Shelley Moore: Transforming Inclusive Education

Published on Apr 4, 2016
Shelley Moore, of The University of British Columbia, is one of the Top 25 finalists in SSHRC's 2016 Storytellers challenge.

The annual competition challenges postsecondary students from across the country to demonstrate—in three minutes or 300 words—how SSHRC-funded research is making a difference in the lives of Canadians. The top entries this year address a range of issues—from sustainable technologies and digital inequality, to food security, transgender issues and special-needs education —and highlight how knowledge about the social sciences and humanities helps Canadians understand and improve the world around us. 

Learn more: http://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/storytellers

What is Inclusion?

What is Inclusion?
It's much like the Shore Line, the Ebb & Flow of the Water Crashing in and then goes back again. Much like my emotions when it comes to day-to-day wanting 'inclusion' as you and I all know how basically simple it can be...but it's not. Sometimes the water comes crashing harder and sometimes it's a little 'lapping' at the shore during flat water. I love inclusion and I know what it looks like. Inclusion is natural, as it should be, because it's about people being together. Inclusion is about different people learning together alongside one another. Sometimes the most simplest thing can change so much!! Pick your battles and enjoy the small baby steps. Celebrate the small stuff.

Here's an article written in 2012 on the importance of Inclusion. The big picture is that times HAVE CHANGED!!
http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20120314/ARCHIVES/303149960

INCLUSION is NATURAL

QUALITY INDICATORS OF INCLUSIVE  SCHOOLS
This is from: Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Schools ~ 2006
http://www.ndss.org/PageFiles/115/quality_indicators.pdf


There is some really good information to be taken from this above link to the 2006 pdf document from the Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Schools. Wish it wasn't so hard for our schools to just 'get it right' and stop wasting so much time with our Children's education by NOT doing the right thing when it comes to providing a quality education where INCLUSION is NATURAL! 


Teachers go into to teaching to teach Children ~ All Children! It would be nice if our School Districts and our neighborhood schools would be more open minded with providing real inclusion when it comes to students with unique learning challenges. 


Inclusion is NOT "earned'. To be included into the general population classrooms is for more students then society gives credit for. By including more students with different learning styles and unique learning challenges allows people to be accepted for who they are and the positive things everyone has to contribute in today's classrooms. It allows fellow classmates to form friendships with those that may look, learn and be different than they are. More importantly that our teachers accept the diverse population of students in their classrooms and become the positive role models for all students to follow, by accepting their fellow classmates just the way they are. By encouraging all students to be tolerant of each other and helpful towards those students that need a little extra help by being a Peer Buddy and extending the hand of friendship to students with disabilities.


Inclusion is more of an attitude of a community of diverse students all being taught together, with the help of each other making it work. Inclusion is NOT a classroom and it certainly is NOT a teacher! ~ It is everyone together all the time. It is the entire school campus community, it is a mind-set and an understanding of including everyone all the time. Inclusion is NOT a place, it is NOT only for a certain time, it is NOT a classroom. 


Inclusion is accepting people just as they are. 
INCLUSION is NATURAL...if the attitude is open to it.

Down Syndrome children need 'faster inclusion' - The National

Down Syndrome children need 'faster inclusion' - The National

Great article and time for this to happen everywhere....now!

IXL ~ MATH for left and right brain

IXL ~ Very cool MATH website for all grade levels and all States with standards listed.
I am always looking for ways to help my daughter with her school work. Math she says she loves today because she knows to be a Vet Tech or to work in a hospital she knows she needs to do well in school so she can go to college when she gets older. 
Check this site out! It looks like a great site to get students excited about Math and it keeps a record of how much time spent and what skills were mastered or need more help with.
http://www.ixl.com/

Turnover proves ultimate act of sportsmanship GRINNELL, Kansas

Turnover proves ultimate act of sportsmanship

"Coach said when we were in the huddle, just give him a chance to shoot," said Brown. "So I let him have a shot and he threw it up and he shot it, and he made it."

Letter #7 ....from Ana

What I learned from having Mariah in my class. 


I've learned that just because someone has a disability that doesn't mean that you have to be mean to them. "Treat people how you want to be treated." 


Mariah you are a super friend and fun to hang out with. Even though you have Down syndrome you are still normal and you are a go-getter! 


You have an amazing personality so don't let anyone change that! You are always vibrant and I Love your sense of style!


Best of Wishes: Ana M.

She LIKES doing Math!

This is Mariah doing her 5th Grade Level Math the other day.....she enjoys doing Math today more than ever before!


Now that she is bringing home her 5th Grade Level "Go Math" textbook everyday in her backpack - I am now able to see what she does in Math with her General Ed classmates without Down syndrome.... actual work done while in Math class today. Mariah is now coming home with Math classwork completed! Her classmates are more involved with being positive peer role models helping her do just what they are doing. This is progress in the right direction......finally!! It had been such a struggle to see what she was actually "doing in class". I wanted to see the same as her classmates classwork being done, group presentation work. Her teacher communicates in emails back & forth alot with me, he gives me little updates or snippets of her day, which makes it easy for Mariah & I to have conversations about her day easier. It's a new school year with newly updated IEP goals written in to help support her IEP goals that are now to be INFUSED & INCLUDED INTO HER GENERAL EDUCATION CURRICULUM CLASSWORK.


My daughter is EXCITED to do some of her Math Homework now! This is her 2nd year in the 5th Grade and it is proving to be one of her BEST ACADEMIC YEARS so far!


Mariah is a student with Down syndrome (13 years old) and her desire to do well in school is motivating to her this year, because she knows she needs to well in Math if she wants to one day have a job as a Vet Tech and go to college.


Mariah loves school and all her teachers this year! Her mom is loving all the nice academic progress she sees Mariah doing so far this year!


This little video clip was taken at first without Mariah knowing I was recording her doing her homework, until I asked her if she liked Math...and she said, "yes" ..and it's the way she says yes that is so cute. I asked her if Math was hard for her...she says, "No, it's easy!"  ~ Oh my I love this girl!! ~


It's BASICALLY SIMPLE ~ or as Mariah will say.... "SEE, IT'S EASY!" If you had a whole Apple Pie sitting on the table in front of you, you wouldn't have to eat the entire pie to know that you LIKED Apple Pie and wanted to have more of it! You would know you LIKED it just by eating a slice of that Apple Pie! You would  know you LIKED it and WANTED MORE even with just a BITE of the PIE...even a TINY BITE OF THE PIE! It doesn't take eating the WHOLE PIE to know you LIKE IT & WANT MORE OF IT! ~   Point being, Inclusion is that same way.....providing a SLICE or a TINY BITE OF THE PIE (lessons) is what should be practiced in ALL our Classrooms today. That is what ACCOMODATIONS are all about....it LEVELS THE PLAYING FIELD for ALL Students. 


Mariah has Accomodations, she doesn't have to do pages and pages of Math that some of the other students may have to do....she just needs to do a PORTION....a small portion even. On some days depending the assignment she will do more or less depending on the new concept being taught. 


Today....she LIKES Math!


My daughter is now being provided more of that  Apple Pie (Grade Level Math) which is about her being provided a PORTION of the Pie (Math Lesson). Small bites of (Lesson) what she CAN DO! Let's give students what THEY NEED...in small portions and build from there. 


