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Tips for Fostering Independence at Home.docx

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Tips for Fostering Independence at Home.docx

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Join us this month with guest Dr. Nikole Hollins-Sims as we discuss how to cultivate a culture of belonging in your classroom. Using the elements of PBIS, Dr. Hollins-Sims helps us break down how students thrive at school when they feel they belong. For starters, the ABCs of student wellbeing, Agency, Belonging and Connectedness, have a tremendous influence on whether students feel like they are part of your school. When educators focus on cultivating each of these components in their classroom climate through greetings, exercises and class culture, students thrive! We also visit how your own SWIS data results can tell a story of class belonging.

Nikole Y. Hollins-Sims, Ed.D., is an internationally recognized speaker, author and facilitator. She currently serves as a research associate for Educational and Community Supports (ECS) as a research unit within the University of Oregon's College of Education. Nikole has formerly served as a technical assistance coordinator for the Midwest PBIS Network and is a former Special Assistant to the Secretary of Education at the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

For more information about the resources shared in this episode, check out the following links:

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PBISApps | Expert Instruction Podcast-Ep. 47: Cultivating a Culture of Belonging in Your Classroom

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Join us this month with guest Dr. Nikole Hollins-Sims as we discuss how to use PBIS to cultivate a culture of belonging in your classroom.

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Join us this month with guest Dr. Nikole Hollins-Sims as we discuss how to cultivate a culture of belonging in your classroom. Using the elements of PBIS, Dr. Hollins-Sims helps us break down how students thrive at school when they feel they belong. For starters, the ABCs of student wellbeing, Agency, Belonging and Connectedness, have a tremendous influence on whether students feel like they are part of your school. When educators focus on cultivating each of these components in their classroom climate through greetings, exercises and class culture, students thrive! We also visit how your own SWIS data results can tell a story of class belonging.

Nikole Y. Hollins-Sims, Ed.D., is an internationally recognized speaker, author and facilitator. She currently serves as a research associate for Educational and Community Supports (ECS) as a research unit within the University of Oregon's College of Education. Nikole has formerly served as a technical assistance coordinator for the Midwest PBIS Network and is a former Special Assistant to the Secretary of Education at the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

For more information about the resources shared in this episode, check out the following links:

‍

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PBISApps | Expert Instruction Podcast-Ep. 47: Cultivating a Culture of Belonging in Your Classroom

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Join us this month with guest Dr. Nikole Hollins-Sims as we discuss how to use PBIS to cultivate a culture of belonging in your classroom.

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Use this brainstorming worksheet to identify strengths and areas of opportunity for building an inclusive school culture at your school. Use this to identify your next steps.

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Strategies for fostering relationships with middle and high school students starting on the first day of the school year and then growing them all year long.

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As you plan for your new school year, what are some ways to meet the learning needs of all students and ensure that your classroom is a place of kindness, connection, equity, and belonging? Today's post brings you 10 important things inclusive educators should focus on, with links to practical blog posts to guide you this year.

We wish you a wonderful year with your new students! If there are specific topics we can cover on the blog to help support you, please let us know in the comments.

Nurture a culture of friendship.

Look for new ways to engage diverse families.

This quote from Patti Kelly Ralabate's new book True Inclusion with UDL is a great reminder of how important it is to engage with culturally and linguistically diverse families, make them feel welcome, and involve them in their child's education. Read this blog post for tips on successful partnerships with parents, including diverse families. (Home visits are one option, if your students' families are receptive to them. This post gives you some practical guidance onconducting home visits with diverse families.)

Talk to your students regularly about their needs.

Support your students' self-advocacy skills.

Create moments of joy.

Student engagement and readiness for learning improve when students experience joy and connection in the classroom. (Quote from The Educator's Handbook for Inclusive School Practices, by Julie Causton and Chelsea Tracy-Bronson.)

See this blog post for 3 Big Ideas for Creating Joy in Your School (and Yourself!)

Try some new strategies for curriculum modification.

Need some new ideas for modifying your curriculum? Inclusion expert Nicole Eredics presents 40 specific strategies for curriculum modification in her practical guidebook Inclusion in Action. Plus, check out these blog posts for more expert advice:

Check for understanding in creative ways.

Tune up your IEP process.

For some good practical tips for creating more effective, efficient, and meaningful IEPs, start with the blog posts below (and grab a copy of The IEP Checklist for a fantastic one-stop IEP guide!):

Work to address the anxiety epidemic.

