Tips for looking and sounding competent and professional from home I get it! You’re not going to go all out for each of the 5,342 Zoom meetings you’re invited to each week during quarantine. If you’re meeting with a bunch of colleagues for a regular check in, then fine! Throw on some sweats and try to hide the fact that you’re simultaneously watching Netflix —but there are certain meetings (like IEP meetings) where messy hair and an oversized sweater is just not going to cut it.
If you are one of the leaders or key participants in a virtual meeting, it is important that you look and sound professional and confident from home! Here are some tips for making that happen! DRESS UP ON TOP It sounds simple, but based on the number of individuals who flat-out ignore this step, I felt it was well worth mentioning. It’s not hard at all to instantly communicate your effectiveness as a leader simply by decorating the upper half of your body. Do something with your hair. Wash your face. Put on a nice top. And then: BOOM! We have a great foundation to build on! PLAN APPROPRIATELY ON THE BOTTOM For most meetings, you don’t even have to dress your bottom half! You could literally wear nothing down there and no one would know! HOWEVER, make sure to plan ahead. If you’ll do any standing, shifting, reaching, etc., you should plan accordingly. The last thing you want to do is flash your stuff to a virtual room full of professionals, colleagues, and families. EYE LEVEL CAMERA ANGLE Setting your lap top directly on the table will result in an upward camera angle that makes you look older, heavier, less professional, and, whether it’s true or not, it really can create the perception that you may be incompetent. Instead of setting your computer directly on a table top, set in on a stack of books or some sort of risen platform to create an eye level angle that screams “I know what I’m doing!”, and “I’ve effortlessly adapted to stay-at-home orders because I’m a G!” GOOD LIGHTING Of course not everyone is going to invest in professional lighting for at-home video meetings, BUT that does NOT mean that you can’t find good lighting in your home! You can sit facing a big window, or set a lamp behind your computer. Whatever you decide to do, make sure that the light is coming directly at your face for a clean, professional look. If light is coming from behind you, you will become a dark shadow on camera. Light coming from above can cause you to look old and saggy! I know…terrifying, right? So take the extra steps to find good lighting! GOOD SOUND Sound is as important, or maybe even more important than lighting! If you’re in a noisy room, if your voice isn’t loud enough, or if the sound is cutting in and out, no one will take you seriously. I know I wouldn’t! Make sure your are in a quiet space. If you are relying on your computer’s microphone, make sure that you sit closer to the computer in order to be closer to the mic. You may also want to invest in headphones with a good quality built-in microphone! These could help improve your sound quality, PLUS you can also use them for hands-free phone calls and listening to your favorite music or videos! CHOOSE A SIMPLE BACKGROUND Another simple tip to elevate your look is to make sure that your background is simple, clean, and easy on the eyes. If there are piles of clutter and animals moving around in your video frame, this will take away from your overall message and it will make you seem unprepared and disheveled. SIT UP STRAIGHT In the short time we have been working from home, I have seen people in video meetings lounging on couches, lying on floors, and even resting their heads on large dogs. Doing things like this can definitely make people think differently of you and they might even lose some respect for you. Posture is a great way to show that you take your job seriously. You have the rest of the day to slouch around, so make sure that you demonstrate your leadership through your body language while leading virtual meetings! TALK TO THE CAMERA While it may feel unnatural, this tip is especially important if you are “presenting” information during a meeting. Our natural instinct is to look at the faces on the screen during a video chat, but looking directly at the camera lens will make your presentation more personal, giving participants the feeling that you are addressing them directly. TEST THE TECHNOLOGY BEFOREHAND What is worse than suddenly having to learn to use a brand new online platform? I’ll tell you what’s worse! Learning to use that platform live in front of your colleagues, staff, and whoever else joins the meeting! If it’s your fist time hosting a virtual meeting on a specific platform, play with the technology a few days beforehand. Even if you’ve been a participant on the platform, hosting the meeting can be very different. No one wants to sit around while you scramble to get your life together! GOOD LUCK!! I hope that you stay safe and healthy during this crazy time!
