Education is Special: A Fundamental Right

Education is Special: A Fundamental Right:

          People with disabilities have the same fundamental right to live and participate in this world as much as the non-disabled.  ...

A Fundamental Right

   

      People with disabilities have the same fundamental right to live and participate in this world as much as the non-disabled.  This does not mean that they should be given special treatment because of their disability. It simply means that if a disabled person is able to carry out activities in the home, school, community, and in the workplace with or without reasonable accommodations and/or modifications then they should be allowed to do so. Merit should always go to the best qualified candidate. 

   Savvy special educators take the time to get to know each of their students. When it comes to educating them, they take into account the whole child. Aside from academic and physical needs an astute special educator will take into consideration each students need to have skill in self-determination and self-advocacy.
     Self-determination is a person's individual characteristics that lead them to make choices and decisions based on their own personal likes and preferences.  Self-determination also helps the individual to become goal oriented and to self-regulate their own actions related to this goal. In many cases the more a person wants something, the more he/she will work toward this goal regardless of a disability. Special educators  help students attain realistic goals. Many times these goals allow students to reach for their dream. Have you ever noticed that uninhibited, little children always reach for their dreams blurting out things like, "I'm going to be a fireman, or a princess, or an astronaut"?  How many parents run out to stores to get them toys and dress-up clothes to help them play out their dream! It is my belief that dreams can become a reality with the right support and guidance. Sometimes as a child grows-up dreams need to be tweaked or changed but every child has the fundamental right to participate fully in every aspect of life and reach for their own personal dreams.
   Self-advocacy is one of the best skills that a parent or educator can equip a child with. A child that has the courage to speak up for himself will be heard. When I hold (IEP) Individual Education Plan meetings, I always invite the student. I tell the student, "This is your education. You deserve the right to say what you want and to ask for what you need." One of my all time favorite IEP meetings was for a young teen with asperger's syndrome. The student wanted it written in his IEP that he could chew gum during tests and quizzes because it helped him to concentrate. A small request that made a big difference to him. This was added as an accommodation in his IEP. Gum was always on hand for this child during tests and quizzes and therefore this child was able to sail right through them. It was a seemingly insignificant adjustment that made a huge difference for this student.
     In this great world filled with opportunity after opportunity those with and without disability are all on equal playing fields when it comes to the fundamental right of living a complete life at home, in school, in the community, and in the workplace. 

Parent and Educator Links:
Educational games:     www.digipuzzle.net

11 Sample Education BYOT Polices to Help You Create Your Own:
http://www.teachthought.com/technology/11-sample-education-byot-policies-to-help-you-create-your-own

   
   
Daily Book review:
The Princess Fables written by Marc Clark. I first met author Marc Clark on Twitter. I instantly fell in love with the idea behind his book, The Princess Fables.  So I ordered it. I have not been disappointed with my purchase. In fact, I love The Princess Fables!  Marc Clark wrote eleven inspirational stories for girls who dream of becoming a princess. Each princess finds herself on a journey of self-discovery. Each princess learns true values along her journey. I love that these stories were inspired by Marc's daughter. Since my daughters are grown, I plan on using The Princess Fables with my special education students who dream big and sometimes need a lot of encouragement to get over everyday challenges. The Princess Fables will help guide me as I give my students the gift of self-determination. As I told Marc, I still do dream of becoming a princess and I dream that all of my students will achieve their highest aspirations too, so this book is perfect for me and the princesses in my classroom!  

PS. Incidentally, I also love the delicate pen and ink drawings by illustrator Eric Hosford.  The classic look of 19th century fairy tales makes The Princess Fables a real treasure.

Where were you on 9/11?

 

      Where were you on that ominous day thirteen years ago? The day so momentous that now when people hear 9/11 they instantly know where they were or weren't because some, like my current students weren't even born yet. Still without hesitation, my students can tell me exactly what 9/11 is. They also instinctively know that this is the day that the United States of America stood still and changed forever. Millions of us stared blankly at our television sets in disbelieve that such a heinous act could have occurred. I was one of them. I was a young mother with two beautiful daughters who were safely spending their day in our neighborhood elementary school. I was waiting for my very good friend to pick me up to go out for breakfast. She too was a young mother with two beautiful daughters in the same neighborhood elementary school. My phone rang. It was my friend. She said, "Turn on your television." I did, just as a plane went into the second Twin Tower. I literally couldn't absorb what I was looking at. Nobody yet understood what was happening. My friend and I didn't know what to do, so we kept our plans and went out to breakfast. We didn't understand. We were numb. I'll never forget the eerie car ride. Well travelled, main roads that were normally filled with cars,  were today practically empty. Life seemed hollow. We learned that our daughters were safe in school but were in lock-down, which meant that no one could go into or out of the school. We went home, each to our own homes and waited. We waited and prayed. We prayed that our own children would remain safe. We prayed that everyone's missing loved one would be found safe. We prayed that no one died, even though we knew they did. We prayed for the families who had loved ones who died. We prayed for all of the brave firefighters, policemen, and rescue workers that they would not be harmed.  We still pray, because even if you didn't know someone who was influenced personally by 9/11/01, you were still affected even if you weren't born yet.
     Thirteen years ago today, life changed forever in the United States of America. I think that we all became a little less trusting and more suspicious of strangers. I think though, that too our hearts grew too. Our hearts grew to help grieve for those who were suffering. Our hearts grew because we knew that our children's lives would not be quite as innocent as they had been only yesterday. Our history books grew too because a new chapter was started that day. This chapter is still being written. People are still suffering. We still pray.  We pray for all of the brave men and women who have kept us safe during the war on terrorism. I pray for a happy ending in this chapter but fear that this may not happen.
     So, where were you? Where are you now? What does your heart tell you? What do you tell your children or students about 9/11/01? In my daily links, I've included educator and/or parent resources on 9/11 to help explain this fateful day to children. Today I pray for love, peace, and tolerance. 