A major obstacle to learning, anxiety is skyrocketing among all children-and it's especially a struggle for students who are on the autism spectrum or have other social/learning needs. To support students and help them manage anxiety, check out the book Addressing Anxiety in Young Learners and the new cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) program Facing Your Fears in Schools.

Presume and construct competence.

Avoid making predictions or assumptions about a student based solely on the way that student looks, moves, or communicates. Always make the least dangerous assumption-that is, presume competence-even if you feel uncertain about a student's abilities at first. (Read this blog post on The Power of Presuming Competence.) And, as Cheryl Jorgensen says in her book It's More Than "Just Being In": "It is not enough to simply hold a belief. Everyone involved with the student needs to actively construct-to build-[their] competence through their words, instruction, and supports that they provide."

For deeper dives into the tips and guidelines in this post, check out the featured books from top experts. (If your school is looking for a good library of books to invest in this year, this list is a great place to start!)

The Educator's Handbook for Inclusive School Practices, by Julie Causton and Chelsea Tracy-Bronson

Inclusion in Action, by Nicole Eredics

You're Going to Love This Kid!, Third Edition, by Paula Kluth

Empowering Students with Hidden Disabilities, by Margo Vreeburg Izzo & LeDerick Horne

It's More Than "Just Being In," by Cheryl M. Jorgensen

The Teacher's Guide for Effective Classroom Management, Third Edition, by Tim Knoster & Stephanie Gardner

True Inclusion with UDL, by Patti Kelly Ralabate

The IEP Checklist, Second Edition, by Clarissa E. Rosas & Kathleen G. Winterman, with invited contributors

Reimagining Special Education, by Jenna M. Rufo & Julie Causton

Addressing Anxiety in Young Learners, by Sarah Taylor Vanover with Kristen Mennona

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10 Ways to Teach and Include All Students This Year - Brookes Blog

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Today's post brings you 10 important things inclusive educators should focus on, with links to practical blog posts to guide you this year.

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Inclusive Book Titles

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Membership & Belonging Gameboard ES--2024

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Complete any three squares from the gameboard.

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Membership & Belonging Gameboard ES--2024

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Neighborhood inclusion tips for parents 2016.docx

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Inclusion & Belonging — Joyful Inclusion | Dr. Amy Pleet-Odle

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What is the connection between inclusion and belonging? I’ve been exploring research and professional publications to clarify how these two terms are related and how they are different. I’d like to share what I discovered…

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Creating a Sense of Belonging: Setting the Foundation for an Inclusive Classroom Community - Tarheelstate Teacher

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Time for social emotional learning needs to be prioritized in all elementary classrooms, particularly upper elementary. Establish classroom community expectations from the very beginning with my FREE Sense of Belonging SEL Morning Meeting theme set. The SEL lessons and activities will help you set

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Why Teach a Sense of Belonging in your Classroom — Tarheelstate Teacher

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A sense of belonging is a feeling of being included, of closeness with others, and that you fit into a group or community. The need to belong and feel welcomed is a basic human need. Children, especially upper elementary students and adolescents have a strong desire to belong. It’s important that we

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Part One: The Circle Makers | Move to Include | PBS LearningMedia

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Nationwide, schools have been undertaking inclusive school reform with positive results and have found that inclusion and belonging are essential conditions for educating each child. Nonetheless, critiques of inclusion are common. There are tales of unsupported classroom teachers or students floundering in general education settings. Some claim, "We tried it and it didn't work."

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Please use this form to let us know what you might need in order to implement an activity from this padlet.

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Implementing Class Activities for Membership: Materials Needed

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NJCIE Inclusion Facilitator: Michelle Lockwood

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Est Understanding in Incl Schools_ Class Membership 2023

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ACTIVITY CHOICE: Class Membership Activities to Try

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ACTIVITY CHOICE: Class Membership Activities to Try

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Review the ideas and related links to materials for fostering class membership for all learners, including those with disabilities. Select one activity to try before the end of this school year and one to try at the start of next school year.

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Est Understanding in Incl Schools_ Class Membership 2023

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ACTIVITY CHOICE: Membership Reminder Review

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ACTIVITY CHOICE: Membership Reminder Review

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Review the checklist of gentle reminders about signs of student belonging and membership to consider when welcoming a student into your class.

