Last night, in class we had an amazing speaker, Marry Mim. Marry is a lady in her fifties who is autistic. She was so insightful and inspiring. The thing that struck me as most outstanding was her ability to always be self evaluating and adjusting. All people can learn from that. We all need to be checking in with ourselves making sure we are succeeding to the best of our abilities. When something happens in life you have to look at what role you played. Was that the best I could do? Will I do it differently next time? Children with disabilities need to be taught how to be like this. They need to be taught how to look at themselves, evaluate how things are going and then make adjustments. They need to know that they have the potential to succeed. They need to get to know themselves, their strengths and their weaknesses. When I am a teacher I want to spend time having the kids get to know themselves. They need to know about their disability and how it affects them. They need to find out about other people with same disability. They need to see people who have disabilities and are successful.

Something I read today talked about people reaching their potential and being upwardly mobile. I believe all people should have the opportunity to dream and reach for their goals. I also think that those dreams and goals should be decided by the individual. Society tells us we should all want to go to college and become bankers or doctors. Not only do we not all have to potential to become bankers or doctors, some people don't want to. I know some really great people who never went to college and are truck drivers or construction workers. We need to remember that all jobs in our society are important and that people are not completely defined by what they do for a living. With children in special education (all children actually) we need to look at the individual child. They come from families with a value system that needs to be honored. They have gifts that need to be emphasized and limits that need to be considered. We need to provide an education that pushes a child, in the direction the child wants to go, without frustrating them. Education is not a one size fits all situation and we can not make blanket generalizations. Two children with the same disabilities will take two different paths in this life and it is our job as the special educator to help those children find their way along those paths.

I went to the Sprout Film Festival at the Hult Center tonight. Sprout films are films about and or by people with developmental disabilities. These films included music videos,, short documentaries and short narratives. All the roles for people with disabilities are played by people who have disabilities. That's what makes the movies so amazing, people representing their minority in a world where they have not been allowed. Major movies about people with developmental disabilities use actors who are not disabled. I never thought about how that would make people feel. Why not find actors who actually have the disabilities. I can't play a man anymore then I can play someone with a disability. I could try, but I would be faking. No one can under or portray something they haven't experienced. One movie that really touched me was called Sidecar. This was a documentary about a young women Lindsley who has childhood arthritis and a young man Justin, with autism. They become good friends because they both love art. Their story is told by the Lindsley. She uses the sidecar of a motorcycle as a metaphor for their disabilities. The disabilities are a part of who they are. Not the main part just a side part. The sidecar doesn't change the motorcycle it adds to it, make is wider. With the sidecar attached the motor cycle can't do through narrow tunnels. It can still get to anyplace but it has to avoid narrow spots. The Lindsley is very stiff, but she still loves to paint. She loves the relationship she has with the Justin and she loved his art. His art is sell for between 3000 and 5000 dollars. Another movie that I really liked was called Be My Brother. This movie is about a you man with down syndrome, his brother and a pretty stranger. The actor with down syndrome was wonderful. He had timing, charisma and a great sense of humor. The movie shined a light on the discomfort people have when confronted by someone that is different from ourselves. It also showed how moving beyond that discomfort can bring great enjoyment. This was a great experience and I would recommend people attend next year. It is a great way to show people's abilities rather then their disabilities.

