LeadCast BlogMay16
May2
I believe the key to activating the lives of students with disabilities is not about changing who they are; rather, it is in changing how we listen to them. So let’s begin with a short listening exercise. If you are at our near a kitchen, perform the following steps before reading the blog. If not, feel free to skip ahead. An Exercise in Listening: 5 steps in 15 minutes. Apr18As the Director of the Equity Alliance at ASU, JoEtta designs and delivers individualized, comprehensive, and systemic support for school districts in the form of leadership training, collaboration, coaching and capacity building. With a blend of humor, sensitivity, and professional insight, she uses her passion and first-hand experience to help individuals develop and use an equity lens for decision-making related to student achievement. A talented speaker and workshop leader, she has worked with school systems across the United States in addressing issues of equity.
Dear School District, Sending my daughter off to school for the first time will be a bittersweet experience. I should be good at this by now, right? I’ve seen her off to kindergarten, middle school, high school – heck, I’ve even had the opportunity to walk her to her first class when she started her studies at the university. Each time she started school she came home more intelligent, spirited, and slightly saucier. And yet, sending her off to work in your district as a teacher leaves me compelled to share a few things with you. I want you to know who she is and understand the kind of teacher she wants to be. Apr9
Sometimes as soon as I step foot in a school, I can tell of its commitment, or lack of commitment, to affirming the diversity of their students. Some things are obvious, of course: posters, bulletin boards, the nature of the books in the library, the diversity of the staff, and the language or languages displayed in the school – not only whether the home language or languages of your students are visible, but also the tone of signs in the building such as “Visitors must go to Principal’s Office,” versus “Welcome to our school! Please stop by the Principal’s Office to let us know you’re here.” Other things are less obvious: whether there is a consistent and committed outreach to all families; the curriculum and how it actually unfolds in the classroom; and whether or not students’ identities are truly accepted and honored. Mar21
My daughter Camila is back at school after a two week break. Last night while I was making dinner, I noticed her engrossed in homework, and she even seemed to be smiling. In order to understand why this struck me as suspicious you need to understand our history with homework. For the past year, I have become very hands-off with it. Yes, I know. This is an appalling thing for an educator to say, but you need to understand that homework was destroying my relationship with my daughter. I used to think, a thirty minute homework assignment? Piece of cake! After all, when I taught, I had teenage boys reading poetry like kittens lapping milk out of the palm of my hand. I could handle my nine-year old and her reading homework. Everything would start off picture-perfect. Camila would sit at the dining room table armed with her unzipped Eastpack, library books with shiny plastic covers, yellow Ticonderogas with their pointy graphite and clean pink erasers poised for action, and a black and white composition book open and waiting for her tiny hands…but things would quickly turn sour. The dining room table, with all of its shiny homework tools, would become a war zone. Read more Mar7
I stumbled upon an amazing opportunity a few months ago. One that I’m sure many teachers wish would present itself at some point after their career in the classroom is over. I was sitting in the waiting room of my doctor’s office when a young woman approached me slowly and said, “Excuse me, but is your name Ms. M?” I was startled at first, mainly because in my current position at the Equity Alliance, Ms. M isn’t typically how I’m addressed. As soon as I made eye contact with this young woman, I recognized the fifth grader in her. Granted, she looked very different, but her eyes were the same. I responded, “Yes, I’m Ms. M. Oh my goodness. I’m so sorry, but I can’t remember your name. I know it starts with a C!” (I also remembered that she was a fantastic writer. Those of you who are teachers may be familiar with the strange phenomenon where you remember weird bits of detail about past students.) She smiled and reminded me that her name is Carolynn. Carolynn had been a student in my fifth grade classroom in 2001 (a more significant detail that I’ll share later.) We talked a few more minutes and exchanged phone numbers, as well as a promise of getting together for coffee in the next few weeks. Later, I marveled at the fact that 1) I remembered her, 2) SHE remembered ME, and 3) perhaps most importantly, I’d get the opportunity to sit with a former student and talk about her life then and now. This conversation solidified for me what being “culturally responsive” is all about. Read more Feb22
Feb9![]() Kori Hamilton is a writer and editor for the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY). She has a love and passion for children, particularly those typically marginalized. Her desire to improve the experiences that children have in school led her to pursue her doctorate in Education Leadership and Policy Studies at Arizona State University. Her hope is that her work in education has meaning and directly touches the lives of children. Working as a secondary teacher in South Central Los Angeles brought some of the best times in my life. I gained a perspective from students that dispelled my assumptions about their thoughts and feelings. I remember when I first set foot on the middle school campus, fresh out of college and excited to begin my work in the classroom, I encountered a question that I had not anticipated. At least one student would ask daily for the first week, “Are you our real teacher?” I would answer their question with a question. “Whose name do you see written on your schedule?” “Hamilton”, they would respond. “I am Hamilton. And yes, I am your real teacher.” Read more Jan23
To include or not to include? That is the question every parent has to struggle with as his or her child progresses through the school; issues related to placement options for students with disabilities are challenging. This question is a complex one for parents, teachers, administrators, and even students to answer, as grade point averages become more and more important for college admissions or future career options. Therefore, what is the least restrictive environment for all students? That is a question that becomes even more complex as students enter middle and high school. As an educator and a parent of a student with a disability, I (Lisa Dieker) can share that our family has had these same struggles. Compound the parent role with what both of us (Lisa and Selma) know about secondary schools and we will share some of the reasons the struggle at the secondary level exists. Many parents struggle with the right balance between their child participating in inclusive settings and closing gaps that might still exist for students as they progress in grade level. In addition, parents must consider a range of service delivery options when GPAs count and there are few instances of general and special educators teaching together. Not only are students transforming intellectually, emotionally, sexually, and socially, but teachers’ identities seem to change from foregrounding children to foregrounding discipline knowledge. In this blog, we share what we have seen that works for secondary schools that develop successful inclusive education contexts. Read more Jan5
I arrived at work in a harried state and frame of mind. I have so much work to do today and a ton of IEP meetings, these words ran through my head as I unlocked the classroom door and instinctively turned on the lights and walked to my desk and retrieved my phone messages. I put my book bag on the floor next to my desk, and checked my emails, one-by-one, quickly glancing at the clock on the wall. 8:45. I sighed, and mumbled come on to the computer as I waited impatiently for all ten pages of my IEP documents to print from my printer. I just had enough time to grab the student’s file and all other paperwork that goes into a student’s file that is going to receive special education services. Read more
|
|