THE MAXWELLS' HOUSE

Fred C. Maxwell, Ph.D.
University of South Carolina
Educational Consultant

Available Workshops:

"Writing to Read"
"Reading and Writing Workshop"
"What's Special About the Special Education Student"
"Who's At-Risk?"
"Proactive Parenting"

Ila R. Maxwell, MA
Furman University
Greer High School 2000-2001 "Teacher of the Year"
Special-Education Teacher

ABOUT US

Hi! Welcome to our home page. The Maxwell house consists of Fred, Ila, four children, and Travis the son-in-law who lives in Ohio with Christina our daughter. We lived in Swaziland, Africa from 1983-1990 and very much miss the biltong and braiis! Ila and I are both special education teachers working with students who have learning and emotional disabilities. Collectively we have over thirty years of teaching experience from 4th grade through university. Family hobbies include amateur radio (three of us)-- scuba diving (Fred and Jonathan)-- mountain biking , gardening (the tribe), and then there is Heather: bungee jumping, skydiving, scuba diving, and mountain climbing. In Heather's spare time she is a sophomore majoring in elementary education and cheering for Basilean. Lauren is a junior attending BJA. Jonathan graduated from Travelers Rest High School and is majoring in Human Services at Greenville Technical College. On November 4th I was elected as a council member onTravelers Rest City Council and began serving a four year term in January, 1998. On November 6th 2001 I was elected to a second term.

MAKING READING MAKE SENSE

If you are accessing this page as a parent or a teacher with a desire to develop more effective readers in your home or classroom, you will want follow the research based link, Making Reading Make Sense. Through analysis of written responses to a daily read aloud in an At-Risk classroom, twenty-three strategies were identified that the students used to make meaning of text. The literature discussion group formed by the class provided a powerful demonstration for others to use in developing their own strategies for making meaning. After spending a semester exploring these meaning-making strategies in my university teaching reading class, a student remarked,"This has totally changed the way that I read; I get so much MORE out of what I read now!" As an alternative to worksheets, the twenty-three strategies will help students to develop thinking skills and to make deeper meaning as they read.

INVENTIVE SPELLING

Should students be allowed to use inventive spelling in classes? Read,Beyond Conventional Spelling.

TAKE A SWAZI TOUR

Enjoy the warm, friendly people of Swaziland as you take a pictorial tour.

THE KISS OF DECEPTION

Read what happens when a special education student wants to tug at the teacher's heart The Kiss of Deception.

SNIP

See how a student with special needs discovered true self-control!Snip

COOL TEACHER LINKS!!

1. The Internet TESL Journal
A monthly web journal for Teachers of English as a Second Language.
2. K-12 on the Internet
3. Virtual Tour (super for geography)
4. Why Files (science)
5. Yahoo Education (the best!)