Author Archives: Toby Karten

Staying on Target

Posted on April 10, 2020 by Toby Karten

There’s no rule book on how to simultaneously tackle a lost job, how to educate children at home, pay bills, and stay healthy and sane amidst a pandemic. New realities warrant plausible solutions to stay on target to achieve goals. … Continue reading →

Posted in Balance, Being a Teacher at Home, Breathe & Smile, Collaboration, COVID Home Strategies, COVID-19 Families, Families Teaching Kids, Help Don't Enable, Home Schooling, Ideas for Families and Caregivers, Plan & Prepare, Positive Attitudes, TobyKarten-Inclusion-Without-CoVid19 | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Staying on Target

Resiliency, Creativity, and Knowledge

Posted on April 2, 2020 by Toby Karten

Resiliency, Creativity, and Knowledge   These are extraordinary times for our society and our world. The COVID-19 pandemic impacts us all-physically, emotionally, economically, and educationally. As a special educator, inclusion coach, and a firm believer in resiliency, creativity, knowledge, and growth, … Continue reading →

Posted in News | Comments Off on Resiliency, Creativity, and Knowledge

Rethinking Inclusion

Posted on March 21, 2020 by Toby Karten

Hi y’all! Two weeks ago, I was at a Broadway show, presenting at an educational conference, offering on site inclusion coaching, getting a massage, and whispering “Namaste” in a yoga class. Today is different. Never has my refrigerator been so clean, nor … Continue reading →

Posted in #Co-Vid-19-2020Strong, #Rethinking-Inclusion, #RethinkingInclusion-Co-Vid-19, KartenInclusiveThoughts-Covid-19, TobyKarten-Inclusion-Without-CoVid19 | Tagged | Comments Off on Rethinking Inclusion

Co-Teaching Do’s, Don’ts, & Do Betters

Posted on March 8, 2020 by Toby Karten

Together general and special educators, administrators, and related staff support each other and  their students to create shared learning environments.This includes setting up co-teaching norms and expectations for planning, instructing, observing, assessing, documenting, and reflecting. Learners then receive, not only access to … Continue reading →

Posted in co-teachers, co-teaching strategies, Collaboration, Inclusion, Inclusion Collaboration, Inclusion Lesson Plans, inclusion partners, Inclusion Strategies, multi-tiered systems of support, SDI, UDL | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Co-Teaching Do’s, Don’ts, & Do Betters

“Starring” OUR Students with Differentiated Instruction

Posted on September 4, 2019 by Toby Karten

https://www.solutiontree.com/blog/https://www.solutiontree.com/products/developing-effective-learners.html

Posted in assessment, Classroom Ideas, Collaboration, diversity, diversity, Inclusion, Inclusion Collaboration, inclusion partners, multi-tiered systems of support, student diversity, UDL | Tagged , , | Comments Off on “Starring” OUR Students with Differentiated Instruction

“I’m Just a Teacher”

Posted on September 1, 2018 by Toby Karten

As an inclusion coach and consultant, upon a principal’s request, I arrived at a New Jersey school site last week to deliver a professional development session on the topic of co-teaching strategies. As a special educator, I arrived armed with … Continue reading →

Posted in Being a Teacher, co-teachers, co-teaching strategies, Collaboration, Inclusion Collaboration, inclusion partners, Inclusion Strategies, Professional Development | Comments Off on “I’m Just a Teacher”

Unable and Unwilling is Unacceptable!

Posted on April 5, 2018 by Toby Karten

Communications from parents of students with Down syndrome (DS) prompted this blog post.  Students with a label of DS possess different ages, genders, academic, social, and communicative levels, as well as varied likes and dislikes; hence each student is unique.  We cannot allow the common … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaboration, diversity, Down syndrome, Full inclusion, Inclusion Collaboration, Inclusion Ouches, inclusion rules, Inclusion Strategies, Inclusion: Families Partnering with Educators, multi-tiered systems of support, navigate the core curriculum, neurodiversity, positive disability attitudes, Special Education, Successes of Students with Disabilities | Comments Off on Unable and Unwilling is Unacceptable!

Heads or Tails & Coming Together!

Posted on December 3, 2017 by Toby Karten

When you flip a coin, there is a 50% chance of it landing on heads up and a 50% chance of it landing tails up. Life, a tossed coin with legs, is even less probable. Often, we do not toss … Continue reading →

Posted in Autism, Collaboration, disabilities and Broadway, disABILITY Awareness, disABILITY Rights, diversity, diversity, Full inclusion, Inclusion Collaboration, Inclusion: Families Partnering with Educators, positive disability attitudes, TDF | Comments Off on Heads or Tails & Coming Together!

#Texas Strong

Posted on September 3, 2017 by Toby Karten

My heart and prayers are sent to our Texas colleagues as they begin their school year. As an inclusion consultant in Victoria, Bloomington, Edna, and Corpus Christi, I have personally witnessed the steadfastness, compassion, resourcefulness, and intelligence of my Texas … Continue reading →

Posted in #Texas Strong, #VISD, Collaboration, News, Professional Development, Student Connections | Comments Off on #Texas Strong

New Beginnings…

Posted on August 17, 2017 by Toby Karten

What I miss most about not being exclusively attached to one school building- is-yes you guessed it-the students.  New slates, like that fresh box of Crayolas with the sharpener of course(ok-I am dating myself), allow educators to engage with a rainbow of … Continue reading →

Posted in Being a Teacher, diversity | Comments Off on New Beginnings…