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10 Reasons to Support Inclusive School Communities for ALL Students | 10 Reasons to Support Inclusive School Communities for ALL Students

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Coteaching is still a relatively new concept for some schools and most parents. In fact, most parents never had coteachers themselves; it can be difficult for them to grasp when they haven't seen it for themselves.

That's why I send a letter home each year introducing myself and my coteacher to the parents and guardians. It decreases confusion later when parents are contacted by multiple teachers for the same class, or when Johnny is relaying something that happened in class and he isn't able to fully explain why there are two teachers in the same class.

Basic Introductions

I start with a typical welcome paragraph that includes the name of the class, the teacher's names, and some of the basics covered. For example, I always teach tenth grade so I include a little about the state testing in the spring.

Dear Parent/Guardian,

We have the pleasure of having your child in our English 10 class this school year. This is an important year since all sophomores will be taking the Keystone Exams this spring. In order to prepare, we're going to be focusing on reading comprehension with textual support, analysis of fiction and nonfiction texts, grammar, vocabulary, and academic writing.

What is Coteaching and Why We Use It

This transitions into the next paragraph of why it is a co-taught class. Part of my explanation talks about the extra help the students get with state testing prep. Another part of my explanation includes the variety of different learners in the class and how having an extra teacher helps reach each student.

To help our students master each of the areas listed above, this class will be co-taught. Coteaching is when two certified teachers are present in the classroom and they work together through the teaching process: planning, teaching, and assessing progress. Students frequently have different learning styles and preferences. Coteaching often allows those different needs to be more easily met.

What Co-teaching Looks Like

I know a lot of teachers who still struggle with this, so I make sure I include what parents and students can expect. After explaning why there's a coteacher, transition right into specific examples of co-teaching in action. Explain the different co-teaching strategies and how they work.

Having two teachers in the same classroom looks different depending on the activity we're doing in class and the needs of the students. Sometimes we like to split the class into two groups with each teacher teaching one of the groups; this allows for a smaller teacher-to-student ratio for more complex topics. Occasionally, one teacher will pull a small group aside for additional-support instruction while the other teacher assists students with an extension assignment. This way, students receive additional help when needed or they receive meaningful extension activities led by a teacher instead of busywork to complete independently at their desk. If you are interested in learning more about the different coteaching strategies available, this website offers quick summaries of each strategy: http://www.marilynfriend.com/approaches.htm.

Invite Future Communication or Questions

Most schools have a back-to-school night a few weeks into the school year, but I like to send my letter home the very first day of school. This way, parents can come in to back-to-school night already expecting both teachers and armed with any questions or concerns they may have.

If you have any questions or concerns, we are available via email: EMAIL ADDRESS for Mrs. Teacher A and EMAIL ADDRESS for Mr. Teacher B. We will also both be present for Back-to-School-Night on Wednesday, September 7 th at 7pm. Please come see us coteach our presentation to see first-hand how our cotaught classroom works.

And of course I end with some sort of sign-off that includes my name and my coteacher's name as well as both our signatures. We send it home via the mail to make sure parents actually get it.

I know, it's only July. But it's best to start working on this stuff now; it's details like this that get overlooked in the craziness that is fall.

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Introducing Coteaching to Parents - Engaging and Effective Teaching

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Coteaching is still a relatively new concept for some schools and most parents. In fact, most parents never had coteachers themselves; it can be difficult for them to grasp when they haven't seen it for themselves. That's why I send a letter home each year introducing myself and my coteacher to the parents and guardians.

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Read the article about presuming competence, then identify ways that you can promote this concept at your school with all students, including those with more complex cognitive disabilities. Identify your next steps and share with a colleague.

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Read the article about "semantics", then consider how this might apply at your school in creating a common language that clearly communicates your school's vision of inclusive education. Identify takeaways to share with a colleague.

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ACTIVITY CHOICE: Class Library Considerations for Promoting Peer Acceptance

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ACTIVITY CHOICE: Class Library Considerations for Promoting Peer Acceptance

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Review the considerations for developing a class (or school) library that promotes acceptance of students with disabilities. Record any ideas for adjustments that you would like to make in order to better represent students with disabilities as full and equal members of the class and school community.

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ACTIVITY CHOICE: Adapt the Turn and Talk for a Student with Complex Communication Needs

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ACTIVITY CHOICE: Adapt the Turn and Talk for a Student with Complex Communication Needs

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Read the information about ways that a turn and talk can be adapted to enable participation with students without disabilities for a student who do not communicate well verbally and/or use AAC devices to communicate. Think about ways you could apply this in your situation.