Mariah ROCKS in doing her Math this year and is actually doing 5th Grade Level Basic ALGEBRA!!


I am soooo PROUD of her!!

Being thoughtfully Included into all Gen. Ed Classes

Having my daughter Included thoughtfully in all General Education Classrooms with a Gen.Ed Teacher teaching her, has not always been easy for everyone to understand what it really 'looks like' or how it is done. 


For me it is about teaching one teacher at a time, one principal at a time. Having my daughter included in a general education classroom has always been important to me since before she was even of age to attend Kindergarten! When it was time for her to attend a "regular classroom" which seems to be the terminology most people use...."a regular class". Yeah...for "regular kids!" My daughter is a regular kiddo and is entitled to be in any class anyone else is allowed. It's basically simple like that! 


Mariah has been attending the same school for over 9 years now! Many of the same teachers are still at this campus, which is a good thing! That means all the teachers are aware of Mariah being a student with Down syndrome on their campus and each year they knew she could possibly be one of the students on their list of students for the year. I know some teachers hold their breath and had their fingers crossed that my daughter would NOT be on their class list. There have also been some really wonderful teachers that have actually asked and wanted to have my daughter in their class. It's those teachers that volunteer and request to have those extra special students included in their General Education Classrooms that I want to praise and THANK~!


Mr. Allagood is one of those teachers that actually had Mariah in his Math Special class a few years ago. I did an observation of him teaching Math Special (which at our school it was an extra dose of Math for all students) with Mariah in his class. The way he teaches and the way he talks to parents is what makes him a great teacher.


I just saw it listed on the outside school sign that Mr. Allagood is our TEACHER OF THE YEAR at Stephen Foster Elementary! I knew he was all along for several years! He is that kind of teacher that really takes an interest in all his students and will freely talk to the parents. He even talks to the parents whose children are not even in his class! That is a sign of teacher that just practices good communication no matter who you are!


Mariah has had some really lovely teachers that have taken on the task of working with Mariah over the years and helping Mariah reach her IEP goals and more. Some teachers had no problem communicating to me in her planner or on her school papers. Then there of course have been some teachers that always seemed to just give the most minimal of communication or actually none and actually seemed too busy to bother with Mariah's mom, and sometimes with Mariah too! Those are the teachers that still need help with the whole inclusion thing and believing in all their students they are given each school year. 


Some of Mariah's teachers that seemed to do inclusion  the best were the ones that were open with me as a partner in my daughters learning and education. These are the teachers that welcomed me to come into their classrooms as a volunteer. These are the teachers that wrote in her planner or emailed me to keep me up-to-date on what she did that day. Having a teacher you can talk with and ask questions to, so you both can help your child is so important to making inclusion work best. It's also what makes education better for all students and parents! 


Mr. Allagood and others have made Mariah's Inclusion in all general education classes what it is today because of the communication & collaboration that has to take place to make it work right. If this piece is missing, then it leaves the parent partner out of the process. If the parent isn't part of the process on a regular basis and is left out, the parent doesn't get the whole picture of how a day of learning or a week of learning or even an entire month's worth of learning went or how they can help on the other end, which is at home. The homework piece struggles and what the child is actually learning while in school the  parent is left to just trust that things are going OK without really knowing what is going on in class each day. 


When classwork isn't brought home or their isn't any homework given...that is a clear indication that not much is happening at school everyday. If my daughter didn't have homework sent home, she still had HOME Schoolwork to do! I created my own for her to do, daily! I became a part-time home school mom...because I had to and because Mariah needed so much help!


My being able to have good communication on a daily, weekly and monthly basis is what has helped me the most in being a full partner in my daugher's inclusive education. I'm sure the teachers and the principal have had their talks about 'this mom's emails & written communication' over the years as there have been many notes & emails back and forth! Thank goodness for being able to BLOG my thoughts now! Now I can share with others what has helped or not helped me with having Mariah thoughtfully included in all General Education classes at her school. 


Mariah is part of the general ed curriculum and is exposed to grade level academics. Is she on grade level work and can she pass the grade level State exams? The answer is yes and no....yes she is able to do some of the grade level work if presented to her in small bites with audio, visual, manipulatives and alternate ways of presenting to her the content. She cognitively is behind what her same age classmates are so easily able to do, but she absolutely does understand if presented to her in a different way or even repeated and worded differently. She gets all the extra supports and accommodations she needs so that it levels the playing field for her. She is ABLE and very much CAPABLE of learning grade level academics...is small bits & pieces. 


Inclusion is not so easy for those teachers that have an outdated mind-set about it, or an attitude that they didn't become a teacher to teacher 'those kinds of students'. It's those teachers that have the most difficult time with Inclusion.....mainly because they don't believe in the Child first of all (because they have a certain type of disability) and they don't believe in Inclusion or know what Inclusion is! It's those teachers that absolutely should have training on how to create an inclusive classroom for all students. Today we have Differential Instruction and the classrooms are now being set up to provide learning for all sorts of 'learners'. Classrooms are now being set up so teachers are able to teach ALL students.


Mariah has made wonderful gains in her education because of being Included into the LRE~Least Restrictive Environment which is a regular classroom. She has made some really nice friends over the years because of being Included in Gen.Ed classes.


I support Inclusion for all students into the General Education classrooms. But it is a learning process to make it happen the right way for our little ones. It's one person at a time you have to help along the way in how to make it work and how to do it right. It includes good communication & collaboration on a regular basis.


Mr. Allagood started out as Mariah's Math Special teacher a few years ago and then last year he was just her Science teacher. Nine weeks into the school year last year, Mariah was switched to be in his class as her full homeroom teacher. She had another teacher that refused to provide any type of communication with me as a partner in my daughters education, no that wasn't good, or fun to deal with at all for me. This is now Mariah's 2nd year with Mr. Allagood being her main homeroom & Science teacher. He is the best at daily communication and letting me know how her day went. He emails me everyday and gives me just a little snippet of what she did in school that day and any accommodations to the lessons. Because of his daily little snippet emails of what she did in school that day...at home I am then able to have conversations with my daughter about school and carry her classroom lessons over at home. Knowing what goes on at school, helps parents at home and gives us peace of mind that our children are being taught and included in the lessons and learning wonderful things everyday! Thank you Mr. Allagood for not being afraid to email me and communicate with me on a daily basis! It has been a dream come true for this mom!


This blog was created with Mr. Allagood in mind and in honor of him as an awesome, fantastic, wonderful, understanding, easy to talk to, flexible, caring and involved teacher that wants and allows parents to be involved partners in education. Mr. Allagood is Teacher of the Year at her school this year for a reason! He is doing something right and other teachers would benefit if they took notes on how he works with his students and their parents! 


THANK YOU Mr. Allagood for being such a great teacher and making Mariah's 5th grade school years the most packed with learning! You will be a hard act to follow for sure!


This BLOG is for you!

Letter #6 ....from Alanah

Dear Mariah, 
What I learned from having you in my class is that just because you're a little bit different doesn't mean you should be treated differently. Even though you have down syndrome you're just like everyone else inside no matter what anyone says or thinks. 


In the beginning of the year I was trying to avoid you but I was wrong and rude and now I realize what a good person you are. 


