https://youtu.be/Oy-prlzHQac Every parent of a martial artist has heard the words: “I don’t want to go to class today.” It’s frustrating. It makes you wonder if you’re wasting your time and money. You start to think, maybe they aren’t built for this. As a former teacher with a Master’s in Education, I’m here to tell […]
https://youtu.be/WSXTrVYADwM I’ve been a martial arts instructor since the late ’80s, but I also spent over a decade as a public school band and orchestra teacher. Over the last 25 years, I’ve watched the classroom undergo a massive transformation. We went from having one “Computer Lab” that you had to sign up for, to mobile […]
https://youtu.be/CLTWOoQs_Mc As a parent of a 13 and 14-year-old, I know the schedule is relentless. It’s go, go, go. In the Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District, we take pride in keeping our kids busy because we know that if they aren’t busy with something good, they’ll find something else to fill that time. But as […]
https://youtu.be/44qIyrkrS-s Do you find yourself saying, “Go clean your room” five, six, or seven times before anything actually happens? You aren’t alone. As a former teacher with a Master’s in Education, I’ve seen this “Nagging Cycle” in almost every household in Oak Creek. The problem isn’t that your child is being “bad.” The problem is […]
https://youtu.be/9r2dmbrg7Dw I’m old enough to remember the leap from Atari to the original Super Mario Brothers. The very first thing you did in that game was walk across the screen and hit a brick with a question mark. Boom. Out popped a mushroom. You ate it, you got big, and you felt powerful. As a […]
https://youtu.be/8kl5az-5LzE As a former teacher with a Master’s in Education, I’ve seen how the traditional school system handles confidence. Usually, a student works for three or four months toward one major grade or report card. That is a long time for a child to wait for a “win.” If they struggle in month one, they […]
https://youtu.be/L6dEAvPM0HA If your child seems to be in a bad mood the moment they put down their tablet, you aren’t alone. As a former elementary teacher with 10 years in the classroom and a Master’s in Education, I’ve watched the “plugged-in” culture take over. It used to be that kids just watched a few cartoons […]
https://youtube.com/shorts/bth-3hIAhEM Every morning in Oak Creek, hundreds of kids wait for the bus. As a former public school teacher with a Master’s in Education, I spent ten years watching this ritual. I can tell you exactly which kids are at risk of being picked on before they even step foot in the classroom. It’s all […]
https://youtube.com/shorts/YUf2FBaRiiI You want your child to quit their favorite activity? I can tell you exactly how to do it in one easy step: Tell them everything they did wrong the entire way home in the car. I call this the Backseat Coach Sport Killer. As a former teacher with a Master’s in Education, I’ve seen […]
https://youtu.be/OqqQ_B-sSiM When I was a band and orchestra teacher, I realized something very quickly: I couldn’t teach a child to play the violin if I couldn’t get them to look at me for two seconds. I used to use a 5-second countdown in my classroom—“Eyes on who? Eyes on you!”—just to get them to “dial […]
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Recent Posts
- Beyond the Pink Belt: Why Oak Creek Daughters Need a “Black Belt Voice”
- Co-Parenting with Your Dojo: How Oak Creek Families Bridge the Gap Between Mat and Home
- Screening a Dojo: 3 Questions Every Oak Creek Parent Should Ask Before Signing Up
- Screen Time vs. Mat Time: A Master of Ed’s Guide to the Childhood Dopamine Crisis
- Karate vs. Taekwondo vs. Jiu-Jitsu: Which Martial Arts Style is “The Best”?