0 Comments
MAKE IT EASY FOR FAMIILES
At this point in the game, it is obvious that parents/guardians are not ready or willing to become full-time teachers! And who could blame them?! These feelings that they have seem to become worse with every additional demand that is placed on them. It seems to me that the best option is to provide families with meaningful work that they can facilitate without seeking additional training. Provide them with simple, easy-to-follow instructions to help them RE-TEACH (not teach) the concepts that you have already been working on in class. If you need ideas, you can check out my FREE Ability Academy Online program guided video lessons and assignments for “Moderate to Severe” Special Education. ASSIGN INDEPENDENT WORK In Special Education, we are limited in this area, and many teachers will struggle to find ANY work that students are able to complete independently. So the idea here is to STRIVE for an “as independent as possible” level. Because, again, parents are not trained to understand teaching methods or prompting hierarchies. Even if a few super dedicated families are willing to learn more, a majority of families are already overwhelmed by the pandemic. While you may not be able to send work that students can do all by themselves, try to send work that requires the least amount of involvement from parents / family members. STAY ORGANIZED As teachers, it can be extremely stressful to feel like information is constantly flying at you and you have no time to sit down and figure it all out! The solution to this is to make the time —even if it’s easier to make excuses or to fall into the “sleep less, weigh more” quarantine mentality. Schedule and routine is just as important for us as it is for the students! One of the perks of working from home is that the hoard of students constantly surrounding you, leaving barely any room to breathe is no longer standing between you and your to-do list. If you can muster up the self-discipline and determination to get yourself on a schedule, you can use some of the "me" time to plan your lessons, assignments, IEP meetings, and district-required paperwork in advance! This way, you won’t be thrown off by the 5,000,000 daily emails, or the never-ending zoom meetings! LIVE IN A GUILT-FREE ZONE No one was ready for this. Most of us have never even thought about online teaching. So don’t allow yourself to feel guilty if you aren’t as phenomenal as you’d like to be at the moment. This pandemic will pass. And if it doesn’t, then you’ll adjust. But knowing this doesn't automatically make it easier. Maybe you had big, high-tech ideas that didn’t quite work out! Maybe you feel isolated and unsupported because your district has ignored Special Education entirely (not uncommon). Maybe other teachers at your school are thriving while you are struggling! There are so many situations that could play a role in your overall mood and outlook. But most of these circumstances will exist outside of your control. So let it go. Keep your head in the game, do what you can, don’t do what you can’t, and take care of yourself. If you’re doing these things, then you should feel great about your work! The only thing you’re guilty of is being sexy! Taking the "dis" out of disABILITY: LIVE in Santa Clara for Delta College's Delta Kappa Gamma I am honored to be the keynote speaker for the San Joaquin Delta College Delta Kappa Gamma Convention this year! I plan on giving the audience a 40-minute experience that they'll never forget! Thank you to Julie Drysdale for finding me and for allowing me to promote Inclusion and Awareness for people who are "different" at this iconic event!
Summary: 1. Be open-minded! 2. Educate yourself 3. Share the knowledge 4. Anticipate the needs of ALL guests 5. Plan structured Social Activities 6. Do NOT expect perfection! Blog: 1. Be open-minded! People with disABILITIES have been cast aside, hidden, and ignored for SO LONG that most people don’t understand them anymore! It doesn’t feel normal to see someone with Autism or Down Syndrome walking next to you at Walmart, much less at a Holiday Party! But if YOU are in charge of planning ANY party during the winter season, then I assume you are a seasoned host --which means that you have the POWER to lead your guests into a bigger, better, and more inclusive future! But in order to do that, you need to start with an open mind. Because including people with disabilities on your guest list, whether that means inviting your friend’s son who happens to have an Intellectual Disability, or including students with disabilities in your school-wide holiday party, means that you’re going to have to do things a little bit differently, and you’re going to have to expect the unexpected! 2. Educate yourself Depending on your situation, you could make this really personalized or super general. But you SHOULD know a little bit about disability if you are planning an inclusive event. Now, if you’re planning for ONE person (i.e., your friend’s son with ID), then you could easily ask your friend to tell you more about his/her son. What does he like? What are some of his challenges? Is there anything that YOU can prepare beforehand that might help him feel comfortable and safe? If you’re planning for a bigger group (i.e. students with disabilities on a school campus), you can’t possibly plan for every student’s individual needs, BUT what you can do is ask their case managers for tips and input, and you should also do some research on your own and brush up on your “disability” knowledge. There’s so much on the internet, and A LOT of it’s intense and ugly to look at! SO I suggest googling simple phrases like “What is Intellectual Disability?”, “Down Syndrome symptoms”, “Strategies for Autism”, etc. This will give you super quick and easy information that you could even copy and paste into your event plans! 