Mr. Maxwell

Throughout my life I have had my share of struggles with making and keeping friends. Today I am sharing an article I read about autism and friendship along with my thoughts about it.

I have been reading Oprah’s book, What Happened to You?, and I have been learning so much from it! Today I want to share some insights I have learned, and my thoughts about the book.

Hey friends, I missed an episode last week, been dealing with some health stuff. Rather than posting a normal episode today, I thought I would give you a quick update on how I am doing.

This week was rough, not gonna lie, but I try to find some positive things to talk about as well.

Grab some tea (I’m having Earl Grey today), coffee, or whatever you like and join me as I answer some of your questions.

I’m a burnt cookie

Today I wanted to talk/ rant a bit about Grades, Studying, and Children’s Mental Health in today’s K-12 Education system.

As a teacher and as a parent, one’s of the things I fail to remember is that the journey through our k-12 education system is not an easy road. It’s thought being a kid. While there may be more conveniences than every before, the problems some children face are less about external threats than a it is about their mental health and wellbeing. One area where this becomes an issue is with their grades. As an educator, I am not a big fan of how we track and document student progress. There is too much of a focus on the end result, and not enough on the child’s progress and growth. A good grade often makes a child feel “smart”, and a poor grade often makes a child feel “dumb or stupid”. I try to encourage my students to focus more on the process and on the work, than on the end result and I try to encourage their growth and hard work, in an attempt to put the focus on developing grit, than on simply praising them for the a result. If they do well, I try to remember to focus on how and why they got that end result, than just on the result itself. As a parent I try to do the same thing, focus on the work and habits that my children are building rather than just the grade they get. Today I want to share a moment when my child was upset about their grade and how I handled it.

“Why do you want us to be involved in art?”- 5th grade student

As a teacher I have always been a big proponent of the arts. Instead of bright academic posters about word usage, grammar, history facts or whatever I usually have some kind of artwork up in my classroom. I have invested in gallery wrapped prints and framed artwork to display in my rooms. When teaching history I often encourage my students to draw, recreate images and maps from their textbooks. In English I like for students to draw stories, write and read poetry or make comics, and encourage those who like to draw to have a sketchbook or notebook that is dedicated to drawing while in class. Usually at some point during the year a student, parent or member of school leadership will ask me why I have the kids drawing in my classroom when I am not an art teacher, why do I put so much value on drawing and poetry, skills that are not usually attributed to gaining admission into prestigious universities or earning. Today I want to share with you a talk I recently gave with my 5th grade class. So grab some tea or coffee and pretend for a few moments that you are my student.

I have always been different, and throughout my life I have had to deal with everything from so-called “friendly” teasing to outright bullying for not being manly enough, not black enough, not grown up enough, not normal enough for those around me. Then, when at age 39 I was diagnosed autistic, I began to understand why I am the way I am. Over the last couple years I have been on a journey, one where I discovered more about how my mind and body functions, and how I can help myself navigate a world that is not made for me. Today I am going to share a how I use that knowledge to help design the outfits I wear and choose the accessories that I use everyday to help me navigate my workplace.

Let’s sit down, drink some matcha (or other beverage of your choice) and do some Q&A.