Inclusion and Teaching in Chicago

While in grad school, I wrote a paper about post secondary outcomes for students with disabilities. It was the most depressing paper I ever wrote. The research is disgusting. The majority of adults with disabilities do not have full time employment. Then and there, I vowed to do anything I could in the middle grades to make sure the students on my case load would not be a statistic. The most efficient way to do this was to teach self advocacy skills and make sure my students knew themselves, their strengths, their disability, and how to talk to adults about all of the above. During my time as a middle school learning specialist , my colleague Cara Shannon and I created a plan surrounding transitions and self advocacy. We did a lot of work around self advocacy in 5th, 6th, and 7th grades but this blog will focus on how we got 8th grade students to make an individualized portfolio, email their high school case manager, and present their portfolio all before graduation. Here's my br...

I'm asked a lot by friends and colleagues to share "proof" with me that inclusion works, is necessary, or allows for student success. I individually share information with these people but thought others might be interested in my top articles. SWIFT Center is a national center that is committed to inclusion and providing research based supports to create inclusive districts. Here is their report showing how the achievement gap between students with and without disabilities decreased after three years of inclusion. Check out page 1 for a list of benefits of inclusive education and pages 2-3 to see graphs on the achievement gap.      Jennifer Kurth is a professor at KU. She has done a lot of amazing research on test scores of students that were included versus those that were segregated. Check out page 11. This one is really worth looking at. It's about how inclusion isn't a choice or a philosophy... it's the LAW!   Page 31 and 32 o...

Thank you for everyone that came out last night to the Matteson District 162 and Southland College Prep High School for hosting us last night. Thank you to all of the parents that showed up, asked questions, and joined us for our session! We had a great time and really appreciate everyone who came. CLICK HERE for the powerpoint on Time Management and Organization for Students.

I love nothing more than to dive into a new teacher resource or book. I take a sip of my coffee, push my hair behind my ears, and dig right in! The problem is that many books about teaching don't take into account the busy lives of teachers. My favorite books are those that are incredibly visual, give information in short chunks, have examples, and provide forms, checklists, and other sheets that you can print off or copy right away. Below are my top five books at the moment for busy co-teachers working in the inclusive classroom. Brew some coffee, dump in some sugar, and get to reading!   5. Informal Assessments for Transition Planning by Gary M. Clark, James R. Patton, and L. Rozelle Moulton This has been a go-to book of mine for the past four or five years. Research shows links between teaching self-advocacy and self-determination and future success, employment, and independence. This books is jam packed with surveys and assessments. It is a great resource to use with stu...

An IEP-at-a-Glance is a great tool to use when you want to quickly share the most important information from a student's IEP. I've gone through many iterations of this template throughout the years, but the one I've created (see below) is my favorite by far. IEP-at-a-Glance Uses: Share with gen ed teachers at the beginning of the school year. Share with gen ed teachers after an annual IEP meeting  Share with gen ed teachers after a revision. Share with paraprofessionals working with student. Share with any related service staff or other staff members that work with student. Share with student when talking about their IEP and self determination. One of the learning specialists at my school came up with a new, wonderful use... fill it out and share it with parents at the IEP meeting! This is a quick and clear way to talk about the IEP and give parents a visual. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/At-A-Glance-1921129

Implementing behavior plans and behavior interventions can feel like the most overwhelming process in the world. Not only do you have to deal with all of the behavior related jargon and acronyms, but you need to be fully versed in communicating the plan in an easy, user friendly way to all of the other professionals that are required to implement said plan. It's tough! After realizing how unfriendly the BIP can be for professionals, I compiled a list of resources to help with the process. Here are some supports you can use once you already have a behavior intervention plan in place.  The BIP: I found THIS post on creating a color coded flow chart and I immediately made my own. Go HERE to get a blank, editable version to plug in your own behavior plan. The data: My grad school professor once told me that the goal of a behavior plan and data sheets are that they are used easily and consistently. You can make the most perfect, brilliant behavior plan but if other staff memb...

Here in Chicago we just started the PARCC assessment. This, however, isn't a post about my opinions (or anyone else's) on standardized testing. The reality is that testing IS our reality. Going into testing, I have three main objectives: 1. Appropriate accommodations are met. 2. Students feel prepared. 3. Students feel comfortable. 3. Teachers feel calm and ready. Below are my top tricks: 1. Appropriate accommodations are met. Use  this link to get my testing accommodations spreadsheet. This is a great way to keep all of your students' testing accommodations in one place. I like to print this off before testing begins and hand out copies to any other proctors who are testing with me. You can also share this with the general education teacher or anyone else that would benefit from having this information. I don't like to rely on my memory for something as important as testing accommodations, and this way I don't have to! 2. Students feel prep...