3. Share the knowledge This can happen in a variety of ways depending on your situation. In some cases, you may want to have a pre-meeting with some of your guests and teach them what you’ve learned about disability so that they feel prepared to support you in being more inclusive. But that’s not always possible or appropriate. You may just decide to have your guests show up and expect that they will all be inclusive without prompting. But even in this scenario, you should be prepared for questions such as, “what the heck is that guy doing?”, “what’s wrong with him?”, or “OMG did you see that weirdo?” And YOU, as the host of an Inclusive extravaganza, should be prepared with a quick and easy spiel that will shut down any hate and help people to understand some of what you have already learned through your research. It can be something as simple as this: “That’s Mr. Stephen. He has some learning differences, but he’s just as great as any of my other guests. I’m so happy to have him at the party. You should say hi to him!.” 4. Anticipate the needs of ALL guests Any good host knows that rule numero uno is accommodating the guests! This is ESPECIALLY true during the winter holidays! And we pretty much know what they want! Good food --lots of it. Good drinks, or ANY drinks, really, --and lots of it. And depending on your group, there might be a whole list of other preferences and expectations. But most people don’t take into account the needs of people with disabilities. This is ESPECIALLY important if you’re hosting a community event! If your event isn’t accessible to people with disabilities, they won’t show up OR they won’t stay long --in other words, you’re EXCLUDING an entire population of awesome people. Here are some of my suggestions for easy blanket accommodations you could plan for that would make your event more inclusive: (1) create a visual agenda so that guests can see what’s going on from start to finish, and they can prepare themselves for each of the events (2) have noise cancelling ear gear on hand for anyone who can’t handle loud music (3) designate a small “calm” space for anyone who might need to step away from the crowds/chaos for a few minutes (4) incorporate a variety of activities, like dancing, karaoke, art, music, contests, games, etc. so that there’s a little something for everyone (5) 5. Plan structured Social Activities Some of your guests may be fine with mingling and chatting around the room, but people with disabilities often struggle in social situations. Creating structured social activities, like games, team activities or pair activities, “speed dating” conversations without the dating, any of the activities that I mentioned in tip number 4, or really anything to get people talking to each other will provide built in support so that anyone who’s not super social doesn’t feel excluded, awkward, or alone at the party! That’s literally my worst nightmare! 6. Do NOT expect perfection! This should be true regardless of how Inclusive your party is --but when it comes to Inclusion, we need to remember that this is new for a lot of people --and it might be new for you as well! So things might happen that may feel wrong or weird or silly or “off” --but YOU need to model acceptance, understanding, and a calm demeanor for your guests. Because it’s true --some disabilities impact a person’s impulse control, their behaviors, their ability to cope with change, fear, anxiety, etc. And they might do things that we aren’t used to seeing. So what do you do if you have a guest with Autism who becomes overstimulated and flips a table? FIRST OF ALL this is an EXTREME and highly UNLIKELY situation, just so you know. BUT, if it WERE to happen, the worst thing you could do would be to freak out, get mad, kick him/her out, etc. Because then you are sending the message to ALL of your guests that “if you aren’t like us, then you can’t be here”, “People who are different do not belong in public”, and “if you can’t hide your disability, then you need to leave” Also, if this is the son or daughter of a friend or loved one, you are sending them similar messages. “If you can’t control your child, don’t come to my parties”, which is as far away from Inclusion as you can get. We NEED to change the way that we perceive disABILITY, and “weird”, “different”, “uncomfortable” behaviors are the hardest thing for most of us to understand. But many times it’s not something that can be cured or “controlled” --at least not in the way that we see with people who are typically developing. Obviously you won’t be happy about the flipped table, especially if there’s a mess on the ground or expensive items that were broken, but life happens and life goes on. Hakuna Matata. Try to talk to the person if they’re alone. ask them what’s wrong, ask when they need, let them know that they can go to the “calm” space if they need to chillax. If they’re there with a parent or chaperone, let that person know that you’re okay, that they are welcome to de escalate and rejoin the party, and MOST importantly , let them know that they should NOT feel guilty about what happened. Show your guests that you understand. Some of them will judge you and say things behind you back like, “they’re just gonna let him do that?”, “Aren’t they going to kick him out?”, “There should be bigger consequences for this!” TRUST ME! As a SPED teacher, people say that about me pretty much every single day of my life. But I just ignore them. Because they don’t understand. But there will also be guests who see what you do and think “WOW! I would have never thought to handle the situation this way!” and YOU just might inspire them to be more inclusive in their own everyday lives! As a host, you’re a leader. And leaders have the power to change the future. So go on with your bad self! Throw the most inclusive holiday party that anyone has ever seen! Mr. Stephen’s #Top10 for Challenging The Status Quo
While I am still considered “new” in the field of Education by most people, I have built so much in a very short amount of time, and a huge portion of my success has been possible because of my willingness to take risks and to challenge the systems and practices that are currently in place within my field. I get a lot of questions as to how I have been able to accomplish so much in my short career, so I wanted to write something that would be appropriate for any person in any profession who is passionate about creating change! Here are my #TOP10 tips for challenging the Status Quo! Let’s Get it Poppin!
