Inclusion and Teaching in Chicago

In my experience, the best way to become more knowledgeable about inclusive practices is to read like a maniac. That being said, there's so much out there that it can become intimidating. My suggestion is to start small with these three newsletters. Sign up for them and you get a daily, weekly, or monthly update on strategies, research, and technology that matter for students.  Swift Schools Newsletter :  I highly recommend signing up for Swift's monthly newsletter (scroll down... it's on the righthand side of the page). Swift Schools is connected to several national universities that promote inclusion and is a favorite of mine because it combines practical suggestions with research based articles. When your done with your monthly newsletter, head over to their website. It is a goldmine. I check for updates on the  SWIFT Shelf  pretty regularly.  Bookshare Blog :  Are you a teacher? Do you have students with print based disabiliti...

Let's do a top 5. 5. The Inclusive Class- 12 Resources that Teachers Need to Know About for the Inclusive Classroom The Kurth book is on my Amazon wish list and I want to read it SOOO badly! 4.   Accommodations and Modifications: A How-To Q&A with Nicole Eredics of the Inclusive Class Here's one more from Nicole. Her examples around modifications are the best I've seen online! She has a book coming out soon and boy do I want it! 3. Shelley Moore tweets at @tweetsomemoore and every single thing she writes, links to, or creates is thoughtful and focused on inclusive practices. She just published a book. Books for days, people! 2.  The Least Dangerous Assumption by Cheryl Jorgensen This article isn't new (it was written in 2005) but it's new to me! Best quote:  "If a student does not do well, the quality of education should be questioned before the student's ability to learn." 1. "Lift Off" Donovan Livingston's spoken-...

Unique Week is five full days of celebrating every student in our school's community. Students, teachers, and families take time to discuss what makes us one of a kind! Ultimately, this brings us closer together! This year's Unique Week was even bigger, better, and smoother run than last year thanks to our committee that included a primary (Ivette), intermediate (Mahli), and middle school (Jenn) teacher.  If you want to check out what Unique Week looked like last year, click here  and also click here !   Having a committee was incredible. The three teachers really ran the week and all of the major decisions and suggestions were from them. I just took (some of) the pictures. They did ALL of the heavy lifting and I couldn't have been happier or prouder! Monday: We started Unique Week off with a book with a message connecting to celebrating uniqueness. Primary teachers did a read aloud of David McKee's Elmer. Intermediate students read Wendy Ewald'...

The full title of this post is All the Small Things (That We Do to Include All) but first I want to bring it back to 1999 when Blink 182 was all over the radio, my flared jeans were essentially bell bottoms, and we were talking seriously about how the turn of the century could mean Armageddon for us all! So before we get into inclusive practices, brew yourself some coffee, put your baseball cap on backwards, and enjoy the smooth, pop punk stylings of Mark, Travis, and Matt. Is th e upbeat skater pop surging through your veins? Good, now you're ready. Read the list below! Oftentimes when we talk about inclusive practices and environments we mention co-teaching, accessibility, communication, cooperative learning, etc., etc., etc.  While we see these as giant, involved tenants of an inclusive environment, there are a lot of small, subtle ways to show anyone walking through the hallways that we value and include all our community members. 1. Both co-teachers' names are o...