Crazy February Holidays
Don’t let the long winter get you down! Try some of these great celebrations in your classroom or with your family:
February is Great American Pie Month and National Grapefruit Month. On a more serious note, it’s National Children’s Dental Health Month. How about Books for Family Fun Month, International Boost Self-Esteem Month, and Library Lovers Month?? And just for grins, it’s also National Bird Feeding Month.
Feb. 1………………………Freedom Day
……………………………..Give Kids a Smile Day
……………………………..Robinson Crusoe Day
Feb. 2……………………..Sled Dog Day
Feb. 3……………………..National Girls & Women in Sports Day
…………………………….The Day the Music Died (look it up, youngsters!)
Feb. 4……………………..Quacker Day
…………………………….Thank a Mailman Day
Feb. 5……………………..Wear Red Day
…………………………….National Weatherman’s Day
Feb. 6……………………..MOBIUS Awards Day
…………………………….Lame Duck Day
Feb. 7……………………..Ballet Day
…………………………….Charles Dickens Day
…………………………….Send a Card to a Friend Day
Feb. 8……………………..Kite Flying Day
…………………………….Boy Scout Birthday
Feb. 9……………………..Read in the Bathtub Day
Feb. 10……………………Umbrella Day
Feb. 11……………………National Shut-in Visitation Day
…………………………….Make a Friend Day
…………………………….White T-Shirt Day
Feb. 12……………………Lincoln’s Birthday
…………………………….Safety Pup Day
…………………………….National Plum Pudding Day
Feb. 13……………………Get a Different Name Day
Feb. 14……………………Valentine’s Day
…………………………….Ferris Wheel Day
…………………………….Library Lovers’ Day
…………………………….League of Women Voters Day
…………………………….Race Relations Day
Feb. 15……………………Susan B. Anthony Day
…………………………….National Gum Drop Day
Feb. 16……………………Pancake Day
…………………………….Do a Grouch a Favor Day
Feb. 17……………………World Human Spirit Day
…………………………….Random Acts of Kindness Day
…………………………….Champion Crab Races Day
Feb. 18……………………Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day
…………………………….Pluto Day
Feb. 19……………………National Chocolate Mint Day
Feb. 20……………………Clam Chowder Day
…………………………….World Day for Social Justice
…………………………….Love Your Pet Day
…………………………….Northern Hemisphere Hoodie Hoo Day
Feb. 21……………………Card Reading Day
Feb. 22……………………George Washington’s Birthday
…………………………….Walking the Dog Day
…………………………….Be Humble Day
Feb. 23……………………Curling is Cool Day
…………………………….Tennis Day
…………………………….International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day
Feb. 24……………………National Tortilla Chip Day
Feb. 25……………………National Chili Day
Feb. 26……………………Levi Strauss Day
…………………………….For Pete’s Sake Day
…………………………….Tell a Fairy Tale Day
…………………………….Carnival Day
Feb. 27……………………International Polar Bear Day
…………………………….No Brainer Day
Feb. 28……………………National Tooth Fairy Day
…………………………….Floral Design Day
What fun!!
Intro to Executive Function
When last we left our hero, she was about to attend a workshop on executive function (’way back before the holiday season)…..
Actually, I did attend the workshop, and have been rolling the information around in my brain since then, trying to distill it into manageable bits to share with you. The online workshop I attended was “Who’s Running the Show? Executive Dysfunction and How to Help the Disorganized Child” by Laurie Dietzel. All in all, Dr. Dietzel confirmed many things I’ve been thinking for years, gave me considerably more professional vernacular to use, and contributed many ’soundbytes’ that seem like I can use them to help parents make their advocacy cases for their children, and with school personnel who aren’t quite convinced that this is a real problem for some students.
How familiar does this sound to you? Does your student:
- finish homework but forget to turn it in?
- have problems with transitions?
- make a lot of seemingly ‘careless’ errors that aren’t caught by proofreading?
- need many more reminders and prompts than most his/her age?
- have trouble remembering directions, possessions, assignments?
- demonstrate wildly inconsistent performance on academic tasks, doing A+ work one day and failing work the next on the same type of assignments?