5. Be CREATIVE and ORGANIZED! Any time you’re working to cause any type of change, it is EXTREMELY important to be CREATIVE! But, as mentioned in tip number 2, you also need a plan. Creative people can often lack organization skills. However, if you are using your creativity to cause change, you MUST be organized as well. You can’t just have great ideas, you have to have the ability to bring those ideas to life, and to do so in a way that will be helpful to your cause! 6. Be BRAVE! Doing things in a new can be frowned upon in many situations. But if you believe in what you’re doing and if you are passionately invested, then it is important to be brave as well! You have to take risks and try new things and think outside of the box and, eventually, take a wrecking ball to that damn box! And you have to own your actions! Stand tall. Commit to your cause. Don’t back down! All of the greatest leaders have had to make uncomfortable decisions. You add your name to that list! 7. Be PREPARED for failure! You WILL fail! Oh, how you’ll fail! But, I mean, what do you expect? You’re doing things that have never been done before! For every 100 ideas that you have, maybe 5-10 will actually worth trying. Of every 100 things that you try, maybe 5-10 will be successful. Of every 100 hours that you spend outside of “the box”, there might be 90 hours that you’ll have to count as a loss. It’s what happens anytime you create something new, and it’s definitely something to be prepared for. 8. Be OKAY with failure! While to some it might feel like failure equals wasted time and energy, to the true innovators and visionaries, failure is opportunity for growth. We NEED to be okay with failure in order to achieve greatness! If you are fine with goodness, that’s absolutely okay too! But greatness requires trial and error --emphasis on the error! 9. IGNORE THE HATERS! Take it from me: People will hate you! For no good reason. Even if you do amazing things and cause change and make lives better --they will hate you. They will judge you. They will say that you are a rule-breaker, that you don’t know what you’re doing, that you’re disrespectful, arrogant, mean, unprofessional, etc., etc. And these are just the things that my college professors have said about me! Imagine the rest of the world! You CANNOT let this get to you. You turn the other cheek, power on, stay true to yourself, and do what you think you need to do to make the world a better place! 10. Surround yourself with LOVE! While I definitely have haters, there are SO MANY people who love me and love what I do and believe in my work and my plan and my power. These are the people who I focus on. These are the people who I help and spend time with and invest in. Love is the most powerful force in the entire universe. You should have it. You should share it. You should accept it. You should nurture it, appreciate it, and respect it. Love should not only be what you focus on, but it should also be what drives you. Mr. Stephen’s #Top10: Teaching Through Heartbreak
For some people, romantic relationships come and go with no problem. They stay friends with their exes and move on after a couple of ice-cream nights with friends. I’m not one of those people. I’ve been in love twice, and while both breakups were bad, the second one was FAR worse. I lost all control of my thoughts and emotions. The therapist thought I was crazy (which I might be), and my staff had to witness Mr. Stephen stripped of all power. BUT I’m back, haters! And I’m here to tell you how I STILL ran the best program EVEN at the lowest point of my life. Here’s my #TOP10 tips for teaching through heartbreak! Let’s Get it Poppin’! You can find this #Top10 list on www.MrStephenOfficial.weebly.com 1. Prepare yourself! This is probably everything that most teachers DON’T want to hear --but the key to making it through a rough time at work is not a magical potion; it’s preparation! Setting up your program as a Special Education Teacher is crazy! It’s literally like building a business from the ground up all on your own. SO my advice is to take action when you’re healthy and abled! If you’re a new teacher, then now’s a great time! If you’re not a new teacher, but you’re unhappy with the way things are going for you, it’s NEVER too late to start over. Work late nights for a few months. Figure out what you’re going to teach, how you’re going to teach it, where you’ll get your curriculum, how you’ll set up the classroom to best serve yourself and your students. Those late nights don’t have to last forever. If you use the time wisely, the late nights will set you up for shorter days and less stress in the future. 