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Why Is Simplicity So Complicated?

July 9, 2025

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” – Leonardo da Vinci We are naturally programmed to over-complicate matters. It actually takes effort to recognize simple solutions. In fact, most of the time I spend with clients is on the importance of keeping study and organizational strategies simple. I could tell you hundreds of stories, but one stands out, in particular. A few…

The “New Initiative” Bandwagon:
The One Fatal Flaw of Every Education Initiative

May 26, 2025

Why Do You Have to Work So Hard to Make Students Learn? You work harder and harder, but clearly feel a drag. You are tasked with more things to do, document, and correlate every day. Your extended efforts never seem to be enough. Students become more apathetic. Many people are quick to blame technology. But,…

Study Skills Reduce High School Dropout Rates

March 30, 2025

I was a freshman in college when study skills radically changed my life. I went from struggling in K-12 to “straight As” in college. About six weeks after my first semester of college success, however, I was suddenly overcome with a deep, visceral ANGER. “Why didn’t someone teach me how to learn before!?” I was mentally…

The Challenges of “D-I-Y” Study Skills Programs

March 9, 2025

Trying to Piece Your Own Study Skills Program Together? I’ve been talking to a LOT of educators in the past few months. That’s normal for this time of year. However, something is different this year. I’m hearing something I’ve heard a lot over the past 20 years, but more “once in a while.” This year,…

Moving Forward After SOAR

February 23, 2025

One of the most commonly asked questions we get from the teachers who use SOAR is, “What’s next?!”  “Is there a SOAR 2.0?” “Is there more content to teach SOAR for a second year?” “Is there extra content, deeper content, advanced content for SOAR?” “I taught my 7th graders SOAR last year, what do I…

Building “Critical Thinking” & “Problem-Solving” Skills… with Google

January 15, 2025

“We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist; using technologies that don’t yet exist, to solve problems that we don’t know are problems yet!”  – Karl Fisch, educator “Critical thinking” and “problem-solving” skills are cited by employers as their “greatest need” in the workplace. But, national and state curriculum standards are loaded so…

How to Build an “Anxiety-Free” Environment in Your Classroom

September 15, 2024

Previously, I wrote about How to Help Your Students Manage Anxiety. If you haven’t read that article yet, I suggest you start with it, here. It explains what causes anxiety, which is key to understanding how to manage it. Today, I want to share some strategies for building an “anxiety-free” environment in your classroom. Obviously,…

How to Help Students Manage Anxiety

September 8, 2024

The key to helping students manage anxiety is to understand what’s happening in their brain. “Emotions are the on/off switch to learning,” says Priscilla Vail, author of Smart Kids with School Problems. You and I both know this is true. We know from our own experience that it’s pretty hard to learn geometry theorems when…

The Challenge of Executive Function:
What’s the Antidote?

September 2, 2024

“Students Greatest Need Is Executive Function!” This year, in the SOAR® Learning Laboratories, we challenged ourselves to discover “What do students in special education need the most?” We interviewed special education educators from across the country, expecting to make a “top ten” list we could narrow down to the “top three things” students need. However, we were stunned when one response came…

Free Curriculum Evaluation Tool

March 1, 2021

“Fall 2021” cannot come soon enough! On the other hand, it can wait… we all need a break from the past 12 months of physical, emotional, and spiritual exhaustion! As we all look forward to a fresh start, curriculum decisions for Fall 2021 are happening now, so I am writing to share my Curriculum Evaluation Chart; I…

Six Steps
Conquer the Chaos


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