Learning While Human

New year, new goals.

If one of yours is supporting your child's learning this year, I wrote something that might help.

My latest blog post breaks down what actually makes tutoring effective—backed by research.

Given the number of options available, I address some of the questions you may have about choosing the right tutor for your child: Does it matter if a tutor is a certified teacher? Is virtual tutoring as good as in-person? How often should my child see a tutor to actually catch up?

What other questions do you have about choosing the right tutor?

The Power of One-on-One: Choosing the Right Tutor — Learning While Human Is your child struggling with learning to read in school? Or maybe you feel they are still trying to catch up after the pandemic? You’re not alone, and tutoring can help, but with so many options available, choosing the right tutor can feel overwhelming. This guide will help.

Having trouble regulating an emotion?

Try naming it.

Research shows that naming an emotion can reduce the stress response and also help build emotional intelligence.

SEL is an important part of education, and this is a simple strategy to teach your students or use with them when they are struggling with big feelings. Not only can it help reduce physical stress responses, but it can also reduce amygdala activity and increase prefrontal cortex activity. (If you are interested in the neural responses, I suggest this review article: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/175407391774270)

This article from 6seconds gives a nice overview and offers useful strategies you can use yourself or with your students.

https://www.6seconds.org/2021/01/08/naming-emotions-affect-labeling-emotional-intelligence/

Name It to Tame It: How Naming Your Emotions ("Affect Labeling") Lowers Stress and Builds Emotional Intelligence Learn how naming emotions (“affect labeling”) lowers stress, boosts decision-making, and builds confidence—plus simple practices you can use today. Backed by neuroscience and EQ research.

Unlocking Indigenous knowledge: A new path for education Today, we’re still seeing the impacts of colonization show up in classrooms around the world. Most educational spaces, regardless of community or local history, privilege Western ways of knowing, being, and doing— at the expense of rich Indigenous knowledge, history, and culture. How can we deco...

Aging is part of being human but there are a few things you can do to make it more fun.

My favorite suggestion is to go on "awe walks" to purposefully seek out things that inspire awe.

Aging is inevitable, so why not do it joyfully? Here’s how Here are 8 ways to approach growing older — and life — with wonder, curiosity and delight, from author and designer Ingrid Fetell Lee.