Inclusion Insights

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Toby Karten

I just had the pleasure of coaching a group of Georgia educators. Collaboratively, we figured out ways to allow the research-based inclusion strategies to come alive in their classrooms. They creatively incorporated good teaching practices such as cooperative learning, technology, VAKT elements, multiple intelligences, study guides, and graphic organizers for instruction and assessments, while thematically teaching figurative language, biomes, WW II, and data analysis in English, Science, History, and Mathematics. Whew-and they made it seem easy with rap songs, word acrostics, PowerPoints, research, and more! Way to go GW Carver MCSD! Looking forward to continuing the learning in February!

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Inclusion the IDEAL WAY!

Posted on November 24, 2011 by Toby Karten

The IDEAL School has innovative ways to tap into students’ interests from visual stories of Beowulf to punctuation math, a performance of Where the Wild Things Are, snake stories, mandalas, TaeKwonDo, dance, learning Spanish or Mandarin, place value, history, science, and more. Inclusion is a way of life that as evidenced by the smiling faces of your students, happily lives and breathes at your locale!

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Inclusion is Not So Puzzling!

Posted on November 24, 2011 by Toby Karten

 

 

 

 

The educators at the Paramus workshop collaboratively put the inclusion pieces together to affirm that inclusion is not so puzzling! I hope that the inclusion pieces all fit together with the students in your school settings as well!

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Inclusion thoughts from Maritime Academy Charter School

Posted on September 16, 2011 by Toby Karten

Although inclusion is defined by individual students and classroom communities, the first ingredient is a positive attitude. After meeting the educators of Maritime Academy Charter School, I know that their students will experience many successes. Here are just a few of the inclusion definitions that they shared. More customized definitions to follow in the upcoming year!

Inclusion is_______

 

to involve every student in the classroom.

 

possible!

 

evolving the classroom environment for all students to succeed!

 

collaboration and modification.

 

an excellent way to ensure students are all given equal opportunities while meeting all needs.

 

giving all students individual opportunity within each classroom.

 

the capability and ability of an educational community to reach all learners.

 

an effective instructional practice to ensure the success of all learners.

 

great:-)!

 

a wonderful cooperative learning opportunity for both Gen. Ed & Special Ed. students.

 

an effective way to ensure social and academic growth for all students.

 

including ALL students in the classroom environment.

 

having the resources and opportunities and then making it work!

 

 

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Inclusion Research: Attitudes & Collaborations

Posted on August 21, 2011 by Toby Karten

Inclusion Research

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Inclusion Comments Shared by Keppel Union School District

Posted on August 7, 2011 by Toby Karten

Thank you to the administrators, principals, educators, and paraprofessionals who shared these insightful inclusion comments. You affirmed that we have come a far way from thinking that students belong in special education since they don’t do well in general education and won’t get it anyway or that an IEP denotes less intelligence! Your students are fortunate to have you lead them onward to many inevitable achievements in the upcoming 2011-2012 school year.

Insightful Inclusion Impacts

General education peers should be in an inclusion setting because as adults there will be many situations where they will interact with a person or people with exceptional needs. It’s just real life!

Success comes to those who cannot and will not give up!

Inclusion is challenging, but rewarding!

Inclusion includes all students, making them all our responsibilities, not just someone else’s.

As a special education teacher, working in the classroom with general ed teachers who enjoy the collaborating is the “best of all worlds” for students.

Wow! I can’t believe how well_____ is doing in my class! I didn’t think he would be doing so well!

I agree, good teaching is good teaching for all!

When inclusion is correctly put into practice, it produces a positive attitude among staff and students. It creates more of a “family atmosphere.”

Many great leaps and bounds have been made in Special Education from having the right to a free and appropriate education to being included in the general education population. Like any forward progress in society, from the elimination of segregation to embracing our students with special needs, it’s up to every subsequent generation to maintain, and improve on, the progress that has been made, the progress of humanity.

Inclusion is great because the child with special needs models the behavior from the other children in the classroom and the gen ed students become aware of learning disabilities, share more, and control their behavior, too.

Inclusion is the best thing for students who work hard and are able to have friends they never had before. Their self-esteem soars!

All students acquire social skills and interact.

When a student/teacher finds strategies that work-it’s an amazing feeling and stays with you for life!

We are all special in different ways!

 

 

 

 

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Inclusion Book Clubs

Posted on June 5, 2011 by Toby Karten

Professional Inclusion Learning Communities

(PILC)Book Club Choices

The following are a few books that educators can read and discuss as a staff to gain additional insights about disABILITIES. If you have other titles that you like, do share and I will post them as well! More to soon follow with a sampling of children’s choices across the grade levels!

House Rules

Jodi Piccoult

 

Teenage boy with Asperger’s tries to figure out crime scenes and ends up becoming the one on trial.

 

The Dive From Clausen’s Pier

Amy Packer

 

A relationship between two young adults changes after the boyfriend has an accident that results in his physical disability.