I wish I could see you next year.


Your Friend,
Alanah G.


Stephen Foster Elementary
Mr. Jeffrery Allagood's 5th Grade Class 2010-2011

Aniah ~ Breaking down STEREOTYPES 4 Kids w/Down syndrome!!! YEAH ANIAH!!!

Aniah ~ Breaking down STEREOTYPES 4 Kids w/Down syndrome!!! YEAH ANIAH!!!

http://childrensdiagnostic.org/2011/10/4-year-old-breaks-down-stereotypes-for-kids-with-down-syndrome/


Aniah is Mariah's 'little sister'!!! 


You go Little Princess....you let the whole world know how it really is today!!


Congratulations Jeannette...it's a beautiful story as you both are!

Letter #5 ....from Patrick

Dear Mariah,
I learned that people with Down syndrome aren't different from us. Don't judge people by what they look like. Also you need to treat people with disabilities nice! I also learned that you need to be friendly to people with Down syndrome. You need to help them with things.


Your friend,
Patrick


5th Grade 2010-2011
Stephen Foster Elementary
Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Letter #2 ....from Edward

Dear Mariah,


What I learned from having Mariah in my class is that she is creative. She is very smart and intelligent. 


She taught me how to be helpful. She taught me that I can help anyone.


I learned from Mariah that anyone can do the same thing as others as long as you try!

Letter #1 from Lissette M.

What I learned from having Mariah in my class was that even though someone is different you treat them the way you want to be treated. 


At first I couldn't quite understand what Mariah was going through. 


Mariah has been such an inspiration to me. I hope in the future I'll see her again. Till then good luck Mariah!


Your Friend,


Lissette M.
June 1st, 2011

New Teacher with a New Attitude!

Once she was settled into her new classroom, her new homeroom teacher, Mr. Allagood started emailing me after school every day letting me know how things went in class that day. I was thrilled that not only did he email letting me know what the class lesson was about, but he let me know how he accommodated the lessons so she "got a piece of the pie." I have always said that inclusion is about allowing for lots of flexibility in lessons and how the presentation is provided in certain ways to particular students. For example, if a delicious apple pie was set out on the table for everyone, do they all have to eat the whole pie to know that they like and want more of that pie? If they were given a slice of the pie and or even ate just a piece of the pie, they would know that they liked it and maybe wanted more....even if someone was given just a smaller bite of the pie, they too would know they liked it and wanted more as well. 

Inclusion is much like that, a student should be given the opportunity to have at least a small bite of the apple pie. Being provided just a small bite of that delicious pie is enough to know you like it, you know it's good and you want more! Classrooms today are not a one-size-fits-all or at least I hope not. It's not about getting all students to eat the whole pie. It's about being given a piece of the pie and trying it! It's about doing the best you can with what you can handle. It is about being offered an opportunity to show that you can do your best, if you are provided the support and positive encouragement. It's about sharing so everyone gets a piece of that wonderful delicious apple pie! Everyone deserves a taste of the pie of knowledge!

Because of Mariah's articulation errors and language delays, she isn't always able to come home and tell me what she did at school. The first couple of emails that Mr. Allagood sent to me was a clear indication that things were now moving in a more positive direction with better collaboration and communication between school & home. He was willing to work with me and accept me as a parent that needed better school-to-home communication. He was able to accept me as an equal partner in educating my daughter. Together we were partners in helping Mariah learn as much as she could this school year.

When your Child has a teacher that refuses to have a simple conversation with you and keeps putting off a parent/teacher conference and you have tried all you can to make things work, when weeks have gone by and it's becoming more and more strained....it is so overdue time to put in for a request for another teacher that will! That was WHY I had put in for an immediate teacher change request. Mariah had originally started the school year out with a teacher that refused to talk to me and wasn't willing to be even a little bit collaborative. If some teachers are not going to even try to have any form of communication or any type of collaboration or provide the simplest back and forth collaboration, then it is obvious that something has to change. Requesting for a different teacher is not something a parent expects to have to do, it's not expected that a teacher will ignore you or put you off, but when it does...don't wait more than a month!  It's not fair to you as a parent of a student and it certainly isn't good for your Child, especially when they may be the only student in that teachers classroom that has a significant learning challenge! NO PARENT should be put off by a teacher when a parent wants to be involved in their Child's education. Parent Involvement is the big buzz word today....so what happens when a teacher doesn't do their part in nurturing a good 'involved parent' partnership? Put in for a request for a new teacher!

Mariah was thrilled to be in a NEW classroom with more of her classmates she had been going to school with since Kindergarten. Some of the students in her new classroom attend the same Girl Scout Troop she does. It was all good once we switched to a new teacher that was willing to include me in my daughters education, by keeping me informed about how and what went on in the classroom. I am an involved parent ~ I want to be able to help my child be successful in school ~ I want to be able to have a good working relationship with my Child's teacher or teachers. The classwork and the homework assignments that started coming home now were more in-tuned with my daughter's abilities and what I had been hoping to see! I was now able to begin to focus on a good school year, instead of being disappointed at how things had been turning out for the first 2 months of her 5th grade school year!

Mr. Allagood was willing to provide a quick written email everyday, he gave me little snippets of her school day and what the lessons were about and how he included Mariah into the lessons and what or how he had her work on things, what student helped her that day. Now that I was getting FEEDBACK coming home from school thru Mr. Allagood's emails everyday, there was absolutely better communication about what she did while in school each day. I was now able to see the big picture of what she was learning at school. The words she would try to say and the conversations we would have while riding in the car to her after-school daily activities & appointments now made better sense to me! Mariah was excited about the things she was learning, she wanted to share with me all the new things that were being talked about in school! She wanted to tell me about the friend that helped her in class that day. She loves school and wants to do well and learn new things and do her best! My daughter has dreams and goals of working in a Vet's office as a Vet Assistant or a Vet Tech. She knows she needs to do good in school....she's motivated to do well in school!

I asked for a set of classroom books to stay at home. To finally have a school text book to follow along with the daily lessons at home certainly made her homework much easier for us figure out and to do. Mariah is a visual learner and was able to take me to the exact pages and show me the pictures of what she worked on that day at school. The homework assignments made much better sense once we had a copy of the textbook at home! Mariah was now able to actually SHOW ME what she did at school. The excited look on her face when she would share with me during our homework session what the class talked about and what she learned that day in school are moments in time I will not forget! Her trying to explain things to me became easier because now we had the schoolbook! Now...we were all on the same page!!

With a quick little email coming into my INBOX everyday with a little snippet of Mariah's school day and how she was included or how the lesson of the day was accommodated for her to get a piece of the pie....made Mariah's 5th grade school year an absolute delight! It was such a simple thing for a teacher to do....to communicate and share with me how my girl did at school. Of course I looked forward to getting my daily email from Mariah's teacher everyday! 


I knew Mr. Allagood was going to be a wonderful teacher match for both Mariah and myself because in the 10 years with both my Children attending this same school, he would always say hello to me, even though neither of my two Children were ever one of his students. Mr. Allagood is a natural and does a fantastic job of being friendly to ALL students and to ALL parents he sees on campus. Mr. Allagood loves being a teacher ~ and it shows!

