It is no secret that teaching can be a challenging job. There are days I leave feeling drained, unsuccessful, and if I am being completely honest like I failed my students for that day. If they struggle I take it personally, if they succeed I take it personally. Either way I feel it to my…
As I’ve mentioned before, fostering the development of a positive and supportive classroom community is a high priority for me. One of the ways I support this is through my classroom Shout-Out circles. At the onset, I teach students about the purpose of having a Shout-Out circle and expectations around what a Shout-Out should focus…
This past summer I had the opportunity to teach summer school. I knew at the start, that some of my students had a tendency to get escalated or leave the room when frustrated. I decided to use a calming space within my classroom to help with this. At the onset, I taught what the space…
I have found embedded in the day-to-day activities, routines, and structure of my classroom, ample opportunities for the instruction and development of interpersonal skills. One such example is seating, something that I do not leave up to chance. I decided at the onset of starting in general education, that I would switch the seating in…
We just finished up a week of watching my parent’s dog, Lily. She is a really sweet dog and very easy to take care of, but there was something interesting that we discovered during her stay. She did not know how to push a door open with her nose so it is wide enough for…
Likely if you have worked in education for any length of time and even more likely if you work in special education, you have been on the receiving end of disrespect by a student. As challenging as this may be, it is our responsibility as educators to maintain a sense of rational detachment in these…
“Act like you’ve done this before.” This phrase is based on the assumption that an individual should just “know” what to do or how to act, even in novel situations. This phrase is deeply rooted in the “curse of knowledge”. Has there ever been a time in your life when circumstances required you to “act…
When our beliefs, behaviors, or attitudes conflict within ourselves we are experiencing cognitive dissonance, according to a theory developed by Leon Festinger (1957). Imagine you are trying to save money for a down payment on a house and you order a $50 steak or buy a $200 pair of jeans. That nagging or uneasy feeling…
Every time I hear the term “sped student” it absolutely makes my skin crawl. Not only is this not person first, it also automatically assigns an identity to the student being referenced. How often is the term “gen. ed student” used in reference to one particular student? I will answer that, rarely, or never. Students…
Read more Advocacy Series # 10 Special education is a resource not an identity…
The goal of intervention is to help students develop skills. As educators when we recognize that a student may need additional support in a skill area, interventions must ALWAYS be considered before special education services. The skill area may be academic, speech and language, social, functional, behavioral, organizational, or a specific focus unique to the…
Read more Advocacy Series #9 Intervention begins with self-reflection…