Live and Learn

The Power of the Principal

2012-03-04T13:04:00.004-08:00

By: Alicia Mirabelli, MSW (USA)

Learning Support Consultant, Live and Learn Pte Ltd

As expat parents we want and expect an international school to give our children a quality education, excellent sports programs, fabulous teachers, a school administration that listens and responds to parent needs, and a positive social network for children and parents. The bottom line is, we want our kids to be “happy” and we believe those components in a school will help achieve that.

oldschoolteach.wordpress.com

It comes down to the fact that school fees for international schools cost more than most four year colleges and parents believe their expectations should be met. At Live and Learn we are regularly approached by parents asking what makes a good international school or how they should decide which school is best for their child. As I began to think about my various experiences in different international schools as both a parent and professional, I discovered a key element that seems to tie all these expectations together: We need teachers who are truly motivated by really great administrators. Any administrator can dictate what curriculum needs to be taught. They can give them the books, workbooks and kits for a teacher to follow. The truth is we want our teachers to be creative and excited about teaching. We want them to WANT to teach our diverse children to their individual needs. School administrators who know how to motivate and help teachers create this classroom environment do so because they know good teachers can change how our children view the world.

If teachers aren’t excited, motivated and supported about what they teach then why would our children be excited about learning it? Our international school teachers are open to working with children who come from diverse backgrounds, know multiple languages, and have varied learning styles, but it isn’t easy to teach to all these differences often while settling in a new country themselves. They require support, resources and inspriation from a mentor, coach and leader. Without such a powerful force in every teacher’s lives, the daunting task of reaching each learner, skill building to their needs and exciting them about learning will be impossible. Teaching in international schools can be difficult, but with the help of motivating administrators and using a team approach with each grade level will help alleviate these feelings and can spark that creativity. Happy, supported teachers will equal happy, supported kids!

Speaking from experience, I had the honor of working with just this type of administrator. Kathy Duncan taught me that not only do most teachers love what they do, they want to learn more about how to do it better and it was a principal’s responsibility to help them achieve that! Kathy always organized book clubs and sharing sessions for the teachers to talk about their ideas and share new and exciting ways to teach ALL children. The teachers were always so motivated by her staff meetings that it changed the school drastically when she left. A good administrator is a key component to education and will effect whether our teachers and students are able to soar high.

What is the “take home message” to parents here? Choosing an international school can be a overwhelming and daunting. A piece of advice is to interview the principal to understand the kind of leader they are. Ask her what kinds of programs and initiatives he has put in place to keep staff morale high, motivation soaring and inspiration flying! A good answer could very well yield a great schooling option for your child!

Alicia Mirabelli is a US-certified Clinical Social Worker, and has been living internationally since 2008. She found being an expat wife was wonderful but she felt compelled by her training and background to help others. In 2010, Alicia began her work with Live and Learn, an educational consultancy firm based in Singapore. Alicia is currently working as a Consultant, Program Supervisor, Diagnostician, and Case Manager while raising her two elementary aged children in International Schools. She works within the local and international school systems in Singapore and assists families with difficult decisions about their child’s schooling abroad.

Like these posts?

Please remember to subscribe by entering your email on the right. You will be sent an email each time there is a new entry!

Like Live and Learn on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for regular, practical strategies and resources for parents and teachers!

What This Teacher Believes...

2012-02-10T09:27:00.000-08:00

I believe that all children have the capacity to learn. If a child is not learning, it is ourresponsibility to change what we are doing so they can achieve success.

I believe that by creating opportunities for success in achild’s educational, social and emotional lives we can reduce anxiety andincrease productivity. Anxiety is a powerful factor that inhibits learning,progress and success.

I believe all teachers have a mind-boggling responsibility tobalance high expectations in a supportive, non-threatening environment.

I believe teachers need to feel supported in order to teacheffectively.

I believe the classroom, schools, administrators, teachers, andparents should be bright, infectious and spilling with positive approachesaimed at what is best for students.

I believe that when we make decisions based on what is best forstudents, we are so much better equipped at making the right choices.

I believe that fair doesn’t always mean equal and to be truly“fair” we actually can’t treat all children the same.

I believe we need to establish what works for each individualchild and how they learn best to determine the most appropriate course ofaction in order to achieve such success.

I believe, when implemented effectively, including children withdisabilities in the mainstream will enhance learning outcomes beyond measurefor ALL students.

I believe that when people “know” they can “do.” It means enhancing the development of educators and parents so they can “do” better with their children. It means understanding the child’s needs, strengths and abilities to plan, prepare and accommodate for each one. It means that making decisions based on data is what will allow for a comprehensive, obtainable “roadmap” for each child, teacher and parent to be successful.

Like these posts?

Please remember to subscribe by entering your email on the right. You will be sent an email each time there is a new entry!

Like Live and Learn on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for regular, practical strategies and resources for parents and teachers!

Implementing Interventions

2012-01-29T09:56:00.000-08:00

The Fourth of a Four Part Series on Behavior

In an attempt to round out my brief (but hopefully useful)series on behaviors, I’m excited to discuss important aspects to consider whendeveloping an intervention plan for a child…AFTER you have figured out the whatexactly seems to be going on. Be sure toreview the last couple of posts for a refresher on how to start the process ofchanging unwanted behaviors in your child or student.

I mentioned before the “mind-boggling” responsibility wehave as educators and parents in the lives of young people and I urge you toalways keep this in mind when we are doing something so important as trying tochange negative behaviors into positive ones. When done well, it can change the course of a child’s life. When done poorly, it can do more harm thangood.

There are general rules, or guidelines you will want toconsider when developing intervention plans for children:

Does it address thefunction? If you aren’t seeingchanges in a behavior, you maynot have actually dealt with the WHY of the behavior. For example, Let’s pretend that you have achild who you believe has a need to gain attention for his yelling andargumentative behaviors. You implement aplan for "planned ignoring" by giving extra praise and positive reinforcement when he is behaving and by ignoring the problematic behaviors. Afterone week of this intervention, you are seeing no improvement, and in fact, thebehavior is getting worse. It isimportant to reflect upon your assessment of his function. Was the behavior truly to gainattention? Upon further data collectionover time, you may actually realize his behaviors present themselves during allactivities which require a written response. You realize that it may not have been a function of his desire to gainattention, but actually to avoid a task that he determined was too hard forhim. Ah, the intervention would changedramatically wouldn’t it?

http://wwcsd.net/

What goes down alsomust go up. For every behavior youwant to decrease, you must have a replacement behavior to increase. For example: Behavior to decrease--yelling. Behavior to increase--raisinghand. Be sure to document this in your plan.

Beyond themoment: Again, knowing the functionof a behavior is pivotal here. Rememberour “pretend” child above who yelled and screamed every time a motoric task wasasked of him? Part of the overallintervention plan must take into account pro-active interventions that can helpalleviate the behavior over time. If abehavior is stemming from a lack of skills, you need to increase the child’s engagement ofskill building activities, reinforcement of skills or remediation. For example, work with the learning supportdepartment to develop a plan to improve the academic skills that may becontributing to the behavior at hand. A couple computer based intervention programs I love involve individualized, adaptable programming that is engaging and fun for the kids while improving academic foundations. Check out www.dreambox.com for math and www.lexia.com for reading.

Are they sociallyacceptable? I have mentioned theterm “Least Restrictive Environment” before (click here to read post from 17 Nov 2011) but now I amreferring to a “Least Restrictive Intervention,” a term referred to through theYale Online Autism Course offered on iTunes. The Least Restrictive Intervention needs to be a socially acceptableplan that has the capacity to be used, generalized and accepted by peers and inthe “real world.”

