how resilient and adaptable these kids have been; they were able to develop compensatory strategies that masked some of their difficulties. As these students begin college, unlike others who haven’t needed to be as resilient, they enter with strong coping mechanisms they can apply when they face challenges in school.   

• OUTSIDE-OF-THE-BOX THINKING AND PROBLEM-SOLVING: In addition to developing resiliency and adaptability, students with learning disabilities will often think creatively about how to solve a given problem. So, navigating academic struggles can lead to developing novel approaches to different tasks, and new and unique perspectives during discussions and/or projects. 

• TIME MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION: Given how much extra time and effort many of our students need to put into their work, they have developed systems that help them prioritize and manage their time effectively and efficiently. Other students who have seemingly sailed through middle and high school probably haven’t honed these skills as much. Therefore, provided our students continue applying what they have learned, their ability to balance their coursework, extracurricular activities, and social life in college will be more advanced. 

• SELF-ADVOCACY AND USING AVAILABLE RESOURCES: By senior year (hopefully), our students know when they need help - and perhaps more importantly, know how to seek out resources for the help they need. Whether this means going to office hours or seeking out tutoring or counseling, they know how to take a proactive approach to their learning. Before deciding on their next school, I encourage students to check out and compare what resources are available to them to see whether one will be more supportive than another, should the need arise. 

By embracing their unique journeys, students with learning differences can leverage their experiences to thrive in college and beyond, turning perceived challenges into strengths that enhance their educational experience.

I've Never Been a Mathlete, but I Am Mathletic

by April Pendergast, Learning Specialist at Kent School

Recently I've had the great honor of being asked to coach some second-year employees of our school (though they are seasoned professionals in education) through their action-research project, which Kent requires of all second-year faculty members. This research project is one of the things that stands out to me as the most valuable experience Kent can offer its community members: a chance for faculty to embrace and model growth mindset in shared inquiry, to experiment, and to hone their craft, whatever that may be. 

One teacher I am working with, who has taught middle school through college, is currently facing some challenging experiences in one of the mathematics classes she teaches. "What I'm seeing," she told me one day over lunch, "is that they get the math right. They just don't understand the question, the goal of the problem, or the vocabulary. It's word problems, and they can't really read them."

This echoes something in Treating Math Anxiety by Dr. Aditya Nagrath (which, as an aside, is one of the most nicely specific books about how to instill growth mindset I've read). He states, "Not knowing how best to communicate their anxieties and misunderstandings, children turn to memorization strategies and processes to attempt to get through the materials" (30). This schematic approach to math is one of those strategies that "works until it doesn't." When kids know what to do and how to do it, but don't know why they are doing it -- what the numbers mean, essentially -- then we are teaching grammar with no language. A teacher can explain the "what" of as many example problems as they want, but if a student doesn't understand the "why," then they will never really be learning what the teacher is seeking. 

Worryingly, "Students who do not understand the teacher at the classroom level do not tend to 'catch up'" (Nagrath 30). We can't remediate by "going over the same materials but slower" (31), rehashing the schema of the mathematics problem at hand, when the root of the misunderstanding is the fundamental heuristic of the language of mathematics (see "Solving Algebraic Word Problems Using General Heuristics Instruction" by Bradley Witzel amd Jonté A. Myers). The challenge, then, is for us learning specialists, especially those who, like me, are not extremely math-literate, to flex their fluid reasoning and try to understand why the mathematical processes that their students are working with operate the way they do. That usually means going a step back from wherever the student is right now in their work to the previous unit, and having the student explain why the previous concepts worked the way they did. The more a student can explain the logic of known mathematical concepts, the more they will empower themselves to work through the logic of newer mathematical concepts. In the same way coaching a student in writing requires them to articulate their logic, they must also do so with their mathematics work. 

While I, admittedly not a mathlete, cannot correct students where they go wrong in a mathematical explanation, I can, as someone who is mathletic, notice when they falter or are unsure in their explanations and tell them to circle that bit to a) go back to the parts they do understand and see if any analogous logic fits, b) ask their teacher or a trusted other person to explain the schema to them, or c) watch a helpful YouTube video that describes the schema. 

One nice analogy Dr. Nagrath mentions in Treating Mathematics Anxiety is to treat learning math just like coaching basketball. The coach never shoots the ball for the player, the player just tries again and again. When the player misses many shots in a row, the coach may step in to correct the technique, and once the technique is corrected, the player is still not expected to make 100% of their future shots. The same is true for mathematics practice -- they will not ace 100% of the problems they face, even when they understand both the heuristic and the schema. Lifting that expectation students have of themselves can go a long way to rebuilding their grit when encountering math problems. 

Dear NEALS Members and Supporters,

I am finding it hard to believe that September is more than halfway through.  I just completed my first full week at school and I am happy to say the feeling I have is optimism.  The past few years (for me) have begun in a state of anxiety and stress. I feel like the pressures of the pandemic have finally lifted and I can begin to move my attention to being proactive with learning support and developing best practices with students.  What a difference a few years make!

The NEALS Board met in August to begin planning our programming for this year.  We are kicking our events off on Wednesday, September 25th with an online discussion of The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt.  I encourage members to join us online whether you have read the book or not.  I think the discussion will help us all be more mindful of how our students use technology in and out of school. 

We are also working on planning regional meetings. A few have been added to our events calendar, but we welcome members to help out by hosting gatherings in your area.  Please reach out to info@nealsonline.org if you would like to host a NEALS get-together. Meeting hosts will be reimbursed for supplies and/or refreshments.  The time I spend connecting with NEALS members is invaluable to me; I am always stimulated and motivated after I get a chance to “talk shop” at a NEALS event.

I wish you all a joyful Fall!  

Regards,

Laura Foody

Acting President