I don't really understand how something so right could be so difficult. I'm talking about including students with disabilities (no matter how "mild" or "severe.") I am a special educator. I love my job, though I think secretly my desire is to work myself out of a job. Then I could just teach everyone. I have some really neat kids...all of them. Each one of them having strengths that I try to build on to help them be able to make their own choices. I think that's the biggest goal I have for me when I work with my students....to be able to determine what they want and need...and to dream, just simply dream about what they want to do in their life. The school system serves children for such a short time of their life and then the "kids" are off to the "REAL WORLD." I fear for them. If they're not included in other classes with everyone, how can those whom I serve be ready? The world is not a self-contained world. What's making it...
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INSERVICE BINGO To help you concentrate at teacher meetings and inservices, try this Bingo game! 1. Before (or during) your next meeting, inservice or staff development, prepare yourself by drawing a large square. I find that 5" x 5" is a good size. Divide the card into columns-five across and five down. That will give you 25 one-inch blocks. 2. Write one of the following words/phrases in each block: * no child left behind * test scores * core competencies * communication * standards * multiple exposures * benchmarks * proactive * win-win * think outside the box * action plan * result-driven * assessments * knowledge base * at the end of the day * touch base * mindset * differentiated * retention * skills * background knowledge * effective learning * exemplars * implementation * reflection 3. Check off the appropriate block when you hear one of those words/phrases. 4. When you get 5 blocks horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, you have won at Bingo!
"WHAT WILL IT TAKE?" What a good question to give others when you need much more than a yes or no. It's an awesome question that I have decided to begin using with my supervisors. I no longer will ask yes or no questions. Instead, I will simply ask them "What will it take?" Let's see what happens then... I'm excited to use it and can't wait to do so. There's no way I can get a "No." Try it for yourself... Ask any yes/no question, and you get a yes or no... Ask what will it take, and you get more....Okay, you may get silence first, but they can't give you a No...
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just got back from watching the movie "Freedom Writers," based on the book written by high school students in LA, assisted by their amazing teacher Erin Gruwell. I'm inspired by the perserverance and optimism she shows for her students, despite facing such negativity from other fellow educators. I shed many tears during this movie...tears of saddness, tears of happiness, tears of frustration, tears of anger... Pardon this interruption for my soapbox for a minute: Being an educator is difficult, to say the least. Not to say that others aren't difficult, everyone has a hard time at work, I suppose that's why it's called work? I get disgruntled with others (some being my own friends) who tell me that teachers are lucky for their jobs. They tell me things like "what other profession would give me the summer off and the other vacations I have"...