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Susan Kruger Winter, M.Ed.

Student Motivation Is a National Crisis…
and NO ONE Is Talking About It!

February 12, 2026

Student motivation is a national crisis! Across every boundary: gender, racial, geographic, academic, and socioeconomic… students simply don’t care. Everyone knows our education system is in turmoil. It’s critically disconnected from the real-world. People attempt to improve education with STEM or STEAM programs. Or, they try to build “critical thinking skills.” But no one is talking about the…

Impact of a Zero

February 4, 2026

Have you ever thought about the impact of a zero? Probably not. Well, this week Brian put together a video to explain how one or two missing assignments can have a devastating impact on your grade. If you’ve never thought about the impact that a zero can have, you need to watch this video!

How to Help Your Child’s Test Anxiety

January 28, 2026

Test anxiety is very common.  However, I’ve come to realize that the more we, as parents, try to help our children alleviate that anxiety, we often add to it… accidentally, of course. Jim, a parent using SOAR, recently contacted us with a great question about how he can best help his child. I thought our conversation…

Tips for Taking Notes in Class

January 14, 2026

Note-taking may be the quintessential study skill. Even people without a real concept of “study skills” know that students are supposed to take notes. Teachers like to say, “If I’m talking, you should be writing.” But how many students listen? Students struggle with note-taking because they are overwhelmed by the content covered in class. They…

How to Manage Your Time in Virtual (Self-Directed) Learning

January 7, 2026

 The landscape of virtual learning is radically different from in-person/seated instruction in a thousand ways, but nothing may be more significant than the expectations of students to manage their own time! With in-person/seated instruction, students had: A strict schedule, Lots of routines, and Lots of external cues, such as: bells, different classrooms, teachers, and…

New Year. New Semester. New Homework Solutions.

January 1, 2026

The start of a new year means it’s the perfect time for a new outlook on homework: homework systems! As a parent or a teacher, you know just how much of an energy drain (to put it lightly) homework can be for your students (and you)! Let’s start from the top. The first question you…

How Does the Brain Really Learn?

December 29, 2025

One of the biggest problems with education is most educators are not taught how their students actually learn. You’ve probably heard about “left vs right brain” learning, or “visual, auditory and kinesthetic” learning. But, today we are going to peel that all back and go a layer deeper… into something far more universal that applies…

College and Career-Readiness for Special Education

December 17, 2025

“My students think they are ‘broken,’” lamented one special education teacher. “They don’t have dreams because they don’t think their dreams matter.” The truth is, our education system is not equipped to help any student explore their dreams and options beyond high school. But special education students have an even greater disadvantage; they don’t think…

THE Right Way to Teach with Student-Led Software

December 10, 2025

Teaching with student-led software raises many questions for teachers… Should I introduce the lesson before having the students jump into the software?  Or, should I let them explore the software, and then discuss the content with them? What if students want to progress farther ahead in the software on their own?  Should I let them?…

How to Teach a SOAR Workshop

November 26, 2025

It was almost-summer of 1998. I was wrapping-up my first year of teaching… at my alma mater. Just five years before, I was sitting in those desks. Now, my desk was at the front of the room. From this new vantage point, I could see that nearly all my 9th & 10th graders struggled with…

Six Steps
Conquer the Chaos


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