Thank you Mr. Allagood for all you provided to me as an 'involved parent that wants and needs to be involved' in my daughters education. Your daily "little snippet" emails helped keep me in the loop of what was going on in school everyday. Mariah has told me several times over the summer...."Mr. Allagood taught me that!"

.....THAT IS A SIGN OF A GREAT TEACHER!!

Inclusion....really? Not for THOSE kids!

Inclusion is NOT a place.
Inclusion is NOT a teacher.
Inclusion is NOT a program.
Inclusion is NOT a separate school.
Inclusion is NOT a separate classroom.
Inclusion is NOT done at the back of the class.
Inclusion is NOT a desk off to the side of the class.
There is NOT an inclusion teacher.
There are teachers!


Inclusion IS natural.
Inclusion IS a concept.
Inclusion IS for everyone.
Inclusion IS about tolerance.
Inclusion IS about friendships.
Inclusion IS about acceptance.
Inclusion IS about helping others.
Inclusion IS about being included.
Inclusion IS about belonging to the group.
Inclusion IS about accommodating everyone.


Need I say more?


What IS happening out there in the school system both public and private schools is NOT Inclusion at all but what schools WANT Inclusion to be at their schools. Students are being denied a right to go to class and schools where their neighbors attend. Classrooms are set up with only students receiving Special Education supports & services. Teachers are given several Special Ed students in their classrooms because they are being tagged as the Inclusion teacher and are good teachers with more patience for those students! Many teachers leave the teaching to the Special Ed students Para Professional or Unique Aide that is assigned to their only Special Ed student in their classroom. Special Ed students desks are often times set up in the back of or off to the side of a General Education classroom. Entire classrooms are comprised of all the lowest performing students with or without IEP's. Classrooms are called Intensive Academics or Varying Exceptionalities but are really just another name for a Cluster class. Students are being pulled out of their General Education classrooms to go into a Special Ed room for academic help and to work on their academic IEP goals. Many students are NOT going to graduate and receive a High School Diploma after 12 or more years attending school! Certain disabilities are being denied ever being educated to Federal & State Academic Standards. Students are being put on the Non-Diploma track as young as 5 years old!


Parents are being deceived and lied to. Special Ed students Matrix numbers that provides for the extra funding that is needed to help educate them are being spent on everything and anything else but the supports & services that are needed to help them be successful in school. Special Ed students are being left out of being able to join clubs and extra-curricular activities. After-school programs say they can't provide for the extra care sometimes needed for the Special Ed student, so they are sent off to another school that provides only for Special Needs students, again Clustering them with only with other students with disabilities. Being denied even an INCLUSIVE setting during AFTER SCHOOL time!


Need I say more?


Inclusion is a COMMUNITY! Our community is still prejudist. Most of society still segregates and practices discrimination towards those that are different. Inclusion is NOT happening in our schools still today.....why???  Because it is the norm today still to exclude "THOSE" students, especially certain disabilities and certainly those with Down syndrome because they look different and many times talk funny. Why is there such discrimination towards people with Down syndrome still going on today....it's 2011!!? Unless you know and love someone with Down syndrome, people just don't care! Not all people...because I certainly have come across some really WONDERFUL TEACHERS and STUDENTS that 'get it'........but I certainly have come across several and have helped my share of parents with school issues of just trying to get their Child with Down syndrome into KINDERGARTEN even!


I could insert any disability into my writings and not just single out Down syndrome. My daughter has Down syndrome, many of my daughter's friends have Down syndrome, most of my girlfriends have a son or daughter with Down syndrome. Most schools EXCLUDE people with Down syndrome from their schools and DO NOT WANT THEM TO ATTEND 'their school'...saying they don't have THE PROGRAM FOR THEM!!!...really...the program?...how about you have a classroom and teachers that TEACH!! We (parents) just want you to TEACH OUR Children to READ and do Math and learn to write and all the other stuff any parent wants for their Child when they send them off to school everyday!


Most teachers have never had a student with Down syndrome in their classrooms. Most people think that Down syndrome people are dumb. ....OK the word is RETARDED (yup I said it!...that's the word we are all trying to get everyone to STOP saying all together!!)....most people think our Children CAN'T LEARN!! Most people shy away from being a REAL friend to someone with Down syndrome! *A REAL FRIEND!...outside of school!  Down syndrome is not contagious. Down syndrome is still very much misunderstood. Teachers didn't go to school to teach those kids. Therapists make lots of money off our Children with Down syndrome. Schools bring in LOTS of extra money when they attend their schools, but they don't always provided the very much needed extra support to educate our Children!


Why do I write mostly about Inclusion pertaining to those with Down syndrome ? Because it is needed and is not always happening for an entire population of people that 'look different' and they absolutely  are entitled to the same support into a 'regular classroom'. Our peeps with Down syndrome deserve and need to be included into GENERAL EDUCATION CLASSROOMS across the Nation! Many times and more often students with Down syndrome at schools are being provided less than everyone else when it comes to being educated along side those without a disability. People with Down syndrome are more alike than different than you!


If you are a parent of a person with Down syndrome...please comment and let me know....was INCLUSION provided or easy to get? Was Inclusion really what you thought it was going to be when you found out things may have looked 'good on paper'. Finding out the teacher really didn't and wasn't INCLUDING your son or daughter like you thought they were? During your IEP meetings when discussion of PLACEMENT came up...was it recommend and encouraged that INCLUSION into a regular GENERAL EDUCATION Classroom as the FIRST PLACEMENT OPTION?


Please remember to share my blog with others and become a FOLLOWER!


Have a delightful day!!


Below is a BLOG POST from one of my best friends, Mary Pringle. She has also been fighting the good fight to have her daughter "thoughtfully" INCLUDED! Kaitlyn was successfully INCLUDED all throughout Elementary school. Middle school absolutely had it challenges and curve balls to say the least and now she is going on into High School. I think her recent post deserves to be spotlighted here on my blog! What this well informed parent has to say about what is happening out there for many of us trying to get our Children EDUCATED and ready for the real world of working after High School is what is the TRUTH OF WHAT HAPPENS to most of our Children once they reach High School and certainly what happens when starting into Middle School. Please take the time to read her post and FOLLOW her blog as well! Lots of great stuff pertaining to SPECIAL NEEDS ADOPTION and how things are going for her raising her kiddo's with disabilities and trying to get them EDUCATED via our Public Educational System.
3 2 1 Reality Rocks by Mary Pringle
http://pringleadoptionjourney.blogspot.com/2011/07/action-plan-2012ignite-torch.html

Should I request a teacher change?

When should I request for a different teacher?


I have been in this situation before, knowing that my daughter was in a classroom where the teacher obviously did NOT WANT Mariah in her classroom! It is a weird position to be in as a parent, to know your son or daughter’s teacher doesn't want or like them in their classroom. As parents, we do the best we can to provide our Child with what we can and what we think is best for them but when it comes to who they get as their new teacher...well...we as parents don't really have any say so about it, do we… We trust that ALL teachers will be good to our Children and teach ALL the students they are given in their classrooms with equal opportunity to be successful at that grade level. Who picks which students will go into which teacher’s classroom? How do any of us know if the teacher or teachers our Children get at the beginning of a new school year are going to be good teachers....for our Children? We don't and we just have to trust and accept that all or most are good teachers.