2. Create easy-to-maintain systems! I tell EVERYONE that the biggest secret to my success is the power of organization and SYSTEMS! There should be a system for everything! A step-by-step way of doing things. Each item should have a place in your classroom. You should create a commonly understood process to follow for each activity. All staff should know the expectations you have for them, and all students should understand the fundamental responsibilities and procedures of the classroom. Curriculum should be well organized and easy to manage, workbooks, homework, IEP data sheets, etc. should all have a place in the room that is accessible to you and to your staff and students. 3. Train your staff! It is one thing for you to know what your systems are, but in the event of a catastrophe (such as heartbreak), you might not be capable of implementing anything on your own! This would definitely NOT be the time to start training your staff. Train your staff to know what you know and to do what you do. It was AMAZING to see what my staff was able to do when I cried uncontrollably at my desk for a month. They knew the systems, and they followed them with confidence. 4. Model expectations! Telling someone what to do or how to do it is one thing --and it’s an important thing! Communication is KEY! However, it’s not enough. If you want to be a good leader, you have to DO what you EXPECT! SHOW your staff what you’d like them to accomplish by accomplishing it yourself in front of them. This will give them a better understanding of what you’d like to happen, and they will respect your willingness to do the work that you ask of them. 5. Build relationships with your STAFF! You are not the boss, you were never the boss, you will never be the boss. It’s the most annoying thing when teachers think they are SO royal. Like, calm down. The moment you feel that you are ABOVE your staff, you will burn the MOST important bridges and you might never be able to rebuild them. NO ONE is more important than your Paraprofessionals/Class Aides. Many teachers LOVE to kiss the butts of the “higher-ups” or even the other teachers, which only makes them seem pathetic, but the people you should be nice to are the people in your classroom, on your team. These are the people who will be there on the mornings when you are barely holding yourself together, who will cover for you when you can’t stand up to teach, who will make sure you eat something in the middle of your crying spells. They are the people who will operate your machine when you are unable to do so. TREAT THEM WELL! 6. Acknowledge the problem! A closed mouth doesn’t get fed, guys! You have to be strong enough to acknowledge that you have a problem! And if you’ve followed steps 1-5, you should have no problem setting your team up for continued success while you deal with your inner demons. 7. Be strong when possible! You definitely can’t show up to work and do absolutely nothing. I mean, one to five days of this is okay, but any more than that is just irresponsible. If you’re that broken, you should take a leave of absence. If you choose to be at work you should pick your battles, delegate tasks, and be as present as you can possibly be throughout the day. 8. It’s okay to be weak! There will definitely be moments of weakness! But trust me, there are less and less as time goes on. It does get better! Don’t over-do it trying to act strong. A hero knows when to back down and regroup. Allow yourself to fall apart if you need to. Self-care is SO MUCH more important than an IEP or a math activity. 9. Keep your priorities straight! Spend time each day making priority lists. Things that you NEED to do regardless of whether or not you’re okay on the inside can be done during your strong moments, and everything else can be done if you get around to it. This will ensure that you are not falling behind on anything that is essential. 10. Do NOT feel bad about what you’re going through! You can’t let yourself feel bad. You are a human being. Teaching is about doing what you love and helping others, but you can’t love what you do or help anyone if you are ashamed to love or help yourself. Teaching is a HARD job --especially if you’re in Special Education! Winter break is around the corner, and many first-year teachers are thinking, “how the %$!@ do I still have 5 months left of this!? . Here’s my #TOP10 tips for making it through year 1! Let’s Get it Poppin’! You can find this #Top10 list on www.MrStephenOfficial.weebly.c
SO OFTEN we see Special Education Programs in the high school setting that could be easily mistaken as elementary school classrooms! Not only can this be offensive and/or embarrassing to many of the teens who have to deal with it each day --but it is also restrictive on so many levels!
