Coach Bill / Dad, Entrepreneur Special Educator, American Political Scientist, Writer, Musician.

Lesson Number 1 The beginning of the successful instructional approach begins by putting aside formalities and being human. The teacher humbly understands that teaching and learning is a journey where both teach and both learn from the process. Instruction is given while the ability to listen to the student’s verbal and non-verbal communication is taught by the learner to the teacher. It is then a matter of perspective, a metacognitive outlook (thinking about out thinking and how we approach the world with our thought process) that outlines the further success and progression of the teaching and learning experience. Clear understanding of this principle is paramount to facilitate surpassing potential for instructor and instructed. Again, the beginning of the successful instructional approach begins by dropping pretenses and simply being genuine. This is the secret to my success and the success of my students. The awareness of the impact of verbal and non-verbal commu...

Coach Galileo Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was a Dad, a scientist, an engineer, an entrepreneur, coach of the community and the founder of modern astronomy. In Galileo's time, captains of ships had begun to adventure forth in exploration of the entire Earth and the first settlement in America was established (May 1607) by the Virginia Company of London as 'Jamestown.' As a Dad, he was especially loved by his children who were very close to him throughout his life. His son Vicenzo acted as a scribe in his blind fathers old age and his two daughters were devoted to him. It was Galileo who  established the application of the refracting telescope as a means to confirm that, indeed, Earth and the local planets revolved around the sun. His study of comets, the moons of Jupiter, the phases of Venus and the establishment of 'longitude' as a concrete understanding made verifiable by the invention of his new product, a military compass. Virginia, one of Dad's p...

Rushing into action, you fail. Trying to grasp things, you lose them. Forcing a project to completion, you ruin what was almost ripe. -Lao Tzu My central aim with integrating dancing as a therapeutic modality when coaching individuals on the autism spectrum is that it is versatile, practical, as long as a song only, stays novel, is engaging and fun. Introducing dancing as a accelerator of the brain's development greatly aids a child on the autism spectrum who's brain is in healing and recovery mode from damages received from the preservatives found in vaccines, like heavy metals, (which common sense tells us it have no place in developing brains).  At any rate, in order to help speed up the rewiring process, parents and educators are asked to consider making dance more a part of every day life. Dancing is a practical activity that a parent can use to develop cognitive and physical  growth in their child quite effortlessly and also as a way to ground themselves befo...

updated 2/11/16 Metacognition, in layman’ s terms signifies how we approach the world through our thinking, to think about our thinking in order to review and edit our thought process so that we can gauge, change, maintain or seek to improve our course of action. Many of the students I work with do not place great value on social norms. Invariably, some of their traits and characteristics get ‘taken on by me.’ This is what happens when you are with someone for so long. Do we take on a bit of each other due to empathy? Are we like open books that we can write or code on each other a bit here and a bit there?  Processing (digesting code).  #theFieldGeneral, who is on the #autism spectrum is processing digested code on a a constant basis. We do it similarly, but ‘faster’  using a completely different cranial physical makeup. That is to say,  our brain is physically made slightly different because of the way we use it to think. The train tra...

Driving a race car takes more than stepping on a gas pedal and turning a wheel. It takes epic executive function skill usage. A NASCAR driver must know how to gauge, pace and focus on an ever-changing battle field where the other racers jockey for position in order to win. Like a game of chess, race car drivers must use their foresight (anticipate, predict) and keen sense of timing to know when to make a move, pull ahead, hold tight or come in for a pit stop. The pit crew must also have tip-top  executive function skills as they recalibrate, change up and get the super-charger roadster back on the road in two shakes of a lamb's tale. The road crew of individuals each have their key duties which they must focus on as they work together in harmony to bring up to speed and release the speedster back into the race. Of course, from the stands, it may look as if they cars are just going around in round, yet the relationships that bring each racing team to the track form the foundati...

updated 1.9.15 8:30 pm  set For the effective educator, knowledge is not absolute power. It is the ability to apply that knowledge that is of greater value. While in Florida, I was introduced by my sister to a friend of hers who is a U.S. Marine veteran. He did two tours in Iraq and fought in the battle of Fallujah. He is an all-American hero and grizzly bear of a man standing close to six and a half feet tall with ‘Wolverine’s’ (Marvel Comics) sideburns. He is and looks like a mighty warrior. His name is Chris and he is the single father to a princess with severe special needs. Her name is Chloe. One of her arms and one of her legs is atrophied. She is five and a half years old. Her current physical challenges prevent her from standing up and walking like most of us. I visited the family home for three hours during my recent family visit to Daytona Beach after the new year. Chloe took my heart. I coached by yielding to her in our first session together. She was not...

