3 different school leaders told me, “We need coaching, but we can’t hire coaches!”

For more than a decade, I’ve been providing professional development related to inclusive practices in school districts. In partnership with some amazing visionary school leaders, we’ve tried three different approaches:

“If a student has an IEP, the graduation decision is made by the IEP team,” - Jordan Johnson, KSB School Law

I thought I was up to date with the legalities of transition planning, so this was a new dimension for me. Johnson, the keynote presenter at the Nebraska Transition Conference last week, provided clear guidelines, backed up by recent case law. I thought I should pass this along to you.

“You can do what I cannot do. I can do what you cannot do. Together we can do great things.” - Mother Teresa

In the spirit of Mother Teresa, I’m excited to tell you that I’m forming the Joyful Inclusion Action Network!

According to Kelly Clarkson’s song, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” I’ve been pondering whether that’s always true.

Think about what we’ve been through in the last two years, as individuals, as families, as communities. Are we stronger? Are you? For so many of us, this has been a stressful time of loss and uncertainty.

I want to share a simple piece of advice that I wish I had received earlier in my life.

Make memories whenever you can.

Let’s explore how this plays out in your personal life and in the classroom.

It’s LIVE!!! I have given birth!!!

No, I wasn’t pregnant and no, it’s not a human baby.

I’ve given birth to a new website, an embodiment of my life mission. I don’t know any other way to describe the process I’ve been going through -- it’s been a two month gestational period.

and…who’s the author?

You’d think that at this stage of my life I wouldn’t still be learning anything new about stories. I started as an English teacher, after all…. But it seems that everywhere I turn, the universe is expanding my understanding of personal narratives and how they impact lives — your life as a teacher, the lives of your students, and yes, their families.

The title of this blog was the slogan used by disability rights activists in the 1990s who wanted a say in their services.

According to Google, the phrase has its roots way back in European unrest in the 1500s, but America shouted the same message from the rooftops during the American Revolution with “No Taxation Without Representation!”

So it has become an American tradition.

Can I speak openly? I think that the co-teaching structure One Teach / One Support has gotten a bad rap. Recently a school leader told me she didn’t want her teachers to use it during co-teaching. I think that’s a mistake. It’s a powerful instructional approach, but not when it’s confused with One Teach / One Whisper.

What’s the difference? A lot!

Last week, I was excited to be back in a schoolhouse. It was my first chance since February, 2020 – that’s 20 months!

Sure, during that time I’ve talked with many school leaders and Inclusion Coaches with school settings visible in their backgrounds, but that’s not the same thing.

I felt a rush of gratitude to see teachers in motion – freed from their stationary position in front of a camera.

Why was I there?