At CLE, academic tutors do more than simply teach students how to write an essay or how to solve an algebraic problem. Tutors teach students executive, organizational, and study skills--how to handle multiple responsibilities and how to manage their time. But most of all, how to become independent in an academic learning environment as well as other areas of their lives.
Many classrooms experience disruptive behaviors in some way, shape, or form. Positive Education and Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) are two strategies schools can use to manage student behaviors and overall wellbeing.
During my first two years of High School, I was notorious for procrastinating and going to great lengths to avoid work — even going to the extent of throwing away my math homework, so my dad would not know that I wasn’t doing it.
Things that are normal for CLE students to do can be challenges for them and thus they need the structure and support of their schedules to accomplish them and maintain their lives. Through this structure, a CLE student can work their way to not only independence but also towards living a full and successful life.
This game isn’t normal. It isn’t played on a board. There is no high-definition screen. Zero athletic ability is required. To play this game you must envision a character, a fictitious alter-ego, equipped with fantastical abilities that will help you survive attacks of the Dungeon Master.
So, what do we do when the class about communicating with others very much neglects - or, in some cases, maligns - those who society perceives as "other"?
"I don't want to be told I'm normal because that's boring. Everyone has their own unique qualities, quirks, interests, and personalities." The group agreed, and another student shared that his interests are sometimes viewed as not normal.
We spent time in a couple of our groups here at CLE Costa Mesa discussing the neurodiversity paradigm and Neurodiversity Movement, and its impact on individual identity from the students’ perspective.
It goes without saying that being unique is sort of a brand, it’s fashionable and perhaps the new norm. In an interview with CLE staff and students I found it’s really the simple, everyday things that makes us all truly unique. Here’s a little profile of what makes us all stand out.
Am I “cool”? I used to know I was back in the day…when I was young and filled with adventure, edge, and possibilities. And I still think, I’m “cool” but I have to acknowledge that my definition of that word has changed over the years.
