SpedTalk Newsletter
22 May 2021
Volume 1, Number 1
Dear Readers,
This is the inaugural issue of the SpedTalk Newsletter, as one can see from the header data. I plan to publish newsletters every weekend so that they can be in people’s mailboxes on Monday mornings.
As of the publication of this issue, there are two addresses subscribed to SpedTalk, and both of them are mine. I hope that will change in the next few weeks. Please consider subscribing if you come across this newsletter or any of the posts mentioned in it. There's a button at the end of this newsletter and most posts and that button makes subscribing easy. And, at least for the time being, the price is right: Free!
In the past week, as I've begun to get going, SpedTalk has included just a few posts. Here's a guide to them.
The first two posts for last week were essentially house-keeping announcements. (a) The first, "What's the story with SpedTalk" (https://spedtalk.substack.com/p/whats-the-story-with-spedtalk; published 15 May 2021), provided a little history and described some of my hopes for this incarnation of SpedTalk. (b) The second, "News, discussions, reports, & reflections about education with an emphasis on special education and disabilities" (https://spedtalk.substack.com/p/coming-soon; published 17 May 2021), described the probable contents of SpedTalk and the current business model.
In the news, I echoed an announcement about special educator Juliana Urtubey being named national Teacher of the Year by the Council of Chief State School Officers: "News: Special Educator Named National Teacher of the Year" (https://spedtalk.substack.com/p/special-educator-named-national-teacher; 18 May 2021).
In an editorial, I expressed concern about the focus of early identification, especially with regard to reading disabilities: "Editorial: Does early identification focus on the wrong variables?" (https://spedtalk.substack.com/p/editorial-does-early-identification; 20 May 2021).
In another news piece, you'll find a story from the Washington Post about the costs of the pandemic for our kids and their parents: "News: Washington Post reported about costs of the pandemic for students with disabilities" (https://spedtalk.substack.com/p/news-washington-post-reported-about; 21 May 2021").
In the last piece for last week, I described a research paper by Mikyung Shin and colleagues that is slated to appear in the professional research journal, Exceptional Children (disclosure: I co-edit that journal); the article examines the benefits of using virtual manipulatives in arithmetic and mathematics instruction: "Current Research: Does using virtual manipulatives improve arithmetic and mathematics learning?" (https://spedtalk.substack.com/p/current-research-does-using-virtual; 21 May 2021).
I still have a lot to learn about using this medium. For example, currently, I've kept comments turned off for almost all of these posts; however, I welcome comments, and they may currently be made on this newsletter and "News, discussions, reports, & reflections about education with an emphasis on special education and disabilities" (https://spedtalk.substack.com/p/coming-soon), so send observations, recommendations, and advice by commenting there. For another example, in the coming weeks, I'll begin only sending these newsletters to subscribers (people who have registered to receive it).
In the meantime, read and enjoy...and teach your children well.
JohnL
John Wills Lloyd, Ph.D.
Founder & Editor, SpedTalk
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