Teens with disabilities are TEENS who will soon become ADULTS!. Here are my #TOP10 tips for Age Appropriate Teaching for teens with disabilities! Let’s Get it Poppin’! You can find this #Top10 list on www.MrStephenOfficial.weebly.co 1. Functional Skills versus Child’s Play: Obviously, students with learning differences don’t learn at a “typical” pace. It is our responsibility as teachers, parents, friends and peers to support these students in gaining the skills that will be most meaningful to them in the future. Quite often, we determine that teenagers with learning differences should work on functional skills that will allow them to achieve key goals in the future, such as finding a job, and living and traveling independently. These skills often include reading time, counting and using bills and coins, communicating wants and needs, using a calendar, etc. Many of these skills are often thought of as “elementary” skills or, as some refer to it, “baby work”. While it is necessary to prepare students for independence as adults, we must do this in a way that also preserves their dignity in the eyes of the general public. 2. Remove ALL teddy bears and toddlers! It is no secret that Special Education teachers are not provided with curriculum in many districts across America, which means that it is up to each individual teacher to design a program tailored to the needs of the students in that program, and to then FIND or CREATE curriculum to support their learning and growth. If you are a high school teacher who is EITHER finding OR creating worksheets, assignments and projects for your students, make sure that the work does not LOOK like work that was designed for children. Many of the “telling time”, “basic math”, “sentence writing”, and “calendar” materials online were designed for students who are much younger than the teenagers in a high school or adult program. They are often decorated with images of cute cartoons and young children. If you decide to use any of these materials, do the best you can to hide anything that might give other people (or the students themselves) the impression that these teenagers are still children. 3. Utilize your psychic ability. In my PERSONAL opinion, one of the MOST important things that we should be thinking about in terms of our children who are more impacted by their disabilities is THE FUTURE! It is SO majorly important to acknowledge that, while students without disabilities can follow a uniform plan for success in the future, students who have learning differences truly do need individualized goals, plans and support. Whether the student is in a Special Education classroom or an Inclusion program, there needs to be someone on his or her team who can look into this person’s future to (1) see the potential, and (2) find ways to prepare this person to reach their full potential and become as independent as possible as an adult. 4. Different is NOT so different, after all! For most of us, high school was all about making connections with peers, knowing what was “in”, and figuring out what we wanted our lives to be like as adults. There is no reason to believe that students with disabilities do not want the same thing. This may not look, sound or feel the same way that it does for typically developing students, but we need to assume that, in their own way, they can and should be doing all three of these things. We can help students to make connections with peers by incorporating things like pop culture, world news and social media into our teaching, thus providing them with access to what is “in” as well as preparing them for the future by promoting knowledge acquisition, the use of technology and content comprehension. We, as typically developing people, were able to do most things almost independently as teenagers, but the same is not true for all people! It is up to us, many times, to help students who are “different” to achieve a true and age-appropriate “teen” experience. 5. Sex, sex, sex, sex, sex!!!!! Don’t you remember being a teenager/young adult --when you could barely control your mind from drifting into fantasy land anytime you saw that one kid who sat two seats in front of you during math class? Or the PE teacher with the tight shorts? For many of us, this resulted in a quick trip to the bathroom stall, or a LONG day followed by a power walk home, right before locking ourselves up in private to do that thing we learned from television, magazines, books or peers. We knew better, though, than to do it in public! For many of us, it is still hard to even say the word “masturbation” in our 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond! Students who are greatly impacted by their disabilities don’t understand TV, print or peers in the same way that many of us did. IMAGINE THIS: what would YOUR life have been like if you had to look at that kid in math class and/or the hot teacher --but you didn’t know how to masturbate?!! I would literally die! WHAT ABOUT THIS: how would your peers have treated you if they caught you touching yourself at school? I’m sure they’d be super understanding, right? OR THIS: what do you think you would have done if you were horny “AF” (as the kids say) with no way to relieve yourself, and a teacher, uncle, aunt, older cousin, or some creep off of the street came and used his/her hands to show you a magical way to make it better?! Would you protest? Would you tell? What if you could not communicate verbally and you couldn’t tell someone even if you wanted to? TEACH SEX ED TO TEENS AND ADULTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS! They should know who should and should not touch them and where they should and should not be touched! They should know how and WHERE to masturbate! MOST IMPORTANTLY, they should NOT feel dirty or “bad” for having these feelings! 