My daughter has been attending school since she was 2 years old and every teacher has always been open to conversations with me and friendly. Every teacher has always spoken to me or written notes that were sent home in her backpack. Right from the start of the new school year, Mariah’s 3rd grade teacher did all she could to not make eye contact with me anytime I was on campus. It was upsetting to me that, gosh darn it...why wouldn't she look at me or engage in any form of friendly conversation? Why would my daughter’s teacher not want to be friendly to me? I did all I could to make sure I smiled at her when I saw her. There was just something about this teacher that made it obvious that she was not going to get to know me or provide me with much communication! …Especially anything pertaining to things I wrote about in my daughter’s daily planner that went back and forth between school and home. Anytime I wrote something, she either didn't respond back or it was the most minimal response back. Nothing more nothing less...she actually responded like she seemed to be annoyed when I wrote in the planner about anything! It almost made me want to write in the planner even more every day, just to see how she responded to my concern or a question I may have had about something. Very frustrating for me just trying to get my daughter’s teacher to work with me! What was up with this teacher?!


Mariah has Down syndrome and the biggest impact of her disability is her fine motor skills especially pertaining to her being able to write words and sentences and her articulation, her ability to speak clearly, how she says her words so others understand what she’s talking about. Mariah couldn’t come home from school and tell me what she did in school like most girls her age could. My daughter's 3rd grade teacher was my first experience dealing with a teacher that didn't provide any collaboration and communication with me about how my little girl was doing in her classroom or what or how she did on classroom assignments. Thank God Mariah had a wonderful Para Professional or some districts call that person a Unique Aide, this person was there to assistant Mariah for everything throughout her entire school day. It seemed at times that this teacher thought maybe she didn’t have to teach or work with my daughter because Mariah did have the support of her own Para. Mariah’s 3rd grade teacher didn’t expect much from my daughter or have high expectations of her abilities. She had a negative attitude towards my daughter and was super stand offish towards me. This teacher never should have been assigned to be my daughter’s teacher or assigned any student with unique learning challenges! I wonder if she was mad that she was assigned the only student with Down syndrome on the school campus. Bet she didn’t volunteer or request to have her either!


The school year progressed and several months went by, almost half of her 3rd grade year had gone by and still this teacher just wasn't providing any communication and/or any collaboration with me. The communication was what it was with this teacher. I can't change the funky personality traits of my daughter’s teachers, but I can put in my request for a teacher change! The first time I did this, was with this 3rd grade teacher. I was nervous about it and I didn't really want to have to do this or pull my daughter from a classroom of peers that were wonderful classmates to her!


Each school year Mariah always seems to have a SPARKLER STUDENT that enjoys and wants to be Mariah’s helper. Any parent of a Child with Special needs would love to make sure their parents knew just how helpful and kind their Child is and how much they are appreciated for being so helpful and kind! Mariah had one particular boy student that was always so helpful with her, at times a little too helpful. Well at least in this classroom she had great classmates that liked her! Mariah’s classmates did for her what this teacher probably should have been doing all along and that was…giving her attention and believing in her! I received more feedback from her little classmates that year than this teacher ever knew possible! I found out how she over looked my daughter many times when Mariah raised her hand to answer questions in class, how she would never call on her. Did this teacher think the other students didn’t see and have feelings for what they themselves saw was going on in her classroom? I found out she only called on the smarter students most of the time….she had her favorites she called on all the time. This teacher did a great job making my little girl feel LEFT OUT and not good enough to be called on in class! I wish I could do a cancel erase and rewind to undo all the damage she did to my daughter's self-esteem that year. A good teacher would have called on my daughter no matter if her speech was unclear or if Mariah had the right or wrong answer! No matter what….this teacher should have been teaching by providing positive praise and including Mariah and some of the other students all along!


I attended the FIELD-DAY and saw with my own eyes how this teacher played favorites and let the same group of students participate in certain Field-Day activities. I saw with my own eyes how this teacher acted so cold and uncaring not only towards my little girl, but towards most of her students. Even though I was the only Volunteer parent that attended from her class, she still refused to make any friendly conversation with me and always avoided any eye contact the entire time I was volunteering that day! How can a teacher totally ignore a Volunteering parent….let alone some of her students day in and day out? She made me fell unimportant...she made me feel rejected. I was there to help and encourage the students! I was there to have fun with the students! I was there to help and be involved in my daughter's education! 


When I saw the same group of ‘favorite students’ being able to participate in the famous on our campus and much anticipated TUG-O-WAR event, I felt in the pit of my stomach how it must have made those ‘excluded students’ feel. I walked over to be in the shade of nearby tree because it was getting to be hotter by the minute outside in the Florida sunshine that morning. I sat down in the shade and looked at the handful of students that I knew didn’t get to participate in the TUG-O-WAR event. I watched all the other classes and the different groups of students getting excited when their teachers called their names to be next to participate. I watched how all the other classes had their handmade Pom-Poms in their class colors using them to cheer on their classmates to pull harder on the rope so their class would win the Tug-O-War. Mariah’s class was different….none of them had any Pom-Poms like the all other classes did; their cheering wasn’t with as much enthusiasm or excitement as the other classes were. When I sat back and observed all this while I was cooling off in the shade, it was obvious this teacher wasn’t the best choice for MY daughter this school year. It hit me hard to see with my own eyes, how this teacher treated all her students on Field-Day. I felt sadness and hurt in the pit of my stomach for some of the kiddo’s in her class, my eyes filled with tears while I was sitting under the shade tree. I ‘felt’ sad for what I know some of her students felt…when they didn’t hear their name called to participate in the TUG-O-WAR or back in the classroom when their hands were raised up high, hoping to be called on and never getting picked to answer.


I thought things were the way they were in this classroom with this particular teacher because my daughter has Down syndrome. Not true, this teacher was set in her ways and her favorite students were her favorites, she just didn’t have it in her to BE FRIENDLY period! My heart broke for ALL the students that didn’t make this teachers “teacher pet” list this year! 


I put in for a teacher change shortly after Field-Day, because I just knew things were not going to get any better than how things were. My request wasn’t well received by my principal especially when I made a suggestion as to which teacher I thought would be a better match for Mariah and her unique learning challenges. I knew of this other teacher that had worked in New York schools and had Special Education background and she was friendly too! To top it off, her students during Field-Day all interacted with one another and were happy and jumping around having fun! My principal suggested another teacher, so I went for an observation into that teacher’s classroom. During that classroom observation the New to our campus Special Ed teacher was also in that classroom working with several of the students. The Gen. Ed teacher was working with small groups of students at the same time the Special Ed teacher was working with a small group for Reading. Students were being rotated between the two reading groups or sitting in their desks doing independent seat work. The students that sat at the table with the Special Ed teacher obviously had to have an IEP to be with her. I counted about 11 students that went to the Special Ed teachers table, which meant that THIS classroom was made up of mostly students receiving Special Ed Services & Support through an IEP.


