Author: Renee Samuels

Renee is a graduate of Wayne State University, where she earned a B.S. in Education, with endorsements in Elementary Education and Cognitive Impairments. She earned her Master's Degree in Special Education at the University of Michigan - Dearborn, with an endorsement in Learning Disabilities. Renee has been teaching Special Education as an elementary, middle school, and high school Resource Room teacher, and currently she is a Teacher Consultant and the Transition Coordinator, supporting post-secondary Special Education students in building vocational skills and transitioning from education to a meaningful life post-public education. Renee is a certified Instructional Consultation Teams Facilitator, certified Peers Making Peace Facilitator, certified Explicit Instruction Trainer, and is certified in the science of happiness from Yale University.

Supporting Summer Learning

Allow me to save you from the trouble I had when trying to support my daughter with summer learning activities. Ugh, if I could only do it over again knowing what I know now!

Hold Your Kids Accountable

Parents, do you ever feel like your child is never going to grow out of this stage? It took me my entire childhood before I finally dropped this bad habit and learned this important lesson!

Improvement Over Perfection

“Unless you’re using the word in reflection, predicting anyone or anything will be “perfect” is setting ourselves up for unrealistic expectations and reinforcing a fixed mindset.”

Help Your Child Learn at Home

ATTENTION PARENTS: It’s time to prepare for learning from home with, “A Parent’s Guide to Teaching Children at Home”

A Tutor Isn’t Enough

Educators and tutors rarely spend enough time with students to provide adequate supported practice, so parent involvement is imperative for struggling students.

Embracing Change

Change, you can resist it or you can embrace it, but the sooner you choose to embrace it, the easier life is going to be.

Establishing Boundaries

What I find is that boundaries are often driven from upset. When someone has upset you, leaving you feeling mistreated or maybe even violated, that is an indicator there is a need for a boundary.

Noticing Life

Always remember to treasure the moments because they’re not promised to last.

Coronavirus Time

Does time during a quarantine feel like it’s moving faster or slower?

Inner Peace

Could you benefit from strategies to quiet the voice in your head and reset your thinking?

Is Average Enough?

Should parents embrace mediocrity? How do you nurture above-average children?

Knowing vs. Doing

There’s a big difference between knowing and doing, but one simple strategy easily bridges the knowing-doing gap every time.

Teaching Through Television

Television can be constructive or destructive. Try using it as a tool for teaching life lessons and as a pathway to family bonding.

Just Be

It’s important to learn to just “be.”  Be still. Be with yourself. […]

Dodging Dating

What relationship message are you sending your children?