Tag Archives: parents

Towards a Working IEP: Part One – Balancing the Playing Field

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A great deal of my consulting work has come about through parents of kids with disabilities inviting me to be a part of their son or daughter’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meetings. IEPs are the central paperwork portion of the special education services that students receive in schools, and are filled with loads of information that is used throughout a school year to meet the needs of kids with disabilities.

It has been my experience that IEPs can be beautifully written and executed. I have also experienced IEPs that are basically useless paperwork that follows a child through their school years without much meaning. The intent is for it to be the former, but that is, unfortunately in many cases, not how they are written or used. Continue reading →

Guest Blogger for Abundant Community: Becoming a Community Connector

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Picture taken from Abundant Community Website

I was approached Leslie Stephen, the editor of John McKnight and Peter Block’s Abundant Community book and website to be a guest blogger, shortly after my post about their book and wonderful work in communities. I was thrilled that after only a few posts, that I would be approached by them in such a way.

After speaking on the phone first to John and then to Leslie, we came to the idea of me writing for them as a guest blogger about my experiences, so that others could learn from the work that I am doing.

I am honored to be featured on their website today. My hope is that through continuing my work as a community connector as they describe, and continuing to host future meetings in my own community, that I may advance the work of including kids with disabilities in neighborhood schools. They have asked me to write a guest blog post about my experiences, learning and conversations for them each time I host a meeting. This is the first post about my first meeting, that I held last month.

Please take a moment to read and make comments about my experiences, either here, or on their site. It is thrilling to be connecting people in these ways, and an unbelievable feeling for me, personally, to have my work showcased in such a fashion. I am feeling humbled as well as hopeful about this great work, and what it will mean for parents, families and schools.

Satisfaction Guaranteed: And the “Joyful Learning” book Giveaway Winner!

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image by industrialautomationreapair.com

You see these words in business marketing