May is a special month in education. Schools are wrapping up another academic year – celebrating graduations and other honors for many students. As communities across the country hold events around National Teacher Appreciation Week, a spirit of gratitude envelops the educators who make it possible.
During National Teacher Appreciation Week, we at All Kinds of Minds express our deep thanks to our Schools Attuned® Teachers for rescuing the potential of struggling learners. Quite literally, hundreds of thousands of students are celebrating May with a taste of success because of what these educators are doing with the knowledge gained from All Kinds of Minds programs!
It has been many months of May since I was honored as a CEC National Teacher of the Year, but I vividly recall the pride I felt when being recognized for the achievements I had with autistic and other special education students. While remembering that honor warms my soul, the students I couldn't reach – still, and will always – tug at my heart.
While I have gone from the classroom to the boardroom, I still wish I had known how to better understand Paula, Aython, and John. If I had only been equipped with the All Kinds of Minds’ neurodevelopmental framework, they may have also tasted and achieved success in school.
This is the primary reason I lead All Kinds of Minds: I want all teachers to have access to every effective strategy and all the latest research to educate our most complex and puzzling students.
In recognition of National Teacher Appreciation Week, I ask all of you to join me in celebrating teachers who provide educational care to our most vulnerable learners. Click here to connect to the All Kinds of Minds Teacher Appreciation Week web page. You can:
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Thank a teacher by sending them a note telling them how much you appreciate what they have done for children.
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Encourage others to sign up to receive the All Kinds of Minds online monthly
e-newsletter.
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Use our new web resources – Community for Learning for Schools Attuned Alumni, an interactive ‘placemat’ under Research, and a new podcast about math under Resources
Support All Kinds of Minds with a small donation to help fund our efforts to keep providing our newsletter, web resources and other events to teachers and parents that we offer as a public service.
One of our Trustees once remarked that, “Failure at learning is a chronic problem in America that deserves our relentless focus.” Supporting teachers is the best way to address this critical issue. Please join me this month in honoring those who take on this challenge day after day, year after year. And please support All Kinds of Minds as we lead the way in ensuring that all students, regardless of how they learn, have the opportunity for success in the classroom and life.
Best,
Mary-Dean Barringer
CEO, All Kinds of Minds & 1985 CEC Teacher of the Year |
