Twitter Love

You've heard about Twitter but still wonder, "What's the point? Why do I care what others are doing?"

This Twitter Love Song explains the point better than I ever could. Twitter provides instant access to the collective wisdom of my professional learning network. I never leave home without it.



Thanks to Angela Maiers, a member of my PLN for sharing this Youtube video. Her post shares additional Twitter resources that you may want to explore.

Successful Inclusion: Not Just an Illusion

It's not often you come across a teacher like Lisa Parisi. Lisa co-teaches in an inclusion classroom where there is no distinction between regular education and special education kids. Kids are valued without labels. And success happens here.

Lisa's most recent blog post, "A Perfect Storm?" details what successful co-teaching in an inclusive classroom looks like. There are four components:

1. A shared philosophy
2. Universal Design for Learning embedded throughout the curriculum
3. Project Based Learning
4. A belief that children work better in small groups

Additional factors that promote success:

We both work very hard to make our classroom engaging, fun, and supportive. We spend a great deal of time teaching the children acceptance and respect for each other.

We both are capable of showing our students that we are learners, too, and as such, have our own struggles to overcome.

We both believe in telling children the truth. We want them to understand their struggles so they can compensate. And so they can understand that others might also have the same struggles.

Read the rest of her post and think about how this model could be duplicated in your schools. I am so grateful that Lisa is part of my PLN as I have learned a great deal from her. In fact, without social networking tools, I'm not sure I would ever know about her work. Add her blog to your RSS so that you, too, can learn from her successes.

When Your Students Love Stories but Hate Reading

Struggling readers miss out on a great deal.

They miss out on opportunities to:

1. Imagine
2. Increase their vocabulary
3. Explore new worlds
4. Expand their knowledge
6. Develop a love for reading

That's a lot to give up. And research suggests that students who miss out on reading are adversely impacted across all curriculum areas.

Enter Story Nory, free audio stories for kids, captivatingly read by Natasha. Every week a new story is added, available at the website. From the site:

Listening to audio stories helps develop attention and imagination. It stimulates a love of words and books. But above all, it's superb form of entertainment.

The quality is excellent, engaging and enchanting.

Add it to your iGoogle home page, subscribe using your typical reader. Or, go to the iTunes store, click Podcasts > Kids and Family > Story Nory and then click subscribe so you never miss a new addition. Check it out. Your kids will thank you.

"I Just Want to be Treated Like Everybody Else"

Those words were spoken in a television special which aired last night, "Front of the Class," based upon the life of Brad Cohen, a gifted teacher who endured 24 rejections before someone finally hired him. The movie is based upon his book, Front of the Class: How Tourette Syndrome Made Me the Teacher I Never Had.

Brad uttered that simple plea at a school assembly when he was 12 after being called to the stage by the first compassionate educator he encountered, the principal of his school. Prior to that, for years he was ridiculed, humiliated and repeatedly sent to the office for his uncontrollable, involuntary tics and verbal outbursts which his teachers believed were attempts to get attention or be the class clown. Finally, due to the persistence of his mother, he was diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome but that didn't solve his problems. The event that altered his life was when he was called up to the stage following a school band performance by his principal who wanted to educate his students and faculty, to change ignorance to knowledge. It was as this time, after explaining about TS, that Brad said, "I just want to be treated like everyone else."

Those words so resonate with me. Some students in our classrooms have obvious disabilities; others have hidden disabilities. Some have cognitive disabilities; others have severe physical and language disabilities. What unites all our students is that they just want to be treated like everyone else. The message of Understanding Disabilities, a volunteer program in my community that serves to educate 3rd and 4th graders about differing abilities is, "we are all the same on the inside." Do you think that is true? Does your work in the classroom communicate value to all your students?

This week, as you work with your students, remember these two points: your students are all the same on the inside and they want to be treated like everyone else no matter their abilities, strengths and challenges.