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

As a long board surfer of almost twenty years, having lived on O'ahu, Hawaii's famed North Shore, I have both experienced first hand and seen the immense power of crashing waves. It is quite a spectacle to behold especially if the breaking wave is coming on you. It is in that split second that I realize it is all coming down on me, that it is going to hold me down, scrape me against the reef, pummel me and then disorient me.  I am trained to use my energy smartly, since my body cannot come up for air. I literally meditate for 10-15 long seconds as the wave has its way with me. What can I do? Minimal energy expenditure to protect my head and face is all I can muster, knowing full well I must leave gas in the tank for the rest of the waves that will mercilessly crash on me to repeat the situation. You see, waves come in sets. You get stuck in the crash zone, and you will be there a while. the wave  sets come in 4-10 waves at a time. Your shoulders, back, arms, chest, and...

Does a Teacher/ Coach's mindset and expectations drive a program? Can it mean the difference between great, lackluster, and a dismal educative outcome? To say that in any field or industry one's mindset and expectations don't have a direct impact on performance level would probably be very naive. So the time before a coaching session, or the Teacher entering the classroom, is as important as during the actual instruction. Being a routine reader of Sun Tzu's, 'The Art of War,' I find it useful to consider the current chemistry and existant rapport that I as a parent or coach may have with the child. From a diplomatic perspective, and with a focus on keeping the experience positive an able-bodied parent or teacher can be able to begin establishing new, sturdier framework from which to launch varied initiatives inversely focused on toning executive function skills, like mental flexibility. Reading up on Sun Tzu helps push the mind to consider and extrapola...

Sun Tzu, the author of "The Art of War," a 2,500 year old book that is a must-read book for business executives and military leaders alike, noted the following, which I have paraphrased: To win in battle, one must know oneself, and their opponent. Yet, he also noted that if one knows thyself, yet not one's opponent, then for every battle one, he/she would lose a battle. Lastly, if one does not know thyself, nor one's opponent, then he/ she would suffer defeat every time. Of course, as a Special Educator, the students I work with 1:1 are not my opponents, or enemies. As an Educator, it behooves me to always monitor my best way of delivering instruction. I must ask myself honest questions all the time. Its like I have an Executive Functions Coach sitting on my shoulder when I am empowering a learner. From a Special Educators perspective, good instructional delivery to an exceptional learner entails the rapid adaptation of the Teachers instructional approac...