Who I am:
*I am a professor in a STEM field at a large university. In my role of professor, I teach undergraduate and graduate students at all levels from general education to the nitty gritty of my research. I am also the undergraduate advisor to those students completing their major in my department. I find that the vast majority of these students are amazingly bright, yet often lack basic academic and intellectual skills.
*I am a parent to two amazing children in middle and elementary school. They attend our local public schools. Each are identified and served as gifted in the public school system. In addition, both have multiple identified disabilities that affect their school performance. The schools acknowledge these disabilities and as a result, my kids also receive special education services.
*As a result of the last several years of working to achieve a positive fit between the public schools and my children’s unique needs, together with my experience as a STEM professor, I have strong ideals on what education is, what it could be, and how to get there. I realized a while ago that I’ve amassed a somewhat unique skill set with enough material to write a book. My ideals center in raising children to be positive and productive adults, not just academics, will come through in my subsequent essays on advocating for your gifted child in public schools.
I will be writing this semi-anonymously. That is, I won’t use my name or my children’s names, nor will I use the name of our school district. Because so much of how schools operate vary by state law, I will state that I’m in Ohio. I’m keeping it this way for a trace of googlable privacy for my kids.
My aim for this blog is to share my experience and hopefully guide parents in navigating their public schools when there is a mismatch between the education and the educational needs. The vast majority of my experience centers on my children’s giftedness, but as I’ve discovered as we’ve begun to treat their disabilities, the skill set is largely the same. I have a series of thoughts I’d like the share, but I also aim to do some direct problem solving for people reading along. Add your comments and questions in the comments section or send me an email at [email protected]
*I am a professor in a STEM field at a large university. In my role of professor, I teach undergraduate and graduate students at all levels from general education to the nitty gritty of my research. I am also the undergraduate advisor to those students completing their major in my department. I find that the vast majority of these students are amazingly bright, yet often lack basic academic and intellectual skills.
*I am a parent to two amazing children in middle and elementary school. They attend our local public schools. Each are identified and served as gifted in the public school system. In addition, both have multiple identified disabilities that affect their school performance. The schools acknowledge these disabilities and as a result, my kids also receive special education services.
*As a result of the last several years of working to achieve a positive fit between the public schools and my children’s unique needs, together with my experience as a STEM professor, I have strong ideals on what education is, what it could be, and how to get there. I realized a while ago that I’ve amassed a somewhat unique skill set with enough material to write a book. My ideals center in raising children to be positive and productive adults, not just academics, will come through in my subsequent essays on advocating for your gifted child in public schools.
I will be writing this semi-anonymously. That is, I won’t use my name or my children’s names, nor will I use the name of our school district. Because so much of how schools operate vary by state law, I will state that I’m in Ohio. I’m keeping it this way for a trace of googlable privacy for my kids.
My aim for this blog is to share my experience and hopefully guide parents in navigating their public schools when there is a mismatch between the education and the educational needs. The vast majority of my experience centers on my children’s giftedness, but as I’ve discovered as we’ve begun to treat their disabilities, the skill set is largely the same. I have a series of thoughts I’d like the share, but I also aim to do some direct problem solving for people reading along. Add your comments and questions in the comments section or send me an email at [email protected]