 

Running With Scissors

Augusten Burroughs

 

Story of a boy’s life growing up in a dysfunctional environment

 

Memory Keeper’s Daughter

Kim Edwards

 

A man gives away his new born daughter who has Down syndrome

 

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

Mark Haddon

 

A young boy with autism investigates the death of a neighbor’s dog

 

Still Me

Christopher Reeve

 

Candid memoirs from Christopher Reeve who talks about his life before and after his paralysis

 

Helping the Child with Learning Disabilities Find Social Success: It’s So Much Work Being Your Friend

Richard Lavoie

 

Talks about the social challenges students with learning differences face and the strategies that help students learn how to succeed

 

Being the Other One: Growing Up With a Brother or Sister Who Has Special Needs

Kate Strohm

 

Speaks about the emotional challenges of siblings who have brothers and sisters with disabilities

 

You Will Dream New Dreams: Inspiring Personal Stories by Parents of Children With Disabilities

Stanley Klein and Kim Schive

 

Inspirational stories and narratives from the parents of students with disabilities who share their perspectives to inspire and inform other parents and professionals

 

Learning Outside the Lines: Two Ivy League Students with Learning Disabilities and ADHD Give You the Tools for Academic Success and Educational Revolution

Jonathan Mooney & David Cole

 

Two students who were considered academic failures end up collaborating as authors to talk about their perseverance to succeed despite initial learning challenges. They offer strategies for other students to succeed in college and beyond

 

Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant

Daniel Tammet

 

A young man candidly talks about his strengths and weaknesses including his synesthesia, which is a neurological syndrome that allows a person to experience numbers and words as shapes, colors, textures and motions.

 

The Way I See It!

Temple Grandin

 

An animal activist and self-advocate for autism shares her inspirational achievements.

 

My Thirteenth Winter

Samantha Abeel

 

A girl with dyscalculia talks about the challenges she encountered in school.

 

Embracing disABILITIES in the Classroom: Strategies to Maximize Students’ Assets

Toby Karten

 

Ways to integrate lessons with sensitivities and strategies that maximize students’ abilities by teaching through a strength paradigm; teacher lessons for children’s literature circles and activities for disABILITY awareness are offered.

 

Of Mice and Men

John Steinbeck

 

A friendship between two men unfolds in the 1920s California

 

Catcher in the Rye

J.D. Salinger

 

A story of the emotional turmoil of a teenage boy who experiences feelings of rebellion and alienation.

 

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

Carson McCullers

 

The novel unfolds in the deep South and discusses each character’s individual personalities, inherited traits, and circumstantial experiences.

 

Flowers for Algernon

Daniel Keyes

 

A man with developmental differences undergoes a radical experiment that temporarily heightens his intelligence

 

Dibs In Search of Self

Virginia Axline

A true story of how a boy who was unable to interact with others gains emotional strength through child therapy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Include the Students

Posted on June 5, 2011 by Toby Karten

Teachers arduously plan lessons, collaborate with colleagues, and jump through many pedagogical hoops to have their students to achieve the core standards. Yet, if the students display apathy toward the concepts taught, then the lessons occur within a classroom vacuum. That is when educators must INCLUDE the students as key protagonists. The following pledges ask learners to acknowledge that they are an integral part of their own futures. Younger learners or students with lower vocabulary or reading levels can recite the primary pledge. Students can also view candid digital photos taken during classroom learning and then be asked to rate their attentive behavior. To increase metacognitive levels, ask your students to chorally repeat these pledges or even create their own. Hence, self-regulated learners are born and nurtured!

 

Student Pledge (to be recited with enthusiasm!)

 

I know it’s the morning (afternoon)

And we’re still yawning (leaving soon)

But this is my promise for today (now)

When I will say (vow)

That I will do my best

And it’s not said in jest

To really care

And be sincere

To listen and learn

And respect each in turn

We all have many a need

But we all can succeed

If we use our mind

And to each other be kind

So here I am in school

Where not only teachers rule

But it’s each student

That needs to be prudent

If I have a positive attitude

I could master math, reading, and even latitude

The implications are great

I decide my own fate

So I’ll give it my best try

And that’s no lie

It’s my promise, no fingers crossed

I’ll ask questions when I’m lost

I’ll care about this stuff

Even when the going gets tough

And I think I’ll even smile

May as well, I’ll be here awhile

 

Primary Student Pledge

 

I can

Plan

And say

Each day

Will be fine

I won’t whine

I will always try

And that’s no lie

There are a lot of facts I need

That will feed

My budding brain

And I won’t complain

Because being smart

Is an art

So I promise to grow

To be a kid who’ll know!

 

Source: Karten, T. (2007) More Inclusion strategies that work! Aligning student strengths with standards. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Posted on May 18, 2011 by Toby Karten

Inclusion Works: Core Standards for ALL

 

Inclusion is more than a physical placement. It involves preparing students to be productive members of society. The common core standards are intended to include all students. This requires that the necessary and individualized supports, related services, and multiple learning opportunities are available to students with diverse abilities. Collaboratively, staff, families, and students figure out how increased learning outcomes across the disciplines are achieved.

 

Post secondary choices are widened when students’ academic skills are sharpened through the skilled eyes of educators within supportive school districts. This requires ongoing learning opportunities for staff members as well. Neither students, nor teachers should be frustrated. Sharing inclusion strategies and interventions is a way for everyone to highlight abilities that correlate with the standards. Professional development that honors educators’ needs then translates to inclusion classroom successes. Thankfully, high expectations for students with disABILITIES is highly expected!

 

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Positive Inclusion Attitudes Prevail

Posted on May 8, 2011 by Toby Karten

He will never succeed.

She will never be independent.

I will never be able to teach this class what they need to know.

 

Obverse side of the coin:

 

He will succeed.

She will be independent.

I will be able to teach this class what they need to know.

 

Moral: Never say never!

Concentrate upon what you and your students will achieve!

 

Positive inclusion attitudes prevail!:-)

 

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