Is it based inrewards or punishment? It is pivotalto understand that punishments AFTER the behavior are significantly lesseffective than stepping in at the antecedent stage. If you do your data collection, you shouldknow when that is and develop interventions that address replacing the behaviorpositively before it happens instead of punishing the negative behavior after. By then, it’s too late…the behavior alreadyoccurred and punishment isn’t getting to the function of the behavior,therefore it can be assumed such behaviors will continue to be problematic, regardless of thepunishment intervention you put in place. Also, punishment is just plain negative and we want to infuse as muchpositive into these kids as possible, don’t you agree?

Now, should there be consequences forbehaviors? Sure, when done correctly andnot as the primary intervention. Take myfabulous, yet at times, cheekly daughters. They will leave their clothes and toys all around the house. It drives me batty. So, as a consequence for leaving theirclothes or toys around, if I pick it up, it goes in the “bag.” At this point all I have to say is, “I justput your (Fill in the blank) in the bag” and they know what that means. Once the bag is filled, they can “buy back”their things with points they earn throughout the week for completing theirresponsibilities. That said, although itis a decent plan, it really is a “punishment” because they lose that item for anon-identified amount of time. As Ilearned first hand, I seemed to add to the bag DAILY, realizing I wasn’t reallychanging their behavior by doing this. What was the function of their behavior? Well…really it was laziness but if we put it in a “gain” or “avoid”category it would be avoiding the work. So now, we have daily scheduled “don’t let it get in the bag” clean-up times aswell as organization systems set up in the house so everything has a place and it is easierto put things away. Laundry zones are ineach room, the playroom is labeled and organized and we have baskets on the steps for toys that were left downstairs and can be brought with them whenever they are going up. Although Istill have the bag if I need it, I don’t use it as often as I did before and the kids don’t feel the need to avoid the work because putting theirthings away isn’t so hard for them anymore.

RewardRegulations-are they meaningful,regular and predictable? Whendeveloping rewards into your interventions, kids should know how they can earnthem and when. They should be somethingthat means something to them…otherwise will it be motivating? As much as my husband loves his job, he doesget motivated by a raise or a bonus. Let’s face it…if they were paying him Monopoly money he would leave andfind another! A great tool we useregularly at Live and Learn is a Reinforcer Inventory. We adapted ours from a document written by the Center of Effective Collaboration and Practice to relate moreto our international kids, but we find it a fabulous tool to find out the kindsof reinforcers that motivate kids! Click here for the reinforcer inventory, click here for the scoring sheet and here for the summary page. All that just for reading our blog! You're welcome!

Don’t forget thesensory! Sensory needs are a largepart of behaviors, especially in children with autism. It can still fall into a “gain or avoid”category with a need to either gain certain sensory sensations or avoid them,but their interventions will need to address this physical need with sensorybreaks or a sensory diet, more than rewards or reinforcers will. Sensory needs may need to be mitigated bysensory breaks and it can be a “trial and error” process of figuring out whatworks. Some things we have tried havebeen a yoga ball to sit on instead of a chair, Velcro under the desk to rubwhen necessary, a “fiddle basket” of hand held toys to hold onto, gum chewing,eating an apple or other crunchy food, a rocking chair, carrying heavy books toanother classroom, and playing on the playground. The list can go on and on…there are so manygreat ideas but not all work for all kids. An Occupational Therapist is a pivotalresource for helping to develop a proper sensory diet within the schoolday. Carol Kranowitz, author of the “Out of SyncChild” is the guru on all things sensory. Check out her website at http://out-of-sync-child.com for more information.

Remember that developing the intervention plan should onlybe done AFTER thorough data collection and team investigation has beenconducted over time. Developing theright intervention plan can change the path for a child from failure tosuccess. And YOU can make that happen! Mind-boggling, isn’t it???

Like these posts?

Please remember to subscribe by entering your email on the right. You will be sent an email each time there is a new entry!

Like Live and Learn on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for regular, practical strategies and resources for parents and teachers!

No Quick Sticker Charts Here!

2012-01-20T03:50:00.000-08:00

Determining the FUNCTION before the INTERVENTION
(The Third of a Four Part Series on Behavior)

Since starting this series on behavior, I have done a lot ofextra research recently to make sure I share with you the latest information out thereon effective behavior strategies. I hopeyou find these posts informative and helpful in your own professional or personallives!

Let’s briefly review the last two posts by taking a look at what behavior is:

Behavior is communication.
http://elizabethkuhnke.files.wordpress.com

Behavior is COMMUNICATION.
Behavior serves a FUNCTION (to gain or avoid).
Once we understand the function, we can developways to change the mis-behavior to more APPROPRIATE behaviors.

Note we have to understand the functionFIRST before we can do anything about changing the behavior. We have to understand WHY a child is behavingin a certain way before the interventions can be effective. If we can REMOVE the REASON for the behavior,we can eliminate the problem.

Got it so far? Okay,great! So lets move onto HOW we figureout the WHY.

The term “Data-Driven Decision Making” is all the rage ineducation today, as it should be. Finally, we are on the path to making decisions for children based onevidence. This evidence comes from datathat allows us to determine what we need to be teaching children, what they already know, and what they need to know. Schools are improving their practices so that every child is taught based on their individual needs, not based on the overall assumption of what an “average”child needs. We are getting better andbetter at making these data driven decisions in academics but the mainstreamcommunity is still falling short on making such comprehensive decisions when behaviorproblems occur.

Too often I see ateacher, who has a child presenting with certain behavioral issues, make aquick sticker chart or reward plan based on something she did before or saw onthe internet. There is no “one size fitsall” plan for behaviors. Each child hasdifferent reason for their actions and without data on that individual child’sfunction, antecedents and profile, all the pre-made pretty checklists in theworld won’t amount to any change for the better.

Here is the first thing to wrap your head around BEFORE you makea cute checklist. MOST OF YOUR TIME ATFIRST IS SPENT ON ASSESSING THE BEHAVIOR. You need to understand it before you can do anything about it. Assessment is a process ofinvestigation. We need to know the FACTSsurrounding the behavior such as environment, health, learning needs, triggers,timing, consequences, motivators, etc.

No Quick Sticker Charts Yet!
www.brainwaves.net

Don’t have time for this, you say? You just need a “quick fix” to make theproblem go away and get back to teaching? Actually, you don’t have time NOT do to this. There are no “quick fixes” and the mind-boggling responsibility you have to educate children ethically, respectfully and effectively requires you take the timeto do it and do it right.

But I am here to make it simpler for you. So here we go….

As teachers I know you want to help. As parents, you want tomake things better for your child. Butthe key is NOT to try to fix anything right away. You need to take the time to find out the answer to this key question:

What is the behavior saying?

In the last post, I had a link to an ABC Chart. Click here for a printable version ofit (taken from www.behavior-consultant.com). An ABC (Antecedent,Behavior, Consequence) Chart documents a behavior in “real time” as many timesas it occurs. Once you have documentedseveral behaviors, you can use the data to look for patterns. You will likely find such patterns in theantecedents (what “triggers” have led to the behavior), in the setting (environment) or theconsequences (what happens directly after the behavior occurs).

“The “A” is the Antecedent, and it refers to “what comes before.” It is thepicture of what happens before the behavior occurs. If you were to take a30-second movie clip of what happens right before the behavior, what would itshow?

The “B” is the Behavior. Paint a clear, specific picture of the behavior.

The “C” or Consequence refers to what comes after the behavior. Imagine ifyou had a movie clip of what happens right afterward.”

