#9 Richard McManus - Making the Impossible Possible Precision Teaching

Richard McManus is the owner of The Fluency Factory, a PT learning lab in Massachusetts, and has been a Precision Teacher for more than 4 decades. In this episode, Richard recounts his life experience, beginning with his father's early influence, and his progressive use of inclusivity. He also talks about the individuals that have inspired him to advocate for the underprivileged. With his courage and resilience, Richard has influenced so many teachers, parents, and students. He firmly believes that we can make the impossible possible if we put our hearts into what we do and have the highest of expectations for the learners we work with and advocate for.

 

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HIGHLIGHTS

2:32 Richard’s major influences.

8:41 Why he left the English department after freshman year.

12:40 Working with people with developmental disabilities at a big state institution.

37:51 Richard talks about his experience doing training for parents of kids with autism.

39:40 The Fluency Factory.

49:41 The challenge of recruiting people.

52:47 Encouraging teachers to have a career trajectory within precision teaching.

 

RESOURCES

Breaking the Code

The Fluency Factory

Make the Impossible Possible: One Man's Crusade to Inspire Others to Dream Bigger and Achieve the Extraordinary by Bill Strickland (*book)

Behavior in Public Places: Notes on the Social Organization of Gatherings by Ervin Goffman (*book)

 

QUOTES

39:12 “You don't really have a behavior problem. What you have is kids who aren't learning, and kids who aren't learning are not happy. So, you've got to create a learning environment, otherwise, you're going to have behavior problems.”

55:15 “Most of the children we see like my little guy from two years ago, who have problems with reading also have problems with their behavior.”

57:07 “We're going to have to figure out how do we embed the chart into things? Because without that, most of these programs that people are clinging to are just mumbo jumbo, they're not going to be very effective.”

59:03 “You really have to have high expectations, that is the key to any kind of progress your students are going to make.”