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…
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…
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 day my son graduated from high school was one that I had anticipated for a very long time. It was very emotional for me and in the weeks leading up, I had moments where I would suddenly hold him tight and burst into tears. Those moments had not been as often as I thought…
It is our responsibility to provide EVERY student with opportunities, to learn, improve, and grow.
the I.E.P. or as we prefer to call it…
Every student MUST have a general education teacher… I struggle with even writing this post because the foundation of Equitable Teaching is to ensure that every student has their learning outcomes met through the accessibility of their general education teacher. The truth is however, is that this is often not the case. Every student with…
Read more Advocacy Series #4 Every student MUST have a general education teacher…
In a world that consistently accommodates for adults…
let’s not forget that children and adolescents need accommodations too!
Implementation is the residue of design, and when done with fidelity provides a proactive and responsive approach to teaching. EVERY student in our classrooms can be supported during implementation when we believe… …that it is our ROLE to support the learning outcomes of EVERY student. …that we need to establish RELATIONSHIPS with EVERY student. …that…