-Sparks-Hopkins,T. “Functional Behavioral Assessment,Online Intervention Manual” Universityof Arizona, College of Education. http://www.tucsonlinks.org/elearning/pdf/fba.pdf

Sample ABC Entry
http://www.tucsonlinks.org/elearning/pdf/fba.pdf

Remember, the ABC Chart is different from a DirectObservation (also helpful!), which is a set amount of time that a non-involved observerdocuments and scripts the child’s actions, the teacher responses, etc. An observation may involve tallying a certainbehavior over a fixed time (ex: Number of off task behaviors in 30 secondintervals). For a Observation Tally Chart in 5 min intervals from www.behavior-consultant.com, please click here.

Our responsibilities as teachers and
parents are mind-boggling, aren't they?

A Scatter Plot (click here and go to page 22 for a printable taken from http://www.ped.state.nm.us/RtI/behavior/4.fba.11.28.pdf) isanother useful tool that will give a team visual indications of certain targetbehaviors.

What next? Don’t runfor your pre-made sticker charts just because you did the assessmentpiece! First of all, it is important to understand that this is a circular process that actually won't end once a plan is in place. It will be ongoing until a behavior is extinct and more appropriate, replacement behaviors are automatic.

Once you analyze your data (it helps towork with a team to make these determinations on the FUNCTION) you can start toimplement some interventions. (Maybe even a cute sticker chart!)

Nextpost: General Rules of Intervention whendesigning INDIVIDUAL behavior plans….stay tuned.

Like these posts?

Please remember to subscribe by entering your email on the right. You will be sent an email each time there is a new entry!

Like Live and Learn on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for regular, practical strategies and resources for parents and teachers!

More on Understanding Behavioral Challenges

2012-01-11T10:01:00.000-08:00

(The Second of a Four Part Series on Behavior)

Well, Happy New Year! I took a bit of a break from blogging while I was enjoying the holidays in the US. I have been back home for about a week and only now and back to my regular routine!

www.toonpool.com

In my last post, I discussed the fact that there are onlytwo reasons, or functions, as to why a child mis-behaves. By understanding these two reasons andanalyzing behavior based on them, children with challenging behaviors seem tobe easier to plan and accommodate for.

Do you remember to the two functions that behaviors can beattributed to?

To Gain Something
To Avoid Something

For a quick review on these functions, please refer back tothe previous post. Got it? Great! Now ,let’s talk about how to figure out the WHY.

I often find that once I help people become aware of the twofunctions of behavior, they are quick to assign a “label” to a child’sbehaviors without the appropriate, necessary data collection. I can’t emphasize enough, the importance ofcollecting meaningful data to not only determine the WHY, but also any other factorsthat could be contributing to a child’s behaviors. If you know WHY a child may be behaving in acertain way, you can start to develop the WHAT to do about it.

How do you know the WHY?

It starts with data collection and data collection startswith the understanding that it takes time and quantity to appropriately analyzebehaviors. Too often we are too quick indetermining the function and we go right to the intervention. This is dangerous on a few levels. First of all without the proper knowledgeonly obtained by accurate observation and data collection over time, ourinterventions could actually be reinforcing the problem rather than correctingit. Secondly, interventions withoutsound data behind the reason for their implementation could do damage to achild’s academic, social or emotional growth.

The most common and arguably most basic form of datacollection involves using an ABC chart. A (Antecedent, or what happened directly before the behavior occurred),B (Behavior: What was the actual behavior the child exhibited?), and C(Consequence, as in what happened directly AFTER the behavior occurred). Although there are many more aspects andcomponents that one should consider when analyzing behavior, these are the mostcommon and practical for a teacher, parent or paraprofessional to reporton.

Please click here for a printable ABC reporting form. My nextpost will go into detail as to how to complete such documents.

Finally, as part of Yale’s FREE lecture series on Autism oniTunes, one such lecture deals with behavior and data collection (Lecture #9, "Behavioral Treatments") in a verysimilar way to what I am discussing in these posts. The behavior data collection techniques Idescribe are applicable to children with multiple diagnoses, and although thisYale lecture is focused on Autism, it can be also applied to a variety ofstudents and situations. It is just overan hour long, so grab a cup of tea and plan to listen for a while, but afterreading these posts as a way to build background knowledge, this lecture willbe very interesting and helpful to you! Click here to access the iTunes link!

Behavior Problems? No Problem!

2011-12-11T12:26:00.001-08:00

The First of a Four Part Series on Behavior

I love kids with behavior needs. As a pretty “Type A” kind of person, I liketo figure things out and use data to make decisions. Students with behavior challenges fit rightinto my love for charts, organization and problem solving!

www.the-parenting-magazine.com

First things first…so you have a child in your class or youare the parent of a child who challenges your patience and skill level. Maybe he is distracted, or talks out. Maybe he argues more than he complies or rarelycompletes work. He could be a bully orperhaps he is so shy that he never speaks in class. Whatever the issue, behavior challenges canimpact an entire class, destroy a well planned lesson and inhibit learning. You need a consistent approach that targetsthe reason WHY a child is behaving inappropriately before you can do anythingeffective about it.

WHY? Seems like adifficult question to answer, doesn’t it? Actually, it doesn’t have to be. The most important thing to realize when analyzing behaviors is thatthere are only TWO reasons why kids behave.

Let me say that again. There are only TWO reasons why kids behave. There are two intrinsic, basic categoriesthat can identify every behavior a child exhibits:

To gain something
To avoid something

To Gain Something:

Think about that for a moment. Kids with behaviors caused by a need to GAINsomething may be trying to gain attention or control, as a couple examples. Perhaps their need for attention is so strongthat even negative attention satisfies that need. If that is the case, a teacher who regularlycalls a child out on his negative choices is actually getting REINFORCED forhis behavior and therefore the behavior will not be extinct anytime soon.

If a child needs to gain control, for example, perhaps she hasto win at things all the time, prove she is right or bully people into doingwhat she wants. For a child who has aneed for control, educators and caregivers need to find a way to meet the needthe child has, in a positive way, while extinguishing the need for control innegative circumstances.

To Avoid Something:

Now let’s think about those children with the need to avoidas the overarching reason for their behaviors. What might they be trying to avoid? The most common may be work avoidance or avoiding embarrassment (orother such social stressors a child may perceive to be an issue).

www.potomacpsychiatry.com

Once you know why a child is behaving a certain way, it ismuch easier to develop a plan that is truly individualized towards yourstudent. It is pointless to search outbehavior plans or sticker charts online that are a “one size fits all”model. If each child has his or her ownreasons for behaving, that come out in different ways at various times, itseems obvious that our plans to help extinguish that behavior should be just asindividualized. The first step in doingthis is to understand, why, exactly, the child is behaving negatively.

Sounds great, you say, but how do you figure out the WHY?

Ah, stay tuned.

Holding Back: Retaining Students in School

2011-11-24T06:34:00.001-08:00

For some reason, the topic of whether or not a child shouldbe retained in school has come across my desk over a half dozen times in justthe past couple of months. I’m not surewhy this may be, but it has prompted me to write about it.