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ACTIVITY CHOICE: Personal Reflection on Cooperative Learning in Inclusive Schools

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ACTIVITY CHOICE: Personal Reflection on Cooperative Learning in Inclusive Schools

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Review each example of a cooperative learning activity that can be used (or adapted for use) to support students with disabilities in a general education setting. Select one activity then outline how you would use and/or adapt this for use in your class.

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ACTIVITY CHOICE: Create the Plan for Belonging for a Target Student

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ACTIVITY CHOICE: Create the Plan for Belonging for a Target Student

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Use the belonging reflection tool to engage in collaborative reflection regarding membership and belonging for a targeted student. For each dimension of belonging, reflect on what you are doing well and what could be done better or differently to support THIS student. When finished, agree on several actionable steps that will make a noticeable difference in promoting belonging for this student at your school.

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TIES Peer Engagement Practice Guides | A Guide to Implementing Class-wide Peer Acceptance Interventions

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Addressing the attitudes that peers have towards students with disabilities is foundational to supporting interactions and friendships among students with and without disabilities. An important goal of inclusive education is that students with and without disabilities come to know and accept one ano…

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TIES Peer Engagement Practice Guides | A Guide to Implementing Class-wide Peer Acceptance Interventions

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Addressing the attitudes that peers have towards students with disabilities is foundational to supporting interactions and friendships among students with and without disabilities. An important goal of inclusive education is that students with and without disabilities come to know and accept one ano…

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ACTIVITY CHOICE: Inclusion Communication Plan for Shared Understandings

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ACTIVITY CHOICE: Inclusion Communication Plan for Shared Understandings

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Review the example of a communication plan for providing information to all stakeholders about your school's inclusive vision for all learners as members of the school community. Consider ways that you could implement some of these tasks at your school. How would you accomplish the task? Who would you need to enlist? Record your ideas to share with the group.

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Use the example guided discussion format to plan a guided discussion activity for your class to extend the impact of indirect experiences with disability through books/videos for your students.

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Isn't it a pity? The real problem with special needs | Torrie Dunlap | TEDxAmericasFinestCity

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ACTIVITY CHOICE: "Real" Friendships for SWD

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ACTIVITY CHOICE: "Real" Friendships for SWD

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Read the article about students with disabilities and the lack of real friendships, then identify several ways that you can help increase real friendships for a student with a disability that you know.

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Review the examples of ways to actively promote belonging by becoming a champion of inclusion, then consider how these might relate to you and your role at your school.

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Six strategies for making people with disabilities a part of your students' diverse learning experiences.

As a person with a disability, I (Nikhil) have grown up surrounded by nondisabled figures in the media and in my daily life. As I get closer to reaching adulthood, I've become increasingly aware of the lack of representation of people like me who live with disability every day. While schools make accommodations to the physical environment and instructional approach to help students with disabilities learn and grow, the actual curriculum, the "what students learn," is often silent about disability and the contributions of individuals with disabilities.

Because of the silence in our schools about disability, I've made it my mission to make the world a better place by increasing awareness about disability and shedding light on what it means to live the way I and other people with disabilities live.

Prevalence of Disability

Physical and mental disabilities impact the lives of countless Americans. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one in four adults in the United States lives with a disability. As it says in The Future of Disability in America, by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, "If one considers people who now have disabilities, people who are likely to develop disabilities in the future, and people who are or who will be affected by the disabilities of those close to them, then disability affects today or will affect tomorrow the lives of most Americans."

Teachers and curriculum designers are creating more diverse learning experiences that incorporate individuals from all backgrounds, and it's imperative to also incorporate persons with disabilities into curricular instruction. In order to ensure that individuals with disabilities are more fully integrated into school curriculum and, therefore, American society, schools must revise their instructional narratives and adopt more inclusive and representative resources.

Recommendations for Creating a More Inclusive Curriculum

School curriculum and resources should help students construct a deeper understanding of their personal identities; help them develop empathy, understanding, and respect for others; and empower them to redress inequities and improve the world. Teachers should consider the following points, which Mr. Cooper and I developed.

