Reality 101: CEC's blog for new teachers

Brad: Confidentiality at the Expense of Connection?



Recently, I had an opportunity to share some of my school’s inclusive practices with a special educator from another district. I told him about using general education peer-tutors, inviting general education classes into self-contained classrooms for shared lessons, and helping typical and non-typical students change the school climate with respect to students with disabilities.

While my colleague was personally connected to the mission of inclusion, he was unsure that some of these practices could actually occur at his school, due to parental and administrative concerns over confidentiality. He cited a few incidences of parents who were quite protective of their child’s right to privacy within an education setting. I couldn’t help but wonder why I had never encountered this “right to privacy” issue at the school where I teach.

To be sure, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act includes a number of definitions and legal requirements, especially with respect to evaluations, personally identifiable information, and access to records. But I’ve never interpreted these rights as contrary to the mission of inclusive practices within schools.

Brad: Plugging into Advocacy

Like most teachers, I usually try to spend school breaks “unplugging” from the world of structured academics. But during my most recent break, I am proud to say I was firmly “plugged in” to the Alaska Special Olympics Winter Games. I had a lot of fun while meeting some amazing people.

Special Olympics held a Youth Summit concurrent with the Winter Games in Anchorage. The Youth Summit was hosted by my school, East High School, and involved seven other schools. The goal of the Youth Summit was to foster leadership skills in high schoolers, as well as to share ideas about how Alaskan schools can start Partners Clubs and implement Alaska Special Olympics School Programs in their communities. Partners Clubs provide athletic, social, and recreational opportunities to students with disabilities (Athletes) paired with students without disabilities (Partners).

Teachers, Partners, and Athletes participated in team-building exercises, shared organizational ideas, brainstormed activities to increase inclusion in their schools, and attended Winter Games events like floor hockey, snowshoeing, and skiing. The students shared their perspectives on what the school and community climate is like for individuals with disabilities. It’s impressive to see students who are really dedicated to supporting people with disabilities—not just because it’s right, but because they recognize and appreciate what they’re learning in the process.

A key goal of Partners Club at East High School is to include students with disabilities into the school community to the greatest degree possible. It was interesting to learn about the location of special education classrooms and program protocol with respect to visits from general education students.

Brad: Getting Students to Go Beyond the Classroom

“The journey itself is delight.”— Rousseau

Last week Partners Club (a group I co-sponsor that connects students with and without disabilities through athletics and social activities) resumed its weekly ski outings. Although it had been uncharacteristically warm throughout the last week or so, there was still plenty of snow on the mountain.

As the kids climbed the hill in sets of twos and threes, I was genuinely moved by how our club really does impact every student beyond the classroom. In every sport, but especially in skiing, there’s a level of trust and care required to get students not only up the hill in cold weather, but also down again in a way that respects their level of athletic, psychological, and spiritual comfort. However, long before a student with a disability buckles into ski boots, he or she must hop over the first hurdle to getting involved with the club: getting out of the house.

Each Monday morning, my class discusses what they did that weekend, and the only response more common than watching television, playing video games, or sleeping is the ever-ubiquitous “nothing.” I often find that for some students this response is the ticket out of talking. But for a few of them, I realize that “nothing” is really an accurate summation of their weekend. And for a teacher who values student skills like connectedness, independence, and engagement, that realization is tough to make.

Melissa: The Mouse Project

It’s the most wonderful lesson plan of the year! Last year, my class participated in a trip where people with disabilities could shop for the holidays with a little extra assistance. Most of my students brought money to purchase items for their families, but not all were able to do so. So what was I going to have them do while the others shopped ‘til they dropped (that they would genuinely like and that would not cause a behavior problem in public)?

Thus was born what became known as The Mouse Project. I thought it would be fun for my students to buy holiday gifts for a local family in need. Where would we get the money for these gifts? Well, we would run a little business from our classroom, of course!

The class worked together to make holiday ornaments that looked like mice. And silly me, I didn’t get enough glue for each student to have their own bottle. They had to take turns, ask nicely, and say “please” and “thank you.” They did a wonderful job of making each mouse unique—and practiced lots of social skills along the way.

Melissa: Invested

I just returned home from an amazing convention! A colleague and I were fortunate enough to attend the Geneva Centre for Autism’s International Symposium in Toronto. As a teacher to students on the autism spectrum, just about everyone I would want to hear speak was at this conference.

Even more fulfilling than what I learned there was the knowledge that my school district appreciates me enough to invest in this professional development experience. In a time when budgets are so tight, it really warms my heart that I am highly valued as a professional educator. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I’m really excited to share the highlights with you.

We had one full-day session with social thinking expert Michelle Garcia Winner. She was so engaging and offered tons of ideas I can use the second I step back into my classroom. Lately my “bag of tricks” has felt a little empty, and she swooped in with Santa’s sack chock-full of goodies.

Jennifer: Good Bet

I don’t typically start off a blog entry with a poker tournament flashback (because up until 24 hours ago I had nothing to flash back to), but here it goes.

Last night I had the privilege of attending a charity poker tournament to raise money for Conductive Education, more specifically, ConductAbility Inc., which is a program I have been working alongside in my classroom this year. I thought it would be a fun chance to meet people and share some stories, as well as a good opportunity to really “grasp the rules” of Texas Hold ‘Em.

So there I was at 8 p.m., sitting at a small table with very, very large men who could shuffle their chips in one hand without looking while I just stared at mine and felt the dreadful realization of what I was in for slowly wash over me. I knew I was in trouble when the first question out of the guy across from me was, “So what number tournament is this for you?” Um… does “number one” sound intimidating enough? I thought he must be kidding.