When I was in the U.S. teaching in an elementary school, thequestion of “readiness” always came up for our youngest students (kindergartenand first grade) and we found ourselves discussing whether or not a childshould be retained. It is such acontroversial issue that researchers have tried to “quantify” the decision bydeveloping objective indicators as to whether or not it is appropriate for anindividual child.

http://educationnext.org/files/ednext20051_42b.jpg

Jim Grant and Irv Richardson researched this topic andsummarized information regarding this issue. They discuss the fact that retention is often viewed as a remedy forstruggling students for the benefit of “additional learning time” howeverresearch suggests that it can actually more harmful than helpful in themajority of situations. Children who are retained have a higherdrop-out rate than non-retained students as well as other significant issues. A checklist developed by Grant and Richardson is based on Grant’sphilosophy that “what is needed is aninformed decision-making process, where a recommendation is made for eachstudent, based on his/her individual circumstances”

Considerations that must be visited when discussing thepossibility of retaining a child:

Does the child have special needs? For these children an individualized,appropriate program should be in place and the retaining a child is not anintervention that should be included in such a plan. If the IEP is appropriately written and theteam members are qualified at implementing it, the child’s unique needs shouldalready be accommodated for. If retentionis being considered as an option for a child with special needs, the school andparents need to revisit the current plan and IEP because clearly it isn’tmeeting the child’s needs.
The physical size and birthday have to be considered toensure there is not a significant discrepancy between the child and his peers. Most retentions are limited to children in first grade and below.
Making a decision based solely on a child’s academic issuesdoes not typically translate into success. These are the children who are at risk for dropping out and appropriateintervention strategies in the current grade level should always be implemented first.
Retention is not suggested if a child has motivation issuesor self-esteem concerns
Grade level retention could be an option for developmentallyimmature students, especially boys, if done in kindergarten or first grade.
Retaining a child due to high absenteeism is dangerous anddepends on the reasons for the absences.
Issues surrounding a highly transient child will notnecessarily be solved by a grade level retention. Reasons for the transience need to go intothe decision making process.
Retaining ESL students may not be the most appropriatesolution because the difficulty likely stems from an inability to communicate,not an inability to learn. A strong,more individualized ELL/ESL program may be a better solution.
Was the child placed in the wrong grade initially? (If the child is a transient expat, thiscould happen more often than we realize!)

Experts agree that retaining a child should be considered alast resort and appropriate, individualized strategies and support programsshould always be implemented first. Itis also important to recognize that ANY discussion of retention warrantsenough evidence that specific, research-based individualized support for thechild is necessary, regardless of the final decision.

The decision to retain a child is one that should be takenseriously as it will impact them for the rest of their lives. Utilizing a research based checklist, such asthe Light Retention Scale (http://portal.wpspublish.com)is an objective way to take the emotion out of this difficult decision andkeeps parents and school on common ground. This decision should never be solely based on "personal insight" or opinions. A quantitative, research based approach will allow the team to make the best decision.

Compilation ofStrategies to Consider Before Retention:

For more information search “Tier 2 interventionprograms.”

Some suggested programs are:

§ Focus Math, Pearson www.pearson.com

§ Dreambox (Math) www.dreambox.com

§ Lexia Reading Program www.lexiaforhome.com

§ SRA Reading Program www.mheonline.com

§ Magic Penny Reading Program www.magicpenny.com

§ Leveled Reading Program www.readinga-z.com

§ Reading Program for Uncertified Staff www.reading-tutors.com

Further articles onRetention and Strategies for Struggling Students:

Doing Your Homework: Retention!Special Ed Teacher Needs Ammunition

http://www.wrightslaw.com/heath/teach.retain.htm

Wright’s Law Flyer on Retention: Research and Facts

http://www.wrightslaw.com/flyers/retain.promote.pdf

Strategies for Struggling Students

http://www.minisink.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Intermediate/Strategies%20for%20Struggling%20Students%20-%20Format%202.pdf

*Please note I do not represent or endorse any of these recommended titles, programs or websites. They are simply resources I have found useful and/or successful.

When is the Mainstream NOT the Best Option?

2011-11-17T13:05:00.001-08:00

I will always stand by thefact that students have the right to be educated with their non-disabled peersto the maximum extent possible, however, I also recognize that fully includingchildren in their mainstream environment may not always be the most appropriateprogramming option. This is especially the case in internationalsituations when school services may be limited in resources, experience and quality staff.

www.thenthdegree.com

Students learn best whenthey are in their Least Restrictive Environment, or LRE. This term comes from the US law that requiresits schools to provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in theleast restrictive environment that is appropriate to the individual student'sneeds. Although a student’s LRE willvary depending on their needs, in general, it is the environment where the childcan spend most amount time with non disabled peers while making appropriateprogress towards their learning goals. For some children, learning full timewith their non disabled peers may actually be more restrictive to theirlearning and progress than if they were educated in a more self contained or“resource” environment. For others, acombination of mainstream and other options may be an appropriate way to define their Least Restrictive Environment.

So, the question isn’t if the mainstream is thebest option for your child, but rather where is your child’s Least RestrictiveEnvironment? It could be that it is themainstream math class but in a resource room for literacy. Or it could be that your child can besuccessful and benefit from a paraprofessional/shadow support specialist in theclass instead of a pull out option…or a bit of both! If your child is havingsocial issues, perhaps his LRE is the mainstream classroom so “teachablemoments” can be utilized while a weekly private counseling session isintegrated to review social “mishaps.” And don't get me started on the value of online learning for students in brick and mortar schools. Creative programming options are limitless and schools should be planning for children with his or her needs as the catalyst to any decision making.

Too many times, especially in the internationalsystems, we see children with an “all or nothing” option. They are either fully mainstreamed or in aspecial needs school. We need to startrecognizing that those are not options. Schools must be willing to program for those who fall in between the "all or nothing" model. A continuum of services and opportunities should be a partof EVERY mainstream school as much as a school cafeteria or playground is. To accept anything less is a grave disservice to EVERY child who attends.

www.thenthdegree.com

What if a child’s LRE is a full time, special needsplacement for some of the school day, but he happens to be one of the mostgifted artists in the city? Could he be a model student to non-disabled children in a mainstream art class? Should he be given the opportunity, withappropriate supports, to be in such a class? Sure…and the students may benefit from what he can bring to thegroup. But will he be given that opportunityin our mainstream, international systems today? Most likely not.

The bottom line is this: We need to develop programs for each childinstead of fitting children into pre-determined programs. By deciding, as a team, what the child NEEDS,only then should we determine how and if those needs can be met in a mainstreamenvironment.

Blazing a New Mainstream: Why Online Learning May be a Better Alternative to International Schools for Kids with Learning Needs

2011-11-07T00:34:00.000-08:00

Over the last couple of years ithas proven to be increasingly difficult for children with needs to gain entryinto international schools and those that do get in, often find supportservices very limited. As a group ofeducational consultants based in Singapore, it was difficult to sit back andwatch this happen. “There just had tobe,” we thought, “a better way.”

In what started out to be a“holding plan” until we could get a student into “proper schools” we decided totry out this new world called “online schooling.” We connected with the K12 InternationalAcademy, an accredited online private school program of K12.com, and togetherworked to train our inclusion support staff to facilitate the K12 onlineprogram in our learning center. As manyof the expatriate parents weren’t keen on leading a home-based online learningprogram themselves, we knew that our staff working as “Learning Coaches” couldfacilitate the K12 curriculum as a comprehensive, mainstream program until wecould get a “real” school to accept them.

What we have learned, however, isthat in the time we have implemented the K12 program with dozens of students,it doesn’t get more “real” or more appropriate, for that matter, than this: Based on our experiences with the onlinelearning as an option for children with special needs, this type of educationalalternative may very well exceed the quality of instruction offered in the brickand mortar, mainstream international schools. We make this statement substantiated by the following grounds:

1. International Schools have SelectiveAdmissions: Mainstream internationalschools often have discriminating admissions standards for children with learningconcerns. It is such a pervasive issuethat we often observe families concealing their child’s needs to get themaccepted. Alternatively they may alsotry to enroll them in any school that will accept them while the othersibling(s) attend their first school of choice. The online program solves this issue whereby almost all children gainadmission and if siblings do attend other schools, the online program canaccommodate for any holiday schedule.