This actually sounds like a number of the students that I work with in my tutoring business, and several more that I know in their personal lives. Dr. Dietzel is convinced that they suffer from what she is calling Executive Dysfunction. That translates to an impaired ability to select, sustain and guide their own behavior within rules and expectations for the setting and their age level. It’s an impairment of the processes that guide, direct and manage cognitive, behavioral and emotional functions. Executive Function, when working properly, is what allows us to set goals, plan, organize, sequence, and note feedback on our behavior. It’s what helps us try different problem-solving strategies and also what stops us from acting on impulsive ideas. It has to do with memory, accomplishing complex tasks, and making judgments.
Does any of this sound like your student? If so, he or she may be having trouble with executive function. Executive Dysfunction is often comorbid with ADHD and similar concerns, but not limited to that population. It can also occur with learning disabled students, but again is not limited to them. It’s not officially a medical problem yet, though this presenter indicated that doctors responsible for naming and creating diagnostic criteria are considering including it in the next reference that is due to come out in a few more years.
So the long and the short is that right this very moment, your child’s school or teacher is quite likely to tell you that no such disorder exists, since it’s not in the reference books. They are likely to tell you that your child is lazy or inattentive, hyperactive, ADHD, or learning disabled. In many districts, they are likely to offer little in the way of tangible help. However, stay tuned! I’m planning to revisit this subject again soon and will share some of the strategies that Dr. Dietzel recommended to help these individuals. There is hope, and there are things you can do at home to minimize and compensate for the problem.
Sign up for this site’s RSS feed or follow me on twitter so you can get in on the latest as soon as it’s posted!!
Crazy January Holidays
Welcome to January! January is a busy month. Would you believe that it is National Hobby Month, National Soup Month, Oatmeal Month, and National Braille Literacy Month? It’s also Book Blitz Month, National Bird Feeding Month, National Mentoring Month and Rising Star Month. There are a wealth of celebration possibilities in that list! The week of January 10th is Letter Writing Week. It would be a great time to get those thank you notes from the holidays out of the way!
Here are other days to celebrate:
January 1……………..Z Day (Let everyone whose name starts with Z go first!)
January 2…………….Happy Mew Year for Cats Day
January 3…………….Festival of Sleep Day
………………………….J R R Tolkien’s Day
………………………… National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day
January 4…………..Trivia Day
January 5……………Bird Day
January 6……………Three Kings Day
January 7……………Old Rock Day
January 8…………….Bubble Bath Day
January 9…………….Positively Penguins Day
January 10……………Peculiar People Day
……………………………National Cut Your Energy Costs Day
January 11……………National Clean Off Your Desk Day
…………………………..Step in a Puddle and Splash Your Friend Day
January 12……………Feast of the Fabulous Wild Men Day
…………………………..National Pharmacists Day
January 13……………Rubber Ducky Day
…………………………..Make Your Dream Come True Day
January 14……………National Dress Up Your Pet Day
…………………………..Organize Your Home Day
January 15……………Hat Day
…………………………..Humanitarian Day
January 16…………..Appreciate a Dragon Day
………………………….Nothing Day
………………………….Religious Freedom Day
January 17………….Ditch New Year’s Resolutions Day
………………………….Kid Inventors’ Day
January 18…………..Winnie the Pooh Day
…………………………..Thesaurus Day
January 19……………National Popcorn Day
January 20……………National Buttercrunch Day
……………………………Penguin Awareness Day
January 21…………….National Hugging Day
……………………………Squirrel Appreciation Day
January 22…………….National Answer Your Cat’s Question Day
……………………………Celebration of Life Day
January 23…………….Measure Your Feet Day
…………………………….National Handwriting Day
January 24……………..Eskimo Pie Patent Day
……………………………..National Compliment Day
……………………………..Belly Laugh Day
January 25……………..Opposite Day
……………………………..Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day
January 26………………Australia Day
………………………………Toad Hollow Day of Encouragement
January 27………………Thomas Crapper Day
………………………………Chocolate Cake Day
……………………………….Holocaust Memorial Day
January 28………………..National Kazoo Day
……………………………….Rattlesnake Round-Up Day
January 29………………..Free Thinkers Day
………………………………..Fun at Work Day
………………………………..National Puzzle Day
………………………………..National Cornchip Day
January 30………………..Inane Answering Message Day
………………………………..Escape Day
January 31…………………National Popcorn Day
………………………………..Child Labor Day
………………………………..Backward Day
………………………………..Inspire Your Heart with Art Day
Have a great month!!