Ellen: Student/Child/Boy/Girl/Son/Daughter/Man/Woman/PEOPLE with Disabilities

Last week I read two articles in Time and People magazines that referred to individuals with Down syndrome as “Downs,” “Downs syndrome kids,” and even “the disabled.” Say what you will about the quality of my personal magazine subscriptions, but do a search for “the disabled” on the Washington Post or the New York Times Web sites and see how much it pops up. It’s everywhere.

Today, March 3, happens to be the official awareness day of the Special Olympics’ nationwide campaign to discontinue derogatory use of the “r-word” and promote acceptance of people with intellectual disabilities. I encourage all of you to pledge your support at www.r-word.org.

Media outlets have been stepping all over themselves recently trying to report on this campaign, the “Family Guy” vs. Sarah Palin incident, and Rahm Emanuel’s misstep. As tasty as those stories are, I wish journalists would slow down their mouths and fingers long enough to process the actual language they use to describe people with disabilities. While the word “retard” certainly occurs in public discourse much more often than it should, it is indicative of a much larger and more widespread problem.

Ellen: Why Are You Dressed Like A Hot Dog?

Around Halloween, my school holds a “Story Book Character Day,” which I found kind of offensive my first year. I was shocked that many kindergarten and first-grade students came to school in costume, especially when I found out all those Star Wars Storm Troopers were supposed to be book characters. There are many students at my school who do not participate in Halloween for religious or cultural reasons, so I thought this excuse to wear costumes to school that conveniently coincided with the holiday was a little insensitive.

That being said, I dressed up as Eric Carle’s The Grouchy Ladybug and my students absolutely loved it. I was also very pleased to find that almost all of the other kindergarten and first-grade kids did dress up as actual book characters, as I guess most families either felt that it didn’t glorify Halloween or maybe didn’t want their students to be excluded.

Jennifer: Troubleshooting the Inclusion Dilemma

I have always been a huge advocate of inclusion. I think it does so much for our students when they  leave their self-contained classroom to go out and engage in a different-paced activity with a larger group of students than they are used to. It encourages communication and helps them increase interpersonal skills. And most importantly, it builds friendships that they may not have otherwise had.

My school is specific to students with physical and health impairments; however, we are connected to a general education school. When I first came here, I thought that this was the absolute perfect set-up for inclusion. I had all these huge plans for pen-pal programs to motivate my students to write, science projects that they could do in teams, maybe even a play or music performance that would bring our classes together (for some reason, every time I thought about how great it would be, my ideas played out in my head like a montage to the theme song for “The Wonder Years”).

Inclusion of Students with Exceptionalities

By Karen S. Voytecki, Ph.D.
2001 CEC Clarissa Hug Teacher of the Year
Assistant Professor, East Carolina University

Originally posted Oct. 29, 2007

In addition to being able to communicate and collaborate with other professionals (i.e., general education teachers, special educators, paraprofessionals, speech/language pathologists, etc.), it is essential to focus on the instructional component that equates to success for students with exceptionalities who are included in general education classrooms.  Although there are numerous factors that must be taken into account when designing instruction for today's students (i.e., students' background knowledge, current skill levels, interest, content's relevance to their lives, etc.), each lesson must be differentiated to meet the needs of the diverse students that compose the classes of our schools.

The Discovery Program: Acceptance and Understanding in a Full Inclusion Classroom

Dear Readers:

I thought it only fair to start my month with an article that will give you an idea of where I am coming from philosophically.  I will preface the article by saying I do not believe my way is the only way and I do not advocate all or nothing replication.  I encourage you to explore and implement the practices that interest you in small doses and proceed as your comfort level increases.  Blend ideas that intrigue you and fit your style with those that you already find successful.  Make the resulting combination your own.

I am looking forward to the coming month.                                          

Larry

The Discovery Program
Acceptance and Understanding in a Full Inclusion Classroom

By Larry Statler
 
“A mosaic of abilities, ages, cultures and love” is the motto that describes the Discovery Program. The atmosphere of caring and sharing that has been created in this classroom is what makes the full inclusion of severely handicapped students possible.  This award-winning program is a model of collaboration between special and general educators.  These teachers have planned and implemented a learning environment that meets the individual needs of children whose abilities range from severely handicapped through gifted.  If needed, we are able to toilet train one student while providing accelerated reading to another. The result is a classroom where children can work to their maximum potential while fostering self-esteem and developing their acceptance and understanding of individual differences.

Inclusion of Students with Exceptionalities

By Karen S. Voytecki, Ph.D.
2001 CEC Clarissa Hug Teacher of the Year
Assistant Professor, East Carolina University

In addition to being able to communicate and collaborate with other professionals (i.e. general education teachers, special educators, paraprofessionals, speech/language pathologists, etc.), it is also essential to focus on the instructional component that equates to success for students with exceptionalities who are included in general education classrooms.  Although there are numerous factors that must be taken into account when designing instruction for today's students (i.e. students' background knowledge, current skill levels, interest, relevance to their lives, etc.), each lesson must be differentiated to meet the needs of the diverse students that compose the classes of our schools.

Effective Inclusive Practices

By Karen S. Voytecki, Ph.D.
2001 CEC Clarissa Hug Teacher of the Year
Assistant Professor, East Carolina University

One issue that is of concern to both general and special educators is the need for providing appropriate services and supports to students with exceptionalities in inclusive classroom environments.  Today, now more than ever before, students with exceptionalities are increasingly being served in fully inclusive classrooms.  Being in the Least Restrictive Environment with "typical" peers is mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act; while using research-based, best practice instructional approaches is demanded by No Child Left Behind.  So...  How can teachers, including beginning teachers, implement high quality instruction to meet the academic and social needs of children with exceptionalities who are being served full-time in a general education setting?