2. International Schools have Limited LearningSupport. Let’s face it…even if achild does gain admission into a mainstream international school, very few ofthem can consistently plan, deliver and maintain a model of individualizedprogramming that is at acceptable and appropriate levels. With online schooling, facilitated by trainedlearning coaches in our learning center, student needs, learning styles,behavioral trends and motivators are regularly accounted for. As knowledgeable educators who understand howto interpret psychological assessments, our strong communication link between ourorganization and K12 allows us to take on a team approach closely aligned to USstandards for children with special needs.

3. International Schools have MinimalDifferentiated Practices. Althoughinternational schools can boast cultural diversity, very few of them cater forthe diversity in learning styles. Differentiating instruction is pivotal in heterogeneous classrooms;however, as many of these schools cater to the families of the “uppermanagement expat” there is a notion that the “average is above average” and, assuch, differentiation doesn’t seemed to be implemented as often and ascomprehensively as it should be. The supportedonline learning model we have developed over the past couple of years with K12has afforded a unique opportunity to truly differentiate for each and everychild according to their academic, social and emotional needs. Individualized programs are developed for thechild as opposed to fitting a child into a school’s “one size fits all”curriculum.

Because studentscan place into different grades without a child necessarily knowing the levelthey are being instructed at, the K12 program has proven effective in designingtheir learning plan on where they are academically, not where they should beaccording to their age. What adifference it makes when we teach to their instructional level instead of attheir frustration level! Good educatorsknow that when we teach above a student’s current level of performance,learning is stalled and a child cannot progress. (Fountas &Pinnell, 1996) In addition, if our team(Learning Coaches, K12, parents, therapists, etc.) believes instruction is tooeasy or hard for a child, immediate adjustments can be made. Our collaboration with K12 allows us to alsomake appropriate accommodations and modifications for children within theprogram. One-to-one facilitation allowsfor individualized learning, yet with more than a dozen children working ontheir own K12 programs in our center at any given time, we can implement socialskills activities, common break/lunch times, morning meeting activities anddrama/PE classes, to name a few. These multi-aged groups make for incrediblymeaningful interactions between students.

4. The Transient Expat. As expatriate families are highly transient,students often move from country to country, forced to start the process ofadmissions, advocacy and programming all over again in the new internationalschool community. By taking advantage ofthe mobile aspect of K12, the child can complete the curriculum from anywhere,thus reducing the transition challenges that are associated with moving with achild with learning needs.

5. The “Learning Support” label is removed.´Unfortunately for students in the international school world, if a child requires assistance by their learning supportdepartment, this label as a “Learning Support Child” follows him from school toschool, making it a continual challenge to be accepted and accommodated for ineach new location. Because K12 is anaccredited international school there is no label associated with enrolling insuch a program. Students aren’tidentified with the “learning support” tag in their transcripts and are in factable to prove just how successful they can be when they are taught in the waysthat they learn best.

We know that when a child isaccommodated for appropriately, she can achieve at or beyond what is expectedof her. When she is educated in acaring, safe environment without the stigma of being “different” than everyoneelse, anxiety is reduced and more learning can occur. Based on the achievements we are seeing firsthand, every day, kids are actually achieving more and at a quicker pace than ifthey were educated in the brick and mortar international school. Kids learn more when they are taught from theright starting point. Our students, whopreviously in the mainstream were struggling to achieve close to the levels oftheir peers, are now closing achievement gaps like never before. “When you let every student work at their ownpace you see students who take a little bit of extra time on one concept oranother, but once they get through that concept they just race ahead. And so the same kids that you thought wereslow 6 weeks ago you now would think were gifted. And we are seeing it over and over again andit makes you really wonder how much all the labels really just are due to acoincidence of time.” (Khan, 2011)

Because our model is a one–to-oneratio, the child gets incredible attention and support, yet still with a focuson independence and skill building. TakeLouis*, for example. As a 4^thgrader, he struggled in his previous international school and upon moving to Singapore,couldn’t get accepted anywhere. Westarted him in the 3^rd grade K12 program, allowing him to build afoundation that he seemed to miss in his previous international school, likelybecause his unsupported attention deficit kept him from focusing andlearning. In the short 8 months thatLouis was with us, he not only finished the third grade curriculum, but almostcompleted the 4^th grade program and gained admission in his newlocation in a 5^th grade, mainstream international school.

Children with learning needs whoare enrolled in an accredited online learning program, facilitated by coachesknowledgeable about learning needs makes for a formula that may be far superiorto a mainstream, brick and mortar international school.

There is no doubt that onlinelearning is growing at tremendous rates and is the future of education. In fact, the children currently enrolled inour “Learning Coach” program with the K12 curriculum are actually part of thetrail blazing phenomenon called online learning that is changing education aswe know it. How about that? The kids who are currently being excludedfrom the mainstream may just be the ones who define a new mainstream because ofit.

*Name was changed forconfidentiality reasons

A shorter version of this article is published on www.expat-kids.com, a site I am a regular contributor on.

References:

Fountas,I. & Pinnell, G.S. (1996). Understanding Guided Reading. In Guiding Readersand Writers Grade 3-6:Teaching Comprehension, Genre & Content Literacy. Portsmouth, NH:Heinemann.

KhanAcademy. (2011). Excerpts from speech . Retrieved October 2, 2011 from: http://www.khanacademy.org/video/salman-khan-talk-at-ted-2011--from-ted-com?playlist=Khan+Academy-Related+Talks+and+Interviews

Inclusion Works: The Proof is in the Puzzle

2011-10-31T04:08:00.000-07:00

As promised in my previous posts...another story of inclusion working...

Mark was a third grader with a variety of diagnoses fromOppositional Defiant Disorder to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder with LearningDisabilities and Social Anxiety thrown in. Adopted from an Eastern European country when he was 5 years old, Mark’searly development was impacted by a lack of nutrition, education and love.

Never the less, Mark was one of the most caring children Iever worked with. Educated in the regularclassroom with his non-disabled peers, Mark received 100% of his instruction inMrs. Dundee’s third grade class. As thespecial educator assigned to Mark and other children in his grade, I co-taughtreading and math daily while my paraprofessional supported the children duringthe writing time block.

Mrs. Dundee was and still is one of the most talentedteachers I have ever worked with and she ran a tight ship. She believed in inclusion and the conceptthat all kids need to learn in their own way, regardless of whether or notthey have diagnosed learning issues.

Mark was a child who, as you can imagine, struggled in mostareas of learning and socialization. Because of effective differentiation, however, he was able to besuccessful without standing out too negatively in the classroom. The kids accepted Mark’s differences andbecause of the teacher’s ability to encourage empathy, all differences were notonly accepted but also celebrated.

My last post highlighted how inclusion doesn’t just benefitthe ones with the learning needs, but all children. In that example, I wrote about how combiningkids with needs and typical peers in a co-taught class, all of the studentsbenefitted and improved in their learning. In this case, Mark’s story reminds us the lessons of inclusion teach allstudents, in a real-life manner, how everyone has strengths and that we can alllearn from each other.

Mrs. Dundee often planned dynamic math lessons that werehands on and differentiated but Mark still needed extra instruction and herealized he couldn’t keep up. This day,however, when the concepts of an ancient puzzle called, “Tangrams” wasintroduced, would be different. VariousTangram puzzles were set up around the room and students were required to go fromstation to station and try to solve the puzzles. Being a very visual task and knowing that Mark was a visual learner, wehad hoped he would find success in the lesson.

Boy did he ever.

