A Note to the Frozen Chosen

A poem written by Tom Knestrict (Turtlesongs 1997)

Deconstructing the Positive Behavioral Support Model and Replacing it With the Neo-Montessori Constructivist Intervention Model Or How Montessori Changed my Cold Data Driven Heart

Positive behavioral supports (PBS) and the development of behaviorally oriented planning has become a ubiquitous paradigm in American schools. It is the preferred model for addressing behavioral issues with children as a means of preventing special education identification and placement. The effectiveness of this model has been well documented in peer-reviewed journals and shows an ability to change behaviors and improve academic achievement as measured by empirically designed assessments. However, the measurement of intellectual, moral and behavioral autonomy is seldom measured. Also, researchers from one perspective (Applied Behavioral Analysis) preclude other theoretical perspectives, to create the bulk of the evidence proving the usefulness of PBS as a viable model. It is the purpose of this paper to describe and support the contention that it is the concept of autonomy that is essential in measuring the success of behaviorally related interventions. This goal will be attained by deconstructing the PBS model. Further, it is an additional contention addressed in this paper that various Montessori methods and the theory’s fundamental theoretical concepts do a better job of addressing authentic change and the development of autonomy. This will result in internalized behaviors that behaviorally oriented methods can never demonstrate. A new theoretical model will be presented to illustrate the incorporation of autonomy into the rubric of successful behaviorally related interventions

Memories from the \u27Other\u27: Lessons in Connecting with Students

This article is a result of several years of presenting workshops on meeting the needs of children with learning differences throughout Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. I share many stories during these workshops and this is an attempt to share some of them in print while making some larger philosophical points at the same time. It is also a result of experiencing special education as a student, and teacher in the public schools, as well as teaching and researching in the field as a professor of education. This is an autobiographical case study. It offers illustrative stories of a system that creates the ‘other’ and works to marginalize ‘at risk’ students (Bartolom’e, 2003). Because of the learning differences I have I was placed on a slower academic track that defined me and marginalized me very early in life. I began to think of myself in terms of what I couldn’t do as opposed to what I was capable of. So did my teachers. Through the years of schooling it was difficult to say which damaged me more, this ‘other producing’ system or my own construction of self. I believed what I was being told about myself. My self image reflected that belief

Diabetic Child in the Elementary Classroom

Efficiently managing the blood glucose levels of the diabetic child in the elementary classroom is essential in maintaining the overall health of the whole child. There are well documented academic, behavioral and health related consequences related to poor care of the diabetic child The teacher needs to become aware of the nature of the disease and the elements of care in order to effectively manage the Blood Glucose Levels (BGL) of the child. Maintaining desired BGL (between 70- 140) is the ‘lynch pin’ of ensuring the long and short-term health of the diabetic child