When there is a classroom of about 18 students and 11 of them have IEP’s that to me is not a typical General Education classroom! Yes they were all typical students but I didn’t see any student with an outward appearance of a significant disability or syndrome like Down syndrome or Prader-Willi syndrome or CP. Were they struggling readers with a Specific Learning Disability or ADD/HD, yes I’m sure they were. Would this have been a good classroom for my daughter to be transferred into, several months into the school year? Maybe...and absolutely yes she would have benefitted from the Special Ed teacher that came into this classroom using the Wilson Phonics program as reading support.


I had to weigh what was going to be best for Mariah. Would it disrupt her too much by pulling her out of a classroom where her classmates accepted her and helped her and they wanted to be her helper? She spent more time on the computer that year while in this class, which was a good thing to some degree. Mariah is computer savvy and enjoys learning and being on the computer. I liked all the DATA that I was able to view from the computer program she was using. It was very apparent my daughter got most of her quality academic learning in her 3rd grade year via the computer program; Compass Learning Odyssey program. Her Para Professional would get Mariah set up to work on the computer and her teacher would just allow Mariah to be on the Odyssey program sometimes for hours in a day! I have the data and the times to show this! Mariah enjoys this web base computer program and does well with it. Our school district has made this internet based computer program available to all students and everyone can gain access to it for several subjects and an array of learning topics. Mariah likes the computer Odyssey program and so do I because of the easy access to the data it provides! I request it as part of her *ESY service each year now so it continues to be available for Mariah to access over the Summer time break.


Mariah’s 3rd grade teacher didn’t believe in her or teach her like she should have. She certainly didn’t show a willingness to collaborate or communicate with me as an involved parent and partner in my daughter’s education. I will always need to make sure my daughter is learning as well and as much as she can every day. Without the back and forth collaboration and communicating that any parent would want and need from their Child’s teacher ….things just were the way the way they were. I gave a lot of thought about removing her from this teacher, but her classmates were the ones that were being Mariah’s ROLE MODELS and were the ones showing her what to do. It was her classmates and friends that year that made her year great! I choose to keep her in the same classroom with those classmates because they were the ones that BELIEVED in her and helped her throughout the entire school year! Mariah was being educated in a General Education classroom with her typical neighborhood peers without disabilities. That’s what the Federal *IDEA Law mandates that Mariah is entitled to! She needed that more than any one adult teacher that didn’t see her potential or her abilities, she only saw a girl with Down syndrome. Mariah learned that year that she was accepted and had friends….real friends, friends that invited her to Birthday parties and sleep-overs. That was the year she had her first sleep-over, I was so happy for my little girl….my dreams for her being accepted and having friends was happening. She had a very big crush on 2 boys that year! Mariah was being included into her 3rd grade classroom maybe not by her teacher but by her classmates!


Having friends and being accepted into the community is what every one of us wants! In 3rd grade Mariah learned how to be a friend to many and many learned how to help Mariah do her classwork. It was a crazy year with a teacher that was unwilling to be friendly or collaborate with me. I learned what to look out for in a teacher that year. If a teacher refuses to make eye contact with me or has a hard time being somewhat friendly without it feeling fake or speaks in a negative way or tone about my daughter not being able to do something….for me, it is a sure sign that the teacher is not going to do well teaching either! Some things should just feel right and when they don’t you know it! A mother’s instinct will always tell you in your heart what is going to be best or better for your Child.


ASK FOR A TEACHER CHANGE AS SOON AS YOU KNOW WITHOUT A DOUBT THE TEACHER IS PUTTING YOU OFF! – If you have signed up for a Parent/Teacher conference early in the school year and that appointment gets cancelled or moved and before you know it, weeks and maybe a month goes by before that conference is held, you will know by the time you finally meet if something is going sour. Don’t wait to see if things will change!


"A day of learning lost for our Children with Down syndrome is a precious day of learning a much needed skill! Our Children don’t have time to waste with a teacher that doesn’t want to teach them or doesn’t care to understand about their learning style. If a teacher doesn’t have high expectations for all students in their classroom and motivates all students with positive praise and recognition for doing well, don’t expect that teacher to be a good teacher for your Child." Request a teacher change ASAP during the first few weeks into a new school year, don’t wait! You know you have to do what’s right and best for your son or daughter. It’s not about hurting a teachers feelings…it’s about having a good teacher that is willing to work collaboratively with parents and praises all her/his students to success! It’s about teaching my Child…who happens to have Down syndrome and is on your student list to be in your classroom this next year! This is a true story of my life long journey to educate Mariah!


Hope this helps some of you be a wiser Advocate for your Child. If you are a teacher reading this, I hope it opens your eyes to the parent viewpoint and encourages you to be a more collaborative teacher with parents. Have higher expectations for your all your students especially those with unique learning challenges because every student needs teachers that BELIEVE & ENCOURAGE & EXPECT MORE!


*IDEA - Individual Disability Education Act
*ESY – Extended School Year

Not all teachers are good teachers......for OUR children!

I was excited for the new school year to begin! My daughter was going into the 5th grade, marking the end of attending Elementary school. How could she be going into the 5th grade when it was just the other day I was nervous about who her Kindergarten teacher would be!

Since this is my newest blog-baby and the reason I wanted to start this blog about INCLUSION, is because this particular school year was over the top in alot of ways. Things that happened this year are what has motivated me to want to share all in one place all the things that worked or didn't work for both Mariah and I. Mariah has always been FULLY INCLUDED in GENERAL EDUCATION CLASSROOMS with the only time she leaves her classroom is when she goes to visit the School Speech Therapist, Mrs. Newman. She has been working with Mariah since she started in the PLACE classroom at 4 years old. Mariah and I both love Mrs. Newman, she makes learning Speech & Language FUN...she gets to play all sorts of GAMES and use pictures when she works 'her craft'. Mariah likes her ST time at school, its FUN!

I have many stories and classroom 'situations' at every grade level she has been in that I could write about. I want to continue to write and share a little about each grade and the different teachers she has had over the years. How each teacher has helped, or not helped in Mariah being fully included and accepted by her classmates over the years.

At our school we have been doing what is called, Departmentalizing. This means our 3rd, 4th and 5th graders would be having 2-3 different teachers and changing classes just like in Middle School. It also means that the teachers are supposed to be teaching to what they are certified in. If a teacher has a Certification in Reading, than that teacher would be the Reading teacher. At first I was uncertain about my girl changing classes, but it really wasn't that big of a deal, the classes were next door or across the hall and she would be moving from class to class with all her classmates and she also had her Para that assisted her for safety concerns.

Mariah was assigned a wonderful Science teacher, Mr. Allagood and Miss Ridhur was her new homeroom teacher. I had been told she was a good teacher. Miss Ridhur the homeroom teacher would be Mariah's Reading, Language Arts and Math teacher. They had a third teacher, Ms. Borrows, she would be teaching Social Studies and also was going to be like a double-dose Reading & Math teacher. My daughter has always had her own Unique Aide or some schools call them Paraprofessionals, to provide individual support and assist her since going into Kindergarten. This year she was assigned a new Unique Aide, her name is Miss Rollings.

Mariah's IEP has always had the support of being able to have daily home notes to provide me with a snap-shot of her school day. Since Mariah's language skills are delayed, she isn't always able to share with me what she did at school each day. Our school has always provided a Daily Planner for every student, starting in the First Grade. I requested and advocated to make sure we had one for my girl when she started back in Kindergarten. So for years teachers and her assigned Para have always provided me good daily communication via the Daily Planner that would come home every day. I was able to provide communication back to the school thru that school planner as well. A spiral notebook would work fine too.

