Katie Novak - Let Them Thrive: A Playbook for Helping Your Child Succeed in School and in Life

Copyright 2017 by CAST, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017944059

Paperback ISBN 978-1-930583-16-0

Ebook ISBN 978-1-930583-17-7

Published by:

CAST Professional Publishing

an imprint of CAST, Inc.

Wakefield, Massachusetts, USA

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please email publishing@cast.org or telephone 781-245-2212 or visit www.castpublishing.org

Cover and interior design by Happenstance Type-O-Rama

Illustrations by Lindie Johnson. CAST 2017. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

To Torin, Aylin, Brecan, and Boden,

This life is yours. Live it your way.

And never forget that your road to success will include struggles, mistakes, and failurethats just a part of the magic. I love you more than you know.

Love, Momma

A published book is the tip of a pyramid. Its the apex of a product constructed over time by many different people. The cover says that I wrote this book, but no great structure is built by one persons hands. Countless individuals have inspired me and pushed me to write this book and have helped me along the way.

To David Gordon, for your vision. We had the idea to write this parent book two years ago. When I drafted it the first time, I completely missed the mark (you wont see any of that version in this book!). Thank you for knowing me well enough to share that feedback over lattes at The Java Room, as you sent me on a different road that has made all the difference. All writers should have a publisher who is as committed to individual authors and their craft and who realizes that the culture of nice will never result in a great book. Maybe we should celebrate this one with some burgers and shakes at Chelos!

To Billie Fitzpatrick, for being the best editor in the universe. Whenever I see your red comments in Track Changes, I know that there is magic coming my way. Your comments are always thoughtful and mastery-oriented, like you are inside the head of every possible reader all at once. When Im writing, Im now going to have an imaginary muse who reminds me, What would Billie say about this? Also, your feedback on the title and the cover were priceless. Hopefully this is the beginning of many partnerships.

To Lindie Johnson. Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters Ah, how many times have we sung that classic White Christmas tune? I would say something super cheesy, but I know that you would make fun of me for it. So, instead, Ill just thank you for taking my calls multiple times a day and for being the best marketing director/illustrator/best friend/sister in the world. If I could clone you, I would. From the first draft of this version, which you said was all over the place, to the hundreds of revisions, all the while managing my website and renovating my house, I couldnt accomplish anything without your collaboration.

To Mom and Dad. Thank goodness the universe picked you to be my parents. From a young age, I believed I could accomplish anything. You made it clear it wouldnt be easy, and I had to be willing to fight for it, but that anything I wanted was mine for the taking. I believed you then and now. So much of what you taught me has made its way into this book.

To all the teachers who have shared their practice with me. Even though Im not in the classroom anymore, Im so honored to be invited into yours. The more I learn about teaching and learning, and see you in action, the more committed I am to creating a system where you all have the opportunity to be as creative and innovative as we want our students to become. This book is to support your work as much as the success of students. Thank you especially to a few of my colleagues: Karen Gartland, who contributed her math expertise to this book, and Kelly Cook, who inspired the UDL Summer Language Exploration. Also, thanks to my Groton-Dunstable family; you all show me every day that when teachers are empowered and valued, they can accomplish anything. Also, you keep me real, and for that, I am forever grateful.

And to my husband Lon. Where do I start? I have always saidand will say until my last breathyou are the best decision I have ever made. People will always ask, How is it that you work as an assistant superintendent, consult, and still have time to write and raise four kids? My answer is always, Lon Novak. Thank you for supporting my crazy ideas, always picking up the slack without complaining, and for doing my laundry for thirteen years and running. Some may call that enabling, but I like to call it best husband in the world. Literally, I dont tell you enough, but everything I am and everything I have accomplished is because of you.

When one door closes, another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.

Alexander Graham Bell

O n Valentines Day, 1876, a stern-faced lawyer hurriedly approached the U.S. Patent office gripping detailed documents of an invention that would forever change human communication. Fifth in line, Alexander Graham Bells attorney applied for the first U.S. patent for the invention of the telephone. The Bell basic patentNo. 174,465was issued three weeks later. It changed the world. With the ability to transmit the human voice over electrical wire, Bells Large Box Telephone was constructed of a wooden frame, about the size of a modern microwave. By the time of his death in 1922, telephones were in use all over the industrial world.

Today, phones are powerful computers that enable us to place wireless calls around the world, video chat, read digital books, pay bills, listen to navigation directions, watch live TV, take professional photos and videos, and so much more. And the Large Box Telephone is a mere artifact, an obsolete museum piece that no one would want or need to use. Why? The answer, of course, is progress. Science and innovation have given us better tools. Furthermore, our needs have changed.

With this enormous change in perspective on the understanding of communications technology, let me ask you to consider another kind of reframing. Think about how the education of young people has also undergone a dramatic evolution.

Until recently, students were educated using traditional models of education that were static and were focused on teachers providing a one-size-fits-all curriculum to all students. Teachers had a textbook or a curriculum, and they worked their way through that curriculum at a pace predetermined by the teacher, school, or district while students sat quietly in rows. Students were considered receptacles; knowledge was deposited into the brain, as if the brain was passive and receptive and teachers were the deliverers of such information. When assessments suggested that the knowledge wasnt deposited appropriately, attention often focused on the student, and his or her shortcomings. There was a sharp emphasis on fixing students so they could fit into this outdated mold.

We know now that if we want all students to be successful, they need a more flexible school environment; teachers must understand and appreciate student differences; and parents should be aware of their role in supporting schools and this new idea of personalized education. A personalized education is not one designed specifically for each student. Rather, its an education designed from the outset to provide