Mentor

Coincidence, Iwo Jima, and the Original Dr. Phil

This week I’ve noticed a number of interesting coincidences, most of which involve my friend and occasional mentor, Dr. Philip Trapp, who I affectionately call The Original Dr. Phil. Phil is my colleague and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychological Science at the University of Arkansas. Emeritus means retired with honor or distinction. Phil [...]

2024-01-11T02:27:33-06:00February 28th, 2015|Categories: Mentor, Self & Other|Tags: , |

St. Vincent: Patron Saint of Bullied Kids?

It’s the movie award season and one movie that got some buzz was St. Vincent. Bill Murray plays Vincent, the acerbic neighbor who lives next door to Oliver and his mother. Oliver’s mom works late so Vincent is asked to “babysit” Oliver when he gets home from school. Vincent obliges (for $12/hour) and eventually introduces [...]

2024-01-11T02:27:34-06:00February 23rd, 2015|Categories: Mentor, Self & Other|Tags: , , |

No Time to Be Helped: The Challenge of Supporting Military Families

A few months ago I received a grant from the U.S. Department of Education to develop a strategic model for school-based mentoring (SBM) that school districts can use to support students whose families serve in our country’s military (http://drtimcavell.com/serving-children-military-parents/). We plan to develop, refine, and evaluate a practical and sustainable SBM program for military-connected students [...]

2024-01-11T02:27:34-06:00February 14th, 2015|Categories: Mentor, Parent|Tags: , , , |

“Remember: I will always be your Little Brother”

This week, I’ve been thinking about A, the first boy I mentored through Big Brothers Big Sisters. It was his birthday this week and I try to send him birthday wishes each year, even though I’m no longer his Big Brother. We met in October just before Halloween. He had an impish predisposition, an endearing [...]

2024-01-11T02:27:34-06:00January 10th, 2015|Categories: Mentor|Tags: , |

Child’s Play: What to Give Christmas Morning

For most children, the magic of Christmas is waking to find new toys and games, each one offering the promise of sheer joy and hours of fun. Much is written each year about which toys are popular, which are age-appropriate, and which are educational. Far less is said about parents' role in child's play or how [...]

2024-01-11T02:27:34-06:00December 24th, 2014|Categories: Mentor, Parent|Tags: , , , |

The Least Used, Most Useful Line in Parenting (or Mentoring)

Try this the next time your children come to you with a complaint or a problem that isn’t completely outside of their ability to solve: Listen without interrupting, take a moment to acknowledge their emotional state (“I can tell that you’re mad”), and then offer this question, “What are you going to do?” In my [...]

2024-01-11T02:27:34-06:00December 5th, 2014|Categories: Mentor, Parent|Tags: , , , |

Erin’s Way

The anniversary of my mother’s death is just before Thanksgiving, so at this time of the year my thoughts go to her—Erin McLavy Cavell. On the day she died, we drove to Louisiana for the funeral and I sat down and wrote these words, which my siblings asked me to read at her funeral: This [...]

2024-01-11T02:27:34-06:00November 21st, 2014|Categories: Mentor, Parent|Tags: , , , , |

This Is A Custom Widget

This Sliding Bar can be switched on or off in theme options, and can take any widget you throw at it or even fill it with your custom HTML Code. Its perfect for grabbing the attention of your viewers. Choose between 1, 2, 3 or 4 columns, set the background color, widget divider color, activate transparency, a top border or fully disable it on desktop and mobile.

This Is A Custom Widget

This Sliding Bar can be switched on or off in theme options, and can take any widget you throw at it or even fill it with your custom HTML Code. Its perfect for grabbing the attention of your viewers. Choose between 1, 2, 3 or 4 columns, set the background color, widget divider color, activate transparency, a top border or fully disable it on desktop and mobile.
Go to Top