When Life Hands You a Lemon, Can you Make Lemonade?

Helping Children win the game of life

Jay Samuels

samue001@umn.edu

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The Yearly Teaching Panacea: start of each school year ushers in another miracle method that will solve the

problems our schools face

What effect does a yearly panacea have on teachers? How can we be cautious before investing in the newest

miracle of the semester? What is triangulation? What does the research say about successful stress resilient

children and child prodigies that is the same?

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Stress resilient children

What did Norman Garmezy find? Mentoring. What is a mentor and what

does a mentor do? Belief System. To be a success what do

you have to believe? Locus of control. To be a success what

should you believe about what controls your life?

Self respect. Do I have worth as a person?

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Child Prodigies

What did Dave Feldman find? What are the characteristics of

prodigies? What was missing in the life of William

Sidis, America’s most prodigious unsuccessful child prodigy?

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Successful prodigies

What do successful child prodigies require?

Mentoring? Work habits? Intrinsic worth as a human being. Mr.

Rogers influence?

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Triangulation: What do the two research

literatures say about being a success? Both research literatures found the

following was important for success. Mentoring Hard work Belief in education Locus of control Self worth as a human being

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Typical Problems Faced by Inner-City St. Paul Teacher

Clothing. Where do the students come from? Are the students dressed for the weather?

Food. What is your favorite food? Language. Can you speak English? Education. Have you ever been to school before? Living condition. Are you living in a car? Summary.

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Typical Problems Faced by Inner-City St. Paul Teacher

Clothing. Where do the students come from? Are the students dressed for the weather?

Food. What is your favorite food? Language. Can you speak English? Education. Have you ever been to school before? Living condition. Are you living in a car? Summary.

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Motivating Kids to Read with Stuffed Animals

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Mentoring inner city kids

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Mentoring inner city kids

Daily Oral Language DOL

I kent du enything wif mi lif becuz we r poor. Awl poor pepl r goeng tu be poor awl there lifes.

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Practice Makes Perfect

Why is reading like basketball?

How does one develop reading fluency? How does one become skilled in sports

and in reading? Practice, practice, practice. 25-50 books

a year. The teacher as mentor, coach, and

motivator.

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Summary

Some students live under conditions that are so bad, even the best reading methods are no match. Mentors help students overcome these problems so they can focus on achievement.

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