6. Social Media as a tool for learning: Social media is the FUTURE! It’s where most people these days build and maintain connections with others, promote projects, read the news, etc. Social media is also a hot topic for conversation amongst teens and young adults. When I incorporate social media into my lessons, I let my students know that I am not telling them to go home and create an account, but that I want them to, at the very least, understand what it is if they ever find themselves in a social conversation around the topic. In my classroom, we define social media as “websites to share words and pictures with friends”. This definition is simple enough that we can break it down piece by piece to ensure understanding at a very basic level, but broad enough that we can expand with limitless boundaries. I create writing worksheets that are designed to mimic the social media format and this allows students to practice the type of writing that many of them will be doing in the future. ANOTHER REASON TO TEACH SOCIAL MEDIA is this: Many students with special needs will eventually have the skills to create profiles on their own, or to convince friends to help them to do this --providing them limitless access to the “www”, and a platform to be as tame or CRAZY as they want to be! WE have to teach them what is socially appropriate in terms of in-person behavior --but ALSO ONLINE! It’s easy for ANYONE to be taken advantage of on the internet. 7. Train your staff --they are the backbone of your operation! As usual, I’m going to stress the importance of training and RESPECTING your staff! It seems like the #1 thing that Special Education teachers LOVE to complain about is their staff! GUYS: STOP!...literally! Paraprofessionals in California are paid PENNIES to do the work that they do! They receive zero training other than the training that YOU give them, as a Special Education teacher (if you’re not a Special Education teacher, forgive my rant)! Be understanding of this! Most of the time, paras are willing to do what they need to do, but if you’re not going to explicitly state your expectations, and if you’re not going to enforce anything --why would they be motivated to react? As long as your staff feels unappreciated and free to slack off, they will slack off! Help them to understand why all of this is so important! Help them to see why these teens should not be holding hands with adults through campus (unless it’s necessary), reading “Sesame Street” books in front of their General Education peers, or ignoring their sexual frustration. And guess what! They may not remember after the first, second or third time that you tell them! Remember: we have gone to school for YEARS to do this and some of us are STILL struggling to do the job well! Think of paras in the same way that you think of Britney Spears! They’re singing to you! Do you hear it? “Show me how you want it to be! Tell me, baby, ‘cause I need to know now!” So give them a sign and hit them with it one more time! 8. Engage with the General Education population! Whether you’re a Special Day Class teacher or a Resource/Inclusion teacher, you NEED to engage with the General Education teachers AND students if you want to get anywhere in this game! YOU are the face! YOU are the voice! YOU need to be SO cool that people want to be around you, because this will obviously lead to people engaging with your squad and realizing that they are ALSO cool! 9. SUPPORT your GenEd teachers! DO NOT SEND YOUR STUDENTS INTO GENERAL EDUCATION WITHOUT SUPPORT! This is LITERALLY what gives Special Education a bad name! Make connections with the Gen Ed Teachers so that they know they are supported by you! If they feel like they don’t know what to do with your shared students, they will likely do nothing and/or become angry and resentful towards you. If you’re nowhere to be found, then this anger will be taken out on the student and NOT on you. So get your life together, read some self-help organization books and do what you need to do! 10. Monkey see, monkey do! Modeling is SO powerful! If you are doing what you should be doing, and modeling the behaviors that you want to see in paraprofessionals, teachers, and students with and without disabilities, I GUARANTEE that you will see a shift in attitude in the people around you! To do this successfully, though, you TRULY need to be PRESENT. NO sitting behind your desk all day long! NO obsessing over emails or IEPs unless it’s during your prep period. Actively engage with and respect all people, and you will be respected. Be the change that you want to see in the world! It’s simple. I’m not a rocket scientist. Thanks so much for reading! For more information, feel free to contact me online! [email protected] Twitter.com/RemoveTheDis Facebook.com/RemoveTheDis I am so excited and honored to be San Francisco Unified School District's Phenomenal Special Education Teacher of October 2016! Two very special people helped to produce the write-up in the SFUSD Special Education Newsletter! The Lowell High School Speech and Language Pathologist, Astrid Miliffe, and the School Psychologist, Tracy Joseph, are both far more phenomenal than I will ever be! Our school would not survive a day without them! They are constantly moving, picking up everyone's slack, defusing situations, supporting teachers AND students --and then they have to find time to do the jobs that they actually signed on to do! We are so lucky to have the both of them guiding and supporting us through every situation that we encounter and I will never forget what each of them have contributed to my life, both professionally and personally! Feeling extra Kardashian right now! This is the equivalent of Kourtney being on the cover of Cosmo! Now it's time to get that Vogue status! GUYS! After the success of my first Top 10 list, I've decided to create a series called, "Mr. Stephen's #Top10"! Check out my #Top10 Tips for balancing work and play during the summer break! ALSO, I will be a GUEST BLOGGER for one of the MOST INFLUENTIAL FAMILIES IN THE WORLD OF "DISABILITY"! Stay tuned for more exciting info! Here are the tips for mobile users!