As soon as Mark stepped up to his first puzzle he just “gotit.” For those of you who know what itis like to have a child who struggles get something so clearly and confidently,there is no feeling like it in the world! Mark knew how to solve the puzzle and quickly he moved onto thenext. Before he knew it, he had solvedevery puzzle in the room before the other students had completed one. Kids were yelling out, “Wow! Look at Mark!” and “Mark, help me, I’m stuck!” The day brought new meaning to “flying oncloud nine” as I don’t think Mark’s feet hit the ground that day. He was truly floating with confidence and joyat being so great at something. Theother kids got to observe and experience, first hand, that just because someonemight struggle at some things, he may actually be better than everyone else atothers.

All the students learned incredible lessons that day. Mark went home and told his mother it was the“best day of his life because he was the smartest one in the class.” Ten years later as I tell this story again,we are still learning from Mark….

When Inclusion Works.....it’s Elementary, Even in Middle School!

2011-10-22T07:44:00.000-07:00

When I first started teaching, I worked as a specialeducator in an inner city middle school in the United States. As the Individuals of Education withDisabilities Act (IDEA 1997) was just being passed, our school was a hybrid ofan inclusive philosophy. If studentscould manage in their regular classrooms with very limited support, accommodationsor modifications, they could be there. If not, they would be scheduled into a “resource room” class in acontent area (Language Arts, Math, Science or Social Studies). Those with serious emotional needs wereconfined to a class in the basement and the students requiring life skills hada small room off the library. So,basically, as special educators we had to “fit” a child into one of thoseprograms and rarely were we able to offer anything in between if the childdidn’t quite fit appropriately. Like jamminga round peg into a square hole, we had to use a hammer, metaphoricallyspeaking, to get all the students to fit.

I was assigned to teach a 7^th grade resource roommath class and being a first year teacher at the time, I had really only beentrained in special needs, not curriculum content belonging to middle schoolmath. I had a class of 12 students, allwith IEPs. Not having any resources todraw from (no Google back in those days) all I could do was consult with one ofthe 7^th grade math teacher for ideas. I assessed my students’ abilities in math andrealized many of them, with regular practice, were pretty proficient in theirmath facts. They weren’t quick at them,but I was pretty sure, being tagged as a “resource room math kid” for most oftheir school career, basic computation was about all that had beencovered. So I started each day with abasic practice concept but really felt that based on what the 7^thgrade math teacher was doing in her classroom, I could introduce the kids tothose topics. If I could teach them in away they could understand, I was pretty sure they could get it.

And get it they did!

By the end of the first quarter, my students, in addition tomaintaining and enhancing their computational fluency, really started tocomprehend the regular 7^th grade objectives! Sure, they may have needed more hands oninstruction, more manipulatives, more examples to draw from, but they weregetting it! I was so proud of them but Iwas also keenly aware I was providing them a mainstream education in a specialneeds, resource class….certainly this was not within the spirit of which thisnew law was being passed.

I knew these students deserved a chance in the regularclassroom.

I sat with my friend, Mrs. Jones, a 7^th grademath teacher, and told her my story. Ihad identified at least 5 kids who could be and should be included immediatelyin her class. After a discussion withthe principal, multiple changes to children’s schedules and time consuming IEPmeetings, we piloted this opportunity.

The caveat was this: I was to co-teach with Mrs. Jones every single day during this classperiod. We were to plan together, teachtogether and reflect together for every student every day. We worked in an inner city school where wecertainly had under achievers in the regular classrooms and Mrs. Jones couldsee the benefit of both of us being there. So we added five children to her class halfway through the second quarter.

With her content knowledge coupled with my abilities to planlessons that targeted various learning styles, we were a hit. ALL students were learning andachieving. For the rest of the year allof these students, who had been “fit” into a special needs class, looked nodifferent than the rest of their classmates. Sure, they struggled sometimes but with an effective differentiatedapproach and two teachers cohesively working together, the result…well, it wasmagic.

We knew it was working. We could just feel it in the class dynamics, the excitement and positiveenergy in the kids…and in the data. Weconducted a survey of the class at the end of the year to determine if thechildren liked having the co-teaching approach to their learning. All but two kids said they preferred havingtwo teachers…the two that didn’t were part of the original mainstream class andthey stated that now they couldn’t get away with passing notes between the twoof them like they used to!

Back then we didn’t have standards based grading and stillused the “old fashioned” letter based grades….but from the first quarter to thelast quarter, every single child, without exception, improved their report cardscores by one whole letter grade.

From the next year on, many teachers decided to follow suitand we continued to enhance and grow the co-teaching model which, in turn,improved the learning for all the children involved.

This was in 1997….Fourteen years ago…and yet still, I feelthe need to share this story to try to convince people how powerful andbeneficial inclusion practices, when done right, can be. Did it work? Are you sold?

Do you have an inclusion “story from the field” toshare? If so email me and we just maypost it on our blog as a “guest story!”

Generally Speaking...It Benefits ALL

2011-10-06T06:29:00.000-07:00

As you may be able to see, my posts are progressing. I rarely get the opportunity to take so muchtime to lay it all out there. Never arethere enough opportunities to share with people, in such a systematic way, whatit is we believe in, why we believe in it, how it helps and what we can do tomove forward in our mission in helping ALL kids achieve. It is the gift of time, given to me by this blog,as to why I am happy to write each week.

If you have been following along, I hope by now youunderstand the philosophy behind our belief of inclusion. Mind you, we didn’t just “buy into it”without knowing the facts, the benefits and weighing the pros and cons. We live it everyday and we see it work, allthe time. We know it is the direction weshould all be facing. Mind you, we willalways stand by our belief that inclusion is right for most kids, however, wealso do agree, support and firmly maintain the notion that it may not be rightfor all. Stay tuned for a post, in thenot so distant future, about how to determine if the mainstream classroom maynot be the best choice for a child.

It is also important to mention that just because we believein the concept of inclusion, we believe it is necessary to appropriatelydetermine if a child should be mainstreamed with their non-disabled peers forthe entire day. Some children may bebest serviced through programs that required them to be away from theirclassmates and educated in other environments for certain parts of theirday. As long as we are always developinga program for a child and not fitting a child into a program, we are morelikely to make the right decisions.

There are so many benefits for children in an appropriatelysupported, inclusionary classroom. In myfifteen years of doing this worldwide, I have seen it work brilliantly. I have also seen it crash and burn, andunfortunately I have to say, in many of the international schools I consultwith, this is the case. It is the lackof student success, extra work for the teachers and increasing demands fromparents that cause them to decide not to give it the attention itdeserves. It is my contention, however,and the overarching belief of Live and Learn, that with the RIGHT supports inplace, an appropriate inclusionary model will benefit all children, those withspecial needs, those without, and those in between. I have concrete ideas on just howinternational schools can improve in this area, but that is another post foranother day…

Generally, an effective inclusionary program will benefitall children in the following ways:

Accommodations, modifications and strategieshelp all students.
Inclusion encourages effective collaborationbetween professionals
When 2 adults work collaboratively in aclassroom (with a co-teacher or trained paraprofessional) questions are answered morequickly, projects are easily monitored and all students receive moreindividualized attention.
Students accept one another as contributingmembers of the school society because strengths of each child are recognized.
Differences are more accepted by studentsresulting in more empathy towards those with disabilities or needs.
Regular education teachers tend to view theirstudents as individuals rather than a classroom of the same ability level.