Inclusion and My Dream Classroom

Oh my gosh. So much to think about. Where to start. Well I guess I will start with inclusion. I know the goal is to have all kids in general education all the time. I see the wisdom in this, in theory, but I also know that kids need to be taught at their own level. I can see how all kids can be together in science and social studies, but I think math and reading need to be taught to mastery. You can't read fifth grade text until you can read first, second, third and fourth grade text. You can't add, subtract, multiply and divide fractions until you can add, subtract, multiply and divide whole Numbers. Some areas of learning build and if you don't have a solid foundation one must be built. I know that full segregation is wrong too. Students who are with kids who are just like them never get to experience people who are different from them. General ed kids don't learn to appreciate the depths and insights found in children with learning disabilities. Kids with disabilities miss out on learning social cues and mannerisms. I also believe that content area teachers are experts in their content area and special education teachers are experts about learning disabilities. It is important that the two groups of teachers share ideas and philosophies. I have a vision of a learning centre. A place where students come and go all day long. Kids who need support in certain areas will come in for support. There will be space for sensory and behavior breaks. Book club, math clubs and other clubs will meet there the read and talk about ideas. Students will tutor other students. Teachers will meet to talk about student progress and plan interventions. Kids will move into gen ed classes when they can and come to us for support. Parents will feel free to call or come by to talk to staff. There will bee computers for kids to work on. There will be audio books for kids to listen to. All kids will feel safe to learn from their prospective, at their pace and level. Teachers and students all working together toward one goal. Happier, healthier well adjusted kids. When I become a teacher I want to create a center like the one in my dream. I want all kids to grow, academically, to their highest possible potential. I want families and staff to enjoy working together. I believe with the right people leading this is all possible. After all I am in graduate school at 49 so anything is possible..

Attendance is a real problem for some families. Children can't learn if they don't come to school and some families just don't get how important that learning is. We have to come up with a plan that not only the children buy into ,but also the parents. We send out threatening letters, make them go to court, have them pay fines and still they do not or can not get their kids to school. In some situations the problem is actually the parent. They don't want to get up so the child doesn't get up either. Sometimes the parents wants the child's company or maybe they need the child to babysit a younger sibling. When it's the parents fault It makes sense to make them pay a fine. It doesn't always work, but we have to do something. In other families the parent wants the Chilean to go to school but the child refuses. Sometimes the parent even drops the child at the school and still the child doesn't o into the building and go to class. In these classes fining the parents doesn't do any good at all. They already want their child at school. Sens the fines don't seem to be working what can we do. One idea I had was parenting classes. If we can provide parents with some knowledge and tools maybe they will be more capable and willing to get their kids to school. We also need to start asking why kids don't want to be there and work on helping them be more motivated. They have to understand how important an education is. They also have to feel safe and cared for at school. Finding something that actually draws then to school may also help. It seems to be a pattern that has to bee broken. We have a little guy who use to miss at least one, usually two or three, day a week. We would talk to him and bribe him and beg him to come, but he still missed school consistently.All of the sudden, for reasons we can't explain, he started coming everyday. First it was one whole week. Then it was two whole weeks. He just finish his forth whole week with out missing a single day. We praised him every step of the way, but I don't think that is why he is attending. I think he is attending because he is starting to see how successful he can be. His work is all caught up and his grades are great. he tells me how smart he is. he is coming to school for himself and I wish I could figure out how to make other kids feel the same way.

I have a twelve year old son, Kees, who has been struggling in math this year. They have been working with fractions and although he gets most of the problem right he often forgets to simplify the answer. He has gotten a D or an F on every test so far this year. Last week they took test A for the current unit and he got a 69%. Two days later they had a chance to improve their grade by taking test B for the same unit. The morning of the second test we were talking at breakfast and he was telling me about the test. He explained how he always forgets to reduce his answers and ends up getting a bad grade. I took his hand and wrote reduce on the back of it. He found this to be very funny. I worried a little because I thought the teacher might see this as cheating, but it was fine and he ended up getting an 89% on the second test. Today we were talking about the test and he told me that he never even looked at his hand. It wasn't the actual word written on his hand that helped him remember to reduce it was the fun we had writing it. Kids remember and learn things better when they are enjoying themselves. If we can take some of the pressure off of learning kids will learn more and retain it longer. Last year I ask a couple of kids in my reading group what they liked about school. They both said they didn't really like anything about it. I asked them when they last liked school and why. They told me kindergarten because they got to play games. I was surprised, these were sixth grade students and they hadn't liked school sense kindergarten. They told me that if we played more games they would like it more, try harder and learn more. When I am a teacher I want my students to have fun and enjoy school. I think kids who are relaxed and happy learn better. Thanks Kees for reminding me about the importance of having fun while learning.