The school year started off great! I was excited for Mariah to be in the 5th grade and anxious for all the 5th grade academics I knew she was going to have to work extra hard this year in order to do well in the 5th Grade. She had a good group of homeroom classmates in the same class with her. There was Osman who over the years has always had a special connection with watching out for and helping Mariah. Just mention Osman's name and Mariah's face lights up! So Mariah was very happy to be back in school and in the 5th grade with all her school friends.

I wanted to make sure I signed up early for a Parent-Teacher Conference so I could get to know her new teacher and be able to discuss with her my expectations for this new school year ahead. My daughters Unique Aide or Paraprofessional was the one that usually wrote in Mariah's Planner to let me know what her homework was or anything that needed to be communicated back home. I would write little notes back to the school using this planner.

What I noticed just after a few weeks of the new school year, was that Mariah's new 5th grade teacher, Miss Ridhur wouldn't really communicate to me when I would ask her something in the planner or even when I emailed her. Mariah seemed to be going along with the demands of being a new 5th grader and was happy to be back in school again with 'her friends'. On the other hand, I was starting to feel like her teacher was avoiding having any conversations with me and wasn't providing me with much feedback and was unwilling to write any daily notes to let me know how things were going in class. I mean after all, I am the parent of the little girl in her classroom that has a significant intellectual disability...she does have student in her class now with Down syndrome. I would think a GOOD TEACHER would want to have at least one substantial conversation with that particular student's parent(s).

It seemed that no matter what small note I wrote in the Daily Planner or what I emailed to her, she wasn't responding or giving me any real feedback. Then when I started seeing Mariah's Math classwork coming home and it was all but the most basic of basic Preschool worksheets, I knew this new teacher didn't have a clue how to TEACH my daughter and that she had her own ideas on what and how she was going to teach her this year!! So began....what I will call: The 5th Grade MATH CLASSWORK WAR! Mariah of course had her Math IEP Goals that were to be worked on regularly, with any one of her three teachers, but mostly her IEP goals were going to be worked on by the 'double-dose' Social Studies teacher, Ms. Borrows. But her homeroom teacher, Miss Ridhur was her Math teacher and she wasn't having Mariah do any 5th grade Math work. Not even the most simple of beginning 5th grade Math classwork! Mariah wasn't very good at Math but she also didn't have to do ALL the 5th Grade Math classwork, but I expected her to be exposed to and participate in some of the 5th Grade classwork and to be able to do a few of the problems with the assistance of her Aide! Listed on Mariah's IEP she gets reduced assignments and extra time.

I had a meeting the week before school started with her entire team of new teachers and some staff and let all of them know of what my expectations of Mariah's INCLUSIVE 5th Grade year to look like and to let it be known that I also wanted Mariah to be able to be provided "a piece of" or "a small portion of" what everybody else was being taught and was learning...and that meant her 5th Grade Math classwork problems!! She needed to do SOME OF her 5th Grade Math CLASSWORK ~ IN CLASS and let her homework be the Math FLUENCY SKILLS work she still needed much help and assistance on. Mariah was still learning basic addition and was struggling with subtraction, let alone had never been taught her multiplication table yet! So now this year she was supposed to know how to dive into doing DIVISION problems and with some pretty big numbers and then there were the WORD PROBLEMS to work on! Without being able to have any regular communication with her Homeroom teacher, Miss Ridhur, it was of course creating a stressful time for sure! She was clearly showing me that she was NOT going to have Mariah do ANY 5th Grade CLASSWORK at school...ever! That she wanted her to do it only for homework with her mommy helping her!

What I saw coming home in my daughters backpack everyday was NOT what I had in mind for a good 5th grade school year!! I needed to have our Parent-Teacher Conference...and FAST! I had signed up for a meeting date during the Open House because all teachers 'free time' and conference appointments get taken up very quickly, so that's why I signed up during Open House time, I wanted to make sure we met sooner than later. When she CANCELLED our first set appointment, I was cool about it...but when she then wouldn't return any of my phone messages or any of my emails and wouldn't write in the Daily Planner and work with me even a tiny bit...the problem was growing harder and harder for me to take! There was not an ounce of COLLABORATION happening between this teacher and me. I had never had a teacher that totally shut me out and wouldn't MEET WITH ME for a Parent-Teacher Conference and kept canceling our dates. This teacher was showing me she was a BAD TEACHER...for MY GIRL!!

My emails became my only way of DOCUMENTING her non-communication and her unwillingness to collaborate with me even a little bit. Not only was I dealing with her homeroom teacher not wanting to talk to me, but her new Paraprofessional/Unique Aide, Miss Rollings wasn't being very cooperative either! I knew she wasn't a very friendly person from seeing her around campus all the years, but she certainly wasn't providing me with MUCH to go by in the Daily Planner either. She would never even have a simple conversation with me if she and I saw each other on campus and she only did the very bare minimum in providing me what my daughter did at school in the Daily Planner. I don't know why people have to be so cold sometimes when it comes to just wanting to know what is going on with our kiddo's while under their care at school, especially when our children have severe language communication and speech delays. Did she NOT want to be my daughter's Para/Unique Aide, did she NOT like my daughter or think she shouldn't be INCLUDED in the Gen. Ed 5th Grade classrooms? I don't know why my daughter had to have a Para/Unique Aide that has a cold shoulder towards me, maybe she's like that with everyone or maybe she doesn't like her particular job anymore. All I know is I HAVE TO TRUST HER...and trust that she is taking good care of my girl and that she is really there to help support and assist Mariah to do well in school, by redirecting her because Mariah gets easily distracted very quickly.

My excitement for my daughter’s school year was becoming a major stressor to me and my whole family now! With her new Aide not being all that friendly to me or ever talking to me, it made me concerned for how she may treat my daughter at school. When people can't or don't or won't make EYE CONTACT with me...it absolutely raises a red flag for me! I am naturally a skeptical person and I don't immediately trust anyone, especially those that can't look at me! Am I now supposed to trust my daughter’s new homeroom teacher and her new Aide when they both can’t even talk and/or look at me? Something wasn't right and something certainly needed to change...and quick!

My daughter needs people to believe in her abilities, not to just see her Down syndrome or to only see her as someone with a disability. Mariah needs FUN, HaPpY people around her that want to help her and enjoy being with Mariah! Those that work with Mariah absolutely need to be able to communicate and collaboratively work with her mom too!

After 6 weeks of much stress over what was turning into a very bad 5th Grade school year with Miss Ridhur and Miss Rollings. As each day passed it was very clear that I wasn't going to have my Parent-Teacher Conference anytime soon either too, (I signed up during the Open House!) so I finally requested to have a CLASSROOM OBSERVATION! Yup, don't know why I didn't do it sooner! After sending many emails and sending them to everybody that was part of Mariah's Educational Team, Miss Ridhur was NEVER going change to have a Collaborative and good working Parent-Teacher relationship with me. I now needed to see how she did things in her classroom!