I have dozens of “stories from the field” that will amaze you and hopefully convince you how important it is for all kids to have the opportunity to learn from students who are different from them. I’m excited I actually have the forum, the time and the opportunity to share some of those stories and experiences with you here. Stay tuned…

Making it Moot

2011-09-28T06:29:00.000-07:00

When presenting on the concept and philosophy of inclusion,I often find it effective to have people reflect on relatable personalexperiences. We all have them….we have alot of them in fact. We don’t have to bea person with special needs to experience times when we felt “included” or“excluded” at points in our life. So,let’s take a moment and do that together, shall we? It sets the stage for the bigger picture.

Think back…to a time when you were included insomething. Many of us are drawn back totimes in our childhood when a friend invited us over to play or we were askedto go to a big party exclusive to the “popular” crowd in school. Maybe someone invited you to sit with them atlunch or when you were part of a sports team. By virtue of being a human being and existing in this world, you willhave had experiences I am sure you can reflect back on. Now…how did you FEEL when you wereincluded? What adjectives could you useto describe the emotion you felt during that experience?

(This blank space is giving you time to think….)

When I do this in groups, we don’t share the experiences, weshare the words that describe our emotions. This exercise usually elicits words such as: Accepted; loved; confident; connected;empowered; cared for; positive; happy; secure….

Now, and I am sure you know where I am going with this,think back to a time in your life when you were left out of something. When you were “excluded” from a group or froman event. Perhaps you were chosen lastin gym class or were the only one of all your friends not invited to a party.

(Wait time…..)

Unfortunately I often find people have more of these storiesand experiences that come to mind quickly when we do this activity. It’s staggering how these difficult memoriesare still quite near the “surface” of our hearts and minds, even if many yearshave passed. We don’t have to thinkvery hard or dig down very deep to relive the real pain and hurt those experiencescaused. Words this exercise oftenprompts are: Judged; insecure; angry;sad; hated; alone; unfair; rebellious; anxious; afraid; shy; disobedient;unloved.

One of my favorite podcasts is “This American Life” fromNational Public Radio out of Chicago. Each week they take a theme and bring us avariety of stories all centered around a common premise. A couple of years ago they ran a storycalled, “The Kindness of Strangers” and the introductory story was about a man,in a subway in New York City, who stood by the trains randomly pointing outpeople and saying, “You’re in.” Dependingon his decision, however, he could also say to another, “You’re out.” There was no seemingly discernible theme inhis decision making process…it was impossible to decipher or predict a patternsuggesting who would be fortunate enough to be “in” or who would be so glibly“out.” And the remarkable thing aboutthis was, he wasn’t picking these people for anything. In fact, the man who was recounting thisstory said that as he walked nearer to this “man of judgment,” he surprisedhimself by getting a bit nervous, thinking, “I wonder if he will pick me.” The irony, of course, was that although heinnately wanted to be chosen, there was nothing he was being chosen for and asquoted by the reporter, “He didn’t particularly look like anyone I would wantto hang out with anyway.”

The bottomline? It’s innate. Its a human need to be accepted, to feelincluded….and how distinctively fearful we are of being excluded.

So why did this man so flippantly believe he had a right torandomly choose who was and wasn’t in? This man in the subway, the man randomly choosing people…it doesn’t seemlike he had the right to make such a decision, does it? If it is an innate human need to feel included…andif being excluded makes us feel angry, sad, hated, alone, rebellious, anxious,afraid, shy, disobedient and unloved….why in the world do we have to fight sohard for inclusionary philosophies to dwell within our schools?

It will be a good day, one day, when the word “inclusion” isindeed MOOT. Why? Because when it is no longer needed, it meansall kids are included…which is their innate human need. Schools wouldn’t consider depriving a humanneed like food, water or safety from our children. So why is this any different?

References:

Giangreco, M and Ruelle, K (2002). Absurdities and Realities of Special Education: The Best of Ants...Flying...and Logs. Minnetonka: Peytral Publications.

WBEZ National Public Radio: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/75/Kindness-of-Strangers Originally Aired Sept 12, 1997

Making a Difference...

2011-09-20T00:55:00.000-07:00

As ateacher, we want to make a difference, but very often we have to recognize thereality of this noble goal. Making thebiggest difference in the life of a child often starts with working with childrenwho have the biggest differences.

As a special educator, I knew I would be working with children whohave learning and behavioural differences...that is what I signed up for. But are regular classroom teachers awarethat they too will also likely have these children in their classes? Are all teachers trained and prepared tohandle such responsibilities? Why shouldthey have to be?

It’s allabout inclusion and inclusion is all about classrooms today. Teachers who are trained in understandingeducational philosophy and curriculum also need to be trained in how to handlestudents with special learning needs. Likeit or not, it is the law in the US and in many other countries. The rationale of expecting ALL teachers toknow how to teach children with diverse needs in the regular classroom,however, has more to do with what is right, than what is law. Including students appropriately in themainstream classroom benefits not only those with special needs, but allstudents.

We allwant to feel included. It is an innateneed many of us crave. Think back to atime in your childhood when you felt included in something. Perhaps it was on a sports team or friendsasked you to sit with them at lunch. Perhaps you were invited to a birthday party or asked to be a part of aclub. How did you feel? Happy? Accepted? Motivated? Now, think back to a time in your life whenyou felt excluded....to a time when youwere not invited or accepted. Perhaps atime when you were an outsider hoping to be a part of the group, but were notgiven the chance. What words woulddescribe those feelings? Defeated? Worthless? Insecure? Different?

When wethink back to those experiences and emotions, do we need much more reason thanthat to know that including children in the mainstream classroom ,whenappropriate, is the right thing to do?

But what,exactly, is inclusion?

Inclusionis a belief that although we may not all learn the same, we all deserveopportunities to be successful. Inclusion is aphilosophy that fundamentally allows students with disabilities to learn in thesame schools and classrooms as their peers without disabilities. It is an understanding that fair doesn’talways mean equal...that to be “fair” we sometimes have to treat studentsdifferently. That all students, allchildren, have a right to an appropriate education in a system that will caterto their differences and celebrate each person’s unique abilities. Asteachers, we don’t have the right to determine who is “in” and who is“out”. We should have the mindset thatwe will teach all who enter our class, to the best of our ability. It may mean teaching some of these childrenwill require more work, more support and more personnel, but it does benefit allwhen done correctly.

Thebenefits of inclusion are powerful and students withdisabilities are increasingly being included in general education classroomsfor many reasons:

· In general, accommodations, modifications andstrategies help and benefit all students.

Inclusionary practices encourage effective collaboration between professionals.
Inclusion benefits all students. When two adults (a teacher and a support specialist) work collaboratively in a classroom, questions are answered more quickly, projects are more easily monitored; all students receive more individualized attention.
Students accept one another as contributing members of the school society because strengths of each child are recognized.
Differences are more accepted by students resulting in more empathy towards those with disabilities or needs.
Regular education teachers tend to view their students as individuals rather than a classroom of the same ability level.

Inclusion,when implemented effectively, will allow you to be that teacher who can makeall the difference….and not just for those who are the most different.

It isn't Rocket Science...But it is Just as Important

2011-09-13T01:48:00.000-07:00

I keep thinking about the girl I wrote about in my firstpost, the 16-year old who couldn’t get into a single international school inSingapore. It made me mad and frustratedall over again and I felt like posting all sorts of stories like these with thenames of each of the schools that have discriminated against amazing kids likethis…but then, the other day, during my daily quiet time in God’s Word, I cameacross something that really got me thinking. I even “tweeted” about it…

Would you prefer to compromise JUSTICE or LOVE?