1. Design instructional units that enable students to learn about disabilities. The One Out of Five project from the Washington governor's office has a number of useful resources, including lesson plans that use student voice videos to introduce important concepts about disability, intersectionality of identity, and allyship. For example, teachers can use the Ableism Bingo, which is a useful resource for teaching students about ableism (bias in favor of able-bodied people). Alternatively, the makers of the film Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution developed a curriculum, discussion guides, and lesson plans that teachers can use to extend the knowledge and understanding of disability and of disabled people that the Netflix film offers.

2. Surface and confront misrepresentation of persons with disabilities. Work to dispel preconceived notionsin literature, media, and society. Stella Young's TED Talk, " I'm Not Your Inspiration, Thank You Very Much," confronts the ideology that those who live with disability are inspiring solely because they have it. (Disclaimer: Contains explicit language.)

3. Utilize books and resources that center individuals with disabilities. Rebekah Gienapp's article " 16 Stereotype-Busting Children's Books Starring Disabled Characters " offers some strong recommendations. When reading these books in class, it's important, however, for teachers to focus on the people living their lives, not the disability.

4. Recognize the lives and contributions of individuals with disabilities. People with disabilities have made contributions to science, the arts, politics, and society as a whole. Tiffiny Carlson's " 10 Majorly Successful People With Disabilities " documents 10 well-known persons across the globe who live with disability. As teachers include more diversity in the curriculum, they should focus on the intersectionality of identity. Race, gender, sexual orientation, ability and disability, and social class are all important contributors to identity and society.

5. Incorporate disability into the historical narrative. A Disability History of the United States, by Kim E. Nielsen, centers the historical experiences of individuals with disabilities from pre-1492 to the present and is a wonderful tool for teachers and curriculum designers. The Zinn Education Project also includes resources to help expand and open the historical narrative. For example, the organization suggests that American history teachers utilize materials from the Disability Rights and Independent Living Movement digital collection at the University of California, Berkeley. The collection includes searchable oral histories and archival papers that are a powerful tool to support historical inquiry and research. The Zinn Education Project also recommends that teachers utilize the virtual timelines from 400 BC to the 20th century created by the Museum of disABILITY History.

Final Thoughts on Changing the Narrative

In her TED Talk " The Danger of a Single Story," Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie addresses the importance of stories and narratives that help people, especially children, to make sense of the world, develop empathy and understanding for others, and construct a multifaceted personal identity. She argues, "Stories matter. Many stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and malign, but stories can also be used to empower and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a people, but stories can also repair that broken dignity.... When we reject the single story, when we realize that there is never a single story about any place, we regain a kind of paradise."

The stories and narratives we tell and use in our classrooms matter. The resources that we use, the people who appear in our curriculum, and the activities we design for students reveal and promote society's beliefs about identity, diversity, and power. Moreover, they develop or limit potential and belonging within that society. Teachers and curriculum designers must, therefore, review instructional materials and incorporate resources and lessons that include individuals with disabilities.

A more accurate, representative, and inclusive curriculum will support student belonging and the development of a healthy school community-and, ultimately, it will promote a more just, democratic, pluralistic, and egalitarian society.

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Setting Up a Disability-Inclusive Curriculum

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Six strategies for making people with disabilities a part of your students' diverse learning experiences.

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ACTIVITY CHOICE: Planning for YOUR Student

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ACTIVITY CHOICE: Planning for YOUR Student

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Review the considerations questions for planning inclusion and supporting independence, then answer each question with one, specific student with a disability in mind. Use the questions to plan ways that you can work to increase inclusion and participation for that student.

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Inclusion Conversation Starter 6.2.22 (1)

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Developing a Plan for Fading Close Adult Support

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Inclusion for Parents Quick Tips Handout

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(Spanish) Neighborhood inclusion tips for parents 2016

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(Spanish) Inclusion for Parents Quick Tips Handout

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ACTIVITY CHOICE: Recommended Literature List

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ACTIVITY CHOICE: Recommended Literature List

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Create your own recommended book list of literature that supports belonging for students with disabilities to share with colleagues.  Use the considerations list (and/or other checklists in the "literature" column of this padlet) to select choices and/or the checklist in that column to evaluate any books you might want to add to the list from your own collections.

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Using lit to teach friendship skills 2011.doc

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ACTIVITY CHOICE: Making Relationships a Priority

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ACTIVITY CHOICE: Making Relationships a Priority

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Read the article that describes ideas for making peer relationships a priority at your school, then outline one activity you personally will engage in to accomplish this at your school.