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

Is it the responsibility of the teacher or the student to pave the road for success in the education environment? What happens in the physical education class of twenty students whereby seven have above average gross-motor skills, ten are right on, and three seem to fall behind? In a school setting with a forty-five minute class duration, the impetus is for the teacher to ‘run’ the class as best as possible, rather than teach to the lowest common denominator. ‘Stragglers’ can tend to ‘fall behind,’ and soon enough class is over. This can repeat over and over again, week after week, semester after semester.  What happens to the three students after many classes is that they begin to develop a sense of failure which is confirmed by the teachers continued approach in orchestrating the class. Is the student at fault or is it the responsibility of the teacher to better integrate these three into the class? As a teacher of thirteen years and a father of three, I alwa...

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...

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...

Are established autism intervention organizations and centers the best pathway to creating 'successful' development in individuals with autism? What is the mainstream autism intervention approach these days? Why is that te main one? Has that approach 'cornered the market,' as far as providing the MOST successful intervention? Is it possible that a great number of innovative approaches are yet to be discovered? What is the goal with interventions? Do marketing dollars drive in propective families and individuals with autism into these centers, more so than actual success rates ? In an age when the mainstream approach to autism intervention sits squarely on the use of ABA, or applied behavioral analysis, the idea of innovating as a Special Educator working for an established center can, in my professional opinion, hinder the professionalism of the professional. What is more, I posit that professionals, such as Special Educators, or what is known loosely as '...

Early on in my career I was clear that the effective Teacher is not the one with the greatest knowledge-base, but he or she who not only teaches content, but teaches the kids how to refine their emotional intelligence. I am a great believer in the psychoeducational approach to teaching. Namely, the power of a caring, nurturing relationship. Although certain key processes need to be in place for an effective feedback loop to occur, I have experienced countless successful learning outcomes due to this pivotal part to my own pedagogy. There is something about relating, connecting, and bringing emotion that more times than not, is the very oil I use to keep the students I work with progressing. The caring, nurturing concept to Teaching was recently polished off by National Educator Nel Noddings over the last decade. No one reinvented the wheel here, but Mrs. Noddings put some important spokes front and center. They are integrated into the live vision of Life Skills Corp.