The day had been set for me to come and observe Miss Ridhur's classroom. She knew the day I was coming and I'm sure she was anxious to have me be there IN HER CLASSROOM! Of course she was nervous, she had been doing her best at avoiding communicating with me for the past 6-7 weeks now, so here I was actually sitting in the corner of her classroom!

Ok so I walk in, I find an empty chair and sat down away from the students over in the corner next to the adjoining door to Mr. Allagood's classroom. I see where my daughter is and I made sure I wasn't near her or any of the students. I came in at the Reading class time and the entire class is taking a Reading test. The classroom was very very quiet because they were all testing. No big deal...but I thought it was a little strange that on a day she agreed to have me come and observe her Math class she is now testing all the students in a Reading or Language Arts TEST! My daughter on the other hand, was NOT taking that same READING TEST, instead was working on her own 'fluency' MATH worksheets! During the 45 MINUTES of her testing the entire class, every so often Miss Ridhur would come over to where Mariah was sitting and whisper to Ms. Rollings what she then wanted Mariah to work on. Mariah was then instructed to start working on something else by Miss Rollings. Mariah started turning her whole body around in her chair so she could read and write all the Spelling Words off the board and then turn back around in her chair again. The spelling list of words on the wall was not all that close to where she was sitting, this is why she kept turning around in her seat. *Mariah has included in her IEP ~ Close Proximity and Preferential Seating. Those Special Ed SUPPORTS & SERVICES on her IEP are on there for a reason!!

Mariah clearly was NOT doing anything that had to do with her being FULLY INCLUDED in the 5th grade GENERAL EDUCATION CLASSROOM with this teacher!

Mariah had recently turned in the required monthly project; a Social Studies poster that took a small team of helpers to help her complete. It was beautiful when it was completed and turned in. I saw all the other students beautiful posters, some were on the bulletin board out in the hallway, the others were in various locations within the classroom. I looked everywhere for her poster, but couldn't find it anywhere in her classroom. Then I saw that Mariah's poster was COVERED UP and BEHIND another students poster! It was peeking out with only a few 3-4 inches of her beautiful work showing!!!! The amount of work and with all of us that helped Mariah every step of the way work on it and complete her poster and it took several 'homework' sessions to finish it. It was very disappointing to see that this teacher wouldn't even display it like all the other student's posters had been. Seems this teacher really didn’t care that Mariah's HARD WORK needed to be displayed or seen by anyone, especially Mariah! Mariah worked hard on her West Virginia poster and she was PROUD of it and wanted everyone to SEE IT! This teacher didn't give Mariah any respect that she deserved for turning her monthly project in ON TIME and with following all the rules of the monthly project. Why?? Seeing that Mariah's poster was 'hidden' behind another students poster...none of the others were 'hidden' behind any...just Mariah's was. Being IN this teachers classroom was my time as a parent to see my daughter's class and to see HER POSTER displayed like all of them had been....absolutely upsetting! I can only imagine how it made my daughter FEEL! Thanks!

Where I was sitting in the back corner of the classroom, I was able to also see lots of other things in her classroom that maybe Miss Ridhur didn't realize that I was there to OBSERVE HER & HER CLASSROOM! When I couldn't find her monthly project poster displayed within the classroom anywhere, I started looking around the room for all sorts of other things and what I found was a list of all the students’ progress with reading their AR books. Accelerated Reader books that each student read they would get a sticker for every book they read. Looking at this list, I am reading all the students names, I read the list two or three times looking for Mariah's name. Mariah's name was nowhere to be found and absolutely was NOT on the classroom AR LIST!!

I was so sad and upset and my heart was broken because all along I thought I was doing right by my daughter by having her be FULLY INCLUDED in all GENERAL EDUCATION CLASSROOMS and yet, here I am seeing with my own eyes right here in her 5th grade homeroom classroom that she is actually being EXCLUDED and SEGREGATED within her General Education classroom because why?...because she has Down syndrome! Mariah had a teacher that didn't care!

As soon as my ONE HOUR CLASSROOM OBSERVATION was up...that was the only time Miss Ridhur looked up and at me and made any eye contact with me! She even spoke to me, saying, "Mrs. Harris, your observation time is up!" I smiled at her and I said, "Thank you" as I left her classroom.

The Principal had been near-by and on-hand during the entire hour observation, going between Miss Ridhur's classroom and the Science teacher, Mr. Allagood's classroom next door. He escorted me out of the class and down the stairs. It was in that stairwell that I let my favorite principal, Mr. Cashew know that I was not happy with that teacher and that it was very obvious she didn't have a clue about INCLUSION and that I didn't want my daughter to spend another day in her classroom and that Mariah needed to be in the Science teacher, Mr. Allagood's class starting Monday!

I will never forget the Parent-Teacher Conference I was finally able to have with Miss Ridhur and Mariah's other two teachers the very next day and how disgusted I was at her total lack or desire to be a GOOD TEACHER for my daughter! I was fed up with trying to make things work out with this teacher when it was very clear she had no desire to have a COLLABORATIVE & working partnership with me. My daughter was being treated LESS THAN, my daughter wasn't being praised to success. Mariah didn't get to have her homework displayed in the classroom like the other posters. Mariah wasn't being provided an opportunity to read and be tested on ACCELERATED READER BOOKS from the school library. Mariah wasn't being provided any opportunity to do grade level Math classwork while in class! Mariah was being EXCLUDED and it broke my heart to finally have answers to all the reasons why her new 5th Grade teacher wouldn't COMMUNICATE in the daily planner or respond to any of my emails or return my phone calls. This teacher was NOT A GOOD TEACHER.....for MY GIRL!!!!!

Inclusion so far was not happening in 5th Grade for Mariah!!! Miss Ridhur didn't know, maybe didn't have any training on inclusion, maybe she didn't 'volunteer' to have Mariah in her class, she had low expectations of her and she certainly didn't BELEIVE IN HER! She didn't care! Mariah IS a bright girl that can learn lots of wonderful things, but a teacher HAS TO CARE and a teacher has to have HIGH EXPECTATIONS for all students, not just the smart ones, but especially the students that struggle with their academics. Mariah will always struggle with her academics; she is going to learn what she needs to learn to be successful in life. If she has a teacher that BELIEVES in her and sees her POTENTIAL, then yes she will do well, of course any student would!

Mariah and I both had a very disappointing start to her 5th Grade school year. At the beginning of the new school year we were both excited and looking forward to having a great academic year. Now with putting in for a TEACHER CHANGE to start immediately on Monday with Mr. Allagood things have to be better! They just have to be, Mariah DESERVES a GOOD TEACHER that BELIEVES in her and will provide her with the right peer role models to sit next to her and work and assist her with Grade Level Classwork. More than anything Mariah and her mom deserve a GOOD TEACHER that is willing to return at least one phone call and TALK, COMMUNICATE & COLLABORATE....and yes...MAKE EYE CONTACT even! A GOOD TEACHER WOULD DO ALL THAT...

Putting in a REQUEST FOR A TEACHER CHANGE was the best thing that happened for Mariah's 5th Grade school year!

"Don't worry Mr. Allagood; you're going to do just fine!!"

*He was a tad nervous I'm sure!


**This is a true story ~ some teacher names have been changed and some names are Mariah's real teacher names.