Sometimes we are happy and do not know it. Sometimes we are miserable and think we are okay. In the almost decade and a half that I have worked across the country I have stepped into all kinds of homes. I have entered homes in Boston, homes on O'ahu, homes in New York, Massachusetts and in Connecticut with humility and a desire to empower the child or children I'd be working with. It is always an honor to be tapped to work with someone or their child. A part of the coach's way goes into the student and a part of the student goes into the coach. Well, what I have found is that being 'happy' has nothing to do with being financially rich. Some of the happiest people I have known have almost nothing and some of the most discontented people have.. it seems... everything. Having had had everything materially and financially as a young child and then seeing it all disappear  was an eye-opener for myself. I am able to reflect on the cohesiveness and life of my fam...

Raising energy  requires consistency.  Maintaining momentum  requires clear working purpose.  Moving hearts to impact minds  requires talent. In the world of sports, such thoughts are always on the forefront of a coach's mindset. She understands that the inside affects the outside, and the outside affects the inside. Aware of this, a great coach is also a mentor to her players. Her attitude gives direct and indirect expectation cues to the player's, hence (SunTzu time) it is vital that the coach protect, direct and develop herself just as the players are doing so. Cary Lee Williams is one such coach.  Recently, I had the fortune to interview, Mrs. Williams. Amongst other titles and hats, she is an entrepreneur, a boxing coach, a mentor, and is the founder of a clothing line called, Never Too Pretty. She is well-known in the boxing world as industrious, a go-getter, and because of her incredible drive, she is also known ...

I don't find my students. I put my bread in the water and the students find me. Where is his strength? Is this the teacher? Oh. I see now. Let's do this. I got this! A great coach role-models, leads, supports, instructs, guides, corrects, mentors... and gets out of the way. Coaching then, is an art of balancing the player's strengths, fleshing out talents, strengthening deficits naturally and nurturing the mind and heart to reach higher levels of performance. Learning is not just a solitary action anymore with this understanding, but a humbling mindset that opens the mind to receive.  A central tenant to coaching duties is being able to impart knowledge so that learning can happen. The effective transfer of intellectual property comes easily when you seek to engage the mind via the heart first. Understanding that the mind and heart move the body, just like a small tiller directs a large ship, a great coach becomes sensitive to the player's wellbeing. The...

The growth of a person cannot be lopsided. Inner and outer growth has to be balanced for optimal results. Working with a mindset that everything is possible, I meet my students in a place where there are no limits. Usually, I am always at this location first and then guide in (beam in) my student. With the right approach, a great coach can move a student quickly far beyond what they ever dreamed of once mindsets are shifted. Progress in skateboarding exemplifies this.  Like most endeavors, 'success' springs forward with practice, dedication and commitment. Not just committing to skate, but committing to moving beyond a present skill level. Thus, the mindset is not, "I want to do awesome skateboarding and get really good at it." No, the mindset is, if I just keep at it, little by little, one day at a time, before long I will move across the skill continuum to become a skilled boarder. Skateboarding is engaging and demands mental acumen to be proficient or grea...

The beginning of success starts in the heart. It slowly move its way to the mind and once there, momentarily pauses. It is calculating perceived total effort and drive required to manifest itself.  My students rarely think of ‘success.’ We focus wholeheartedly on process instead. Time goes by and I look back at their progress. The success happens daily in short increments that appear to accumulate over time and consistency. Success is in the details. Establish new ‘forward-operating beachheads’ in the quest for particular excellence is foremost on my coaching mind. That means that I constantly gauge and assess the effort level, motivation and clarity of purpose with my students.  Shedding light on the value behind a purpose becomes an initial priority. I understand that if I want my soldiers to go #allout,  they must be on-board with ‘why’ we work on what we work on. The value in a purpose helps set up a vision of things to come and provides a process fram...

  The art of recovering from a football tackle on your way to get the ball might seem like no big feet through the lens of a camera. Just a guy getting himself off the ground. As sordid an example as american football may be when it comes to exemplifying executive function skills development, it is actually a great analogy and concrete illustrator of the exercise of such skills. Character and a treasure trove of experience in this strategy-filled game does lead to executive function and hemispheric strengthening, especially if done in a planned way. The coach, OR LEAD ORCHESTRATOR, creates and teaches action sequences to his quarterbacks, running backs, linebackers, lineman, and so on. The coach is like a scientist experimenting with choreographed, orchestrated movements that are geared towards successful touchdown in a goal-directed manner. The players each must monitor, gauge, modulate, exercise self-control, use foresight (anticipate/ predict) according to the metrics practiced ...

With the advent of common, across the board student performance standards aimed at competitively meeting international standards, the need for parents to shore up and instill an entrepreneurial mindset in their kids becomes a great priority. Not doing so is a disservice to them, your family, and our country. This action-oriented mindset parallels in striking ways with the development of executive function skills, and it is part of my educational policy to lead a transition from using one's EF skills effectively across different settings and ages.  That said, if executive function skills development is a foundation then the entrepreneurial action-mindset and framework is the context in which we see a performance of the skills. For your use, I have included a working list of almost three dozen executive function skills. This word bank of skills is a fast way to come up to speed with a growing knack for coming up with activities that include a great number of these skills, or activiti...