Our students are taught how to navigate the world within the confinements of a schoolhouse, yet when they enter the real world the schoolhouse is one of the least likely places for them to be. When we make a commitment to increase independence we can’t just limit our teaching tools …
Greater challenges from a student often lends itself to a need for greater supports, and in the eyes of many there is no better support than the acquisition of a one on one paraprofessional for a student. It is this blanket response to challenges in the schoolhouse that can inhibit growth and create a culture …
FAPE (Free Appropriate Public Education) is what every child is entitled to, but if 
we want our students with disabilities to reach for the stars we have to make sure we are pronouncing this effectively. It is not a FAPEE, …
When a strong focus is taken on promoting student independence, one can set the bar so high that they mistake independence for perfection. Having unrealistic goals can inhibit growth from the compounded frustration of both teacher and student. People who are perfect have complete and full knowledge of the world, they …
The future for your students starts today. Their success and their possibilities down the road are tightly linked to what you are doing for them now. In education we often become so hyper-focused on the present that we allow it alone to guide our teaching. For our students with disabilities, we often first …
1. Education is about each child’s journey. Kids will take you on a long adventure, through the seven layers of the candy cane forest and through the sea of twirly, …
In light of this movie celebrating its 25th anniversary, I present to you 10 excellent lessons for educators from the greatest adventure in learning ever told!
1. Band together. Alone both …
In all of the joy I have had in helping put the Seahawk’s seasoning into a student’s program and then watching how that student was able to touch the heart of a real Seahawk, I have had to fight one deeply rooted conflict. Since the age of six, I have been …
Unbelievable. Those are the type of results one may get when taking one student’s well designed program and styling it according to their special interest. As was seen in my previous post, a young boy with High Functioning Autism named Jordan was able to take that next step with the tremendous work …