Summer seems like a huge chunk of time for teachers right around the end of the school year ...but in reality, it flies by WAY FASTER than we expect it to! DON’T WORRY! You can totally have fun while still preparing for Fall! Here’s my #TOP10 tips for Summer Planning! Let’s Get it Poppin’! 1. PLAN YOUR SUMMER IN THE SPRING! I always say that it’s important for anyone to plan ahead, but this is ESPECIALLY true if you’re a teacher! Life is kind of crazy during the school year and we are constantly having to make plans not just for today, but for tomorrow and next week and next month and next year! SUMMER BREAK IS NO DIFFERENT! If you want to come back to your classroom in the Fall with a stress-free feeling in your heart, you need to set yo’self up REAL GOOD, MOMMA! It is your break, but don’t let it be your BREAK (literally)! 2. GIVE YOURSELF SOME LIGHT-WEIGHT GOALS. What I’m NOT saying? I’m NOT saying you should waste away working all summer long! Have a seat, decide what your highest planning priorities are for the summer break, and write them down. Pretty easy, right? And THIS is actually the hard part (other than actually sitting down to do the work!) 3. CREATE A CHECKLIST Guys! Imagine a world without checklists! I mean...I literally can’t even! If you’re not a check-lister, my advice is to become one! I honestly feel like I could do anything as long as I have a checklist! Breaking your big goals down into smaller tasks will help you to (1) organize your thoughts and (2) create a visual that will guide you through each process! Plus, you’ll save yourself so much time by having a solid game plan vs. wondering what to do first! 4. SCHEDULE YOUR WORK TIME It’s important to actually schedule times throughout summer break to sit down and work. It might be every other Tuesday from 12-4, or Monday mornings after you’ve cured your Sunday hangover, or 9-5 for 4 days straight as soon as you’re back from Cancun and then bi-weekly after that. If you can look at your calendar and know when work time is and, more importantly, when it’s OVER --you’ll feel better about sitting down to cross tasks off of your checklist! It’s your summer! Make a schedule that works for you! 5. TACKLE THE MOST IMPORTANT ITEMS FIRST! While it’s great to be ambitious, the reality is that you may or may not get to every last item on your to-do list. Do your best to strategically place items in order from most important to least important. This will ensure that IF you don’t accomplish the last few items before summer is over, you won’t stress out as much. I mean, they weren’t top priority anyway! 6. IF IT ISN’T BROKEN, LEAVE IT ALONE. As teachers (especially if you’re a GOOD teacher), we are always thinking about how to improve this, or ways to enhance that! Summer is definitely the time to focus on making improvements to your practice, but you’re not a robot! You need time for you to just be YOU! Focus on making improvements that are more “necessary”. If you have a system that already works for you, leave it alone for the summer. It’ll be waiting for you when you get back and you can tweak as you go from that point on. 7. DON’T WORK OUTSIDE OF YOUR SCHEDULED WORK TIME! I know how easy it is to feel like you’re on a roll and forget that there’s life outside of the parameters of your work desk, but don’t get it twisted! Your summer is ticking on by and it’s important for you to take advantage of the day light, the night light, the afternoon light, and everything in between! Do your best to stick to your scheduled hours so that you don’t miss out on what summer is all about! 8. TRY NOT TO CHECK WORK RELATED MESSAGES -- Even during your scheduled work time! This could totally mess up your flow and get you flying off on some side project that would lead to ZERO checks on your to do list today! NOT what you want! The school district pays you to work for THEM during the school year. During summer, you work for YOU! Don’t let anyone get you caught up in anything that doesn’t directly benefit your practice! 9. DO NOT OVERDO IT If you push yourself beyond your own limits by making a ridiculously ambitious checklist and then taking your laptop with you to Cancun just to stay on track with the work you’ve created for yourself...you’re going to sink. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but when the Fall Semester rolls around and you have bags under your eyes and a bad attitude, you’ll regret not taking the “me” time that you SO deserved! 10. HAVE FUN!!! Listen: who am I to tell you how to have fun?! If you like wine, drink up! If you like the park, fly a kite! If you’re single, download Tinder! Do whatever it is that makes you happy because THIS is the time! We give so much of ourselves to the world for 9 months straight every year, so YES! You should spend a little time setting yourself up for another successful 9 months. But that should not come at the cost of a crazy fun summer filled with memories that will keep you motivated and sane through the next long haul! |
A Note From The Author:Welcome to my blog! Archives
May 2020
Categories |