I can’t get that out of my head. What good would it do to showcase thediscrimination we see on a regular basis? What JUSTICE would prevail? If Ishow my LOVE and GRATITUDE to these schools for the few students they are willingto help, for listening to what we have to say, for considering our efforts, forreading this blog…will that get us further towards our goals? Certainly. Although I believe in JUSTICE, I don’t want to compromise LOVE to getit, so I will take my frustrations into a different direction and build theminto something for good.

Let’s start with the basics first…always a good place tostart. There must be a reason why I amso passionate about educating children in the mainstream and why we have anentire company of 70+ employees and growing who share in that passion. Before, however, we can understand the “why”I think we need to understand the “what.” What, exactly, is inclusion?

Inclusion is the practice of educating children withdisabilities in the general classroom with their non-disabled peers for much oftheir school day. It is a philosophy whosepurpose is to allow students with disabilities to learn in the same schools andclassrooms as their peers without disabilities. For the past 30 years educators and researchers have analyzed thenegative effects of separate classes for children with disabilities (McLeskeyand Waldron, 2000) and movements across the world have leaned in the directionof including these children to the maximum extent possible.

Inclusion, in its most basic form:

Allstudents share the same classroom space
Somestudents may be completing assignments or doing activities that are differentfrom their peers
Allstudents belong and are accepted as an integral part of the community
Studentswith special needs are supported in “creative” ways

These basic truths are what we hold to be the backbone ofour organization and are at the heart of our initial trainings with perspectivestaff. We explain to them that thisisn’t a job to “fill time” or to just earn a paycheck. There has to be a fully committed heart tothe passion and belief of this concept; of this philosophy. We certainly celebrate our staff members’diverse backgrounds, cultural differences and varied levels of experience butone thing we won’t compromise on…the one thing that can’t be diverse, is thebasic belief that although ALL kids may not be appropriate for the mainstream,many, MANY more should have the opportunity to be there and it is our job tomake sure we give it the best effort to make that happen successfully. Effective inclusion truly is “proving we candream with our head in the clouds and our feet firmly on the ground.”

EFFECTIVE INCLUSION…now those are the key words. There are plenty of examples of how a childwas thrown into a classroom without appropriate support, with untrained staffand teachers who either didn’t buy into the inclusionary concept or had notraining in the “how.”

As part of our initial trainingat Live and Learn we discuss how children can be a “victim of the mainstream”and discuss a real life situation in where inclusionary practices wereimplemented without proper planning, training or staffing. Laura Johnson, an American mother of a childwho was mainstreamed in the US without proper support or a transition planstated,

"At this point, we're abouthalfway through the school year, and she hasn't learned anything.""It's not fair for her to go to school and sit there and be teased becauseshe doesn't understand what they're teaching her." (deVise, 2008)

Can it gowrong? Can it be implemented ineffectively? Can it be the wrong decision for some children? Absolutely. That is why professional, knowledgeable and experienced professionals inthis field are pivotal towards the successful inclusion of children with needsin our mainstream classrooms.

What wehave found, however, is that it starts with a belief. It starts with the philosophy that inclusionis right for most kids and it is our job, it is our ethical responsibility, tomake sure we do everything we can to make it work.

I have found that finding staff members whohave the conviction of inclusion as part of their ethos, can certainly be trainedby us and we can mentor them on the “how to” and the “strategies” as it really isn't Rocket Science, afterall.

References:

McKleskey, J and Waldron, N (2000). Inclusive Schools in Action: Making Differences Ordinary. Alexandria: ASCD.

de Vise, D (2008). In The Mainstream but Isolated. Washington Post, March 18, 2008, B-01.

Giangreco, M and Ruelle, K (2002). Absurdities and Realities of Special Education: The Best of Ants...Flying...and Logs. Minnetonka: Peytral Publications.

Just the Beginning...

2011-09-02T01:06:00.000-07:00

A blog....so daunting to just start writing about the things we are passionate about. At some moments I feel as if I have so much to say...other times I feel like I have nothing to write, or nothing worth anyone's time to read, anyway. But, I do know that people seem to enjoy it when I present and I tend to find ways of explaining or teaching concepts that seem to make sense sometimes, so although it will be a challenge for me, I'll do it. Well, I'll try it and see how I go.

We set up this blog a few days ago and I am the kind of person who wants to get things done and cross them off my list. Writing the first entry has been on my list since I was convinced to do this and I have been procrastinating which is so "un-Carrie like."

"Anything," I was told, "will be fine."

But I don't think just "anything" will do. I feel a lot of pressure to say things insightful or meaningful. Something that when a person finishes reading, she won't feel it was a waste of her time.

Sometimes just getting started on a daunting task is enough to paralyze people and probably the reason why so many ideas in this world don't actually get off the ground. I find a lot of us have great ideas...like my dad's idea of opening a wine bar that serves only wine from his home state of Connecticut. Sure, great idea...but where to start when you have absolutely no background or experience in owning, operating and maintaining such an establishment? I guess you start with a baby step, whatever that is. And that is what I am going to do. I am taking a step. I am starting this blog even though I am not sure what I am going to write about or if anyone is going to want to really read it.

So what I am I going to start with? The beginning. I am going to start at the beginning. The beginning of what? Well, as this blog is about me as the founder of Live and Learn, I decided I am going to start at that beginning because honestly, I have a lot of beginnings I could start at...my life, my schooling, my first job, my marriage, my pregnancy, becoming a mom, moving overseas...the list goes on. But I decided I am going to start at the beginning of Live and Learn because that, I think, will be what I base my future posts on....the real reason I started Live and Learn.

Live and Learn officially started in February 2008 however I ran the operation, under a different name and different owners, since 2006. Coming from the US as a special educator and school administrator, I was bewildered at the state of special needs in Singapore and later, as I learned, in Asia and the international community as a whole. I was working as an after school "tuition specialist" providing one to one tutoring for kids with special learning needs while having little to no connection to the child's classroom experiences. My heart hurt for these kids and I didn't understand how they could be successful with such limited support in the classroom. All hope for improvement was resting on my hour or two a week in a one to one session after school. What floored me even more was the tuition center provided this kind of remediation support for about 250 children and I was, by far, the most qualified and experienced person in the center....including the owner. Was this the norm or was I just seeing one side of this unbalanced equation?

I have come to learn, almost 6 years later, that it was not only the norm, but part a pervasive, larger problem that revolved around how our children with even mild learning needs were not valued in this community I was living in. And it wasn't, and isn't, a "local" problem only. Actually, I worked with both expatriate and local children, all of whom received very little support in their schools. More concerning was that many of these "expat kids" were being asked to leave their schools if their academics didn't improve dramatically, and quickly. But with such little support in their school day, how could they possibly make the necessary gains in such a short amount of time?

And then there were the new students coming in flocks to Singapore to settle into this "First World Country" with world class educational facilities in these mega expensive, super facility international schools. And these students couldn't get in. Mind you, we weren't even talking about kids with moderate to severe disabilities....kids with MILD needs could not get into these schools. I remember one child, for example, who was 16 years old and had been diagnosed with a mild learning disability to which she received only 1 hour of special needs service PER WEEK in the US, mostly for organization. She received all A's and B's in school, placing her on the honor roll every year since middle school, but because she had an IEP (Individualized Education Program) international schools in Singapore wouldn't even look at her. Her family had to make the very difficult decision not to come to Singapore after all. They couldn't sacrifice her daughter's educational success for a "cushy" Singaporean expat assignment....regardless of how much the job paid.

I saw a need. I saw an ethical need. As clear as the sky was blue, I knew I needed to do something to help, at least in some way, to make this better for kids and families. I knew the benefits of providing appropriate support for children and they included benefits for all the other kids in the class as well. And so...God brought me Shannon, my business partner, at the perfect time....and we jumped into this together.....and Live and Learn began.