Educator and Parent Links:
9/11 Memorial.org
http://www.911memorial.org/teach-learn

Resources to Help Teachers Explain 9/11
http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/09/10/resources-teachers-911/

911 Materials for Teachers
http://www.ed.gov/911anniversary

Daily Book Review:
     Today I am reviewing one of the most endearing books I've ever read, Faithful Elephants: A True Story of Animals, People, and War. I chose this book because 
the author, Yukio Tsuchiya so truthfully tells the story of how war touched the Ueno Zoo in Japan during WWII. I cannot read this story without tearing up. Faithful Elephants, explains why and how three elephants, who were so deeply cared for, at the Ueno Zoo died.Yukio Tsuchiya wrote this book to let children know how deeply war touches everyone, even innocent animals. His hope is that through stories like his, world peace may be achieved. I hope so too.

Scary Textbooks...Nah!

     I believe that sometimes it's important to look at things through the eyes of a student.  In elementary school most school books are full of pictures that

students can acquaint themselves with by thumbing through the pages and looking at the pictures. By middle school however, textbooks change. They are no longer filled with pictures and large text. Instead they are replaced with textbooks so large that only a couple at a time can fit easily into a backpack. They are heavy, the print is small, there is a glossary, index, graphs, charts, diagrams, maps, and sidebars! This new, middle school textbook can be very scary. Personally, I never want a student to fear any part of school! So to avoid fear and possible avoidance of the text book, I do text feature walks to familiarize my students with their textbooks. When understood, textbooks can become a valuable resource for students and very possibly their strongest ally, aside from their teacher, to success in the course. 
     A text feature walk introduces students to all of the features their textbook has to offer them to help them interpret the information that they will be studying in the given course. They learn how to read expository text which simply put is informational text. Doing a text feature walk, helps students to link prior knowledge to new terms,to make meaningful connections, and to glean a purpose for reading the informational (expository) text. In the beginning of each school year when my 7th and 8th grade students come back to my classroom with their cumbersome and overwhelming American history textbooks the first thing we do is "dissect" them. We thoroughly look through them from cover to cover. When a text feature walk is done correctly, it can be a very powerful tool for the student. This in turn helps the student become more successful in the course. I scaffold the text structure walk by guiding the students a little bit each day with clear directions. I allow the students to work in pairs. When everyone is finished with their guided text feature walk we discuss them. Below is an example of "day one" of a guided text feature walk:

  Typical text features that should be examined and discussed are: the title, table of contents, the index, the glossary, headings and/or subtitles, sidebars, pictures and/or captions, labeled diagrams, charts and graphs, maps, cutaways and cross sections, and inset photographs.
   Students benefit from a text feature walk because they explicitly learn what the purpose of each section of their textbook is which will be invaluable to them as they navigate their way through the course and textbook. They see their textbook not only as a learning tool but a resource as well. So, are textbooks scary? Nah!

Daily Educator Link:
All that Teachers Need to Know about Remind (101)
http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2014/09/all-that-teachers-need-to-know-about.html

Daily Parent Link:
As Kids Settle Into the School year, the Need for #Accommodations Begins to become Apparent. Your Guide to get them.  12 Steps to Smarter Accommodations:
http://www.additudemag.com/adhd-ld-school-accommodations.html

Children's Book Review:
   Today's book review choice is: Tale of A Tadpole, written by Barbara Ann Porte. It was a book I once purchased for my daughter, Rachel when she had a pet frog she named "Cinnamon". I wanted Rachel to know the journey a frog had taken from tadpole to becoming a frog! the Tale of a Tadpole, follows the growth of a tadpole named fred owned by a little girl much like Rachel, named Francine. It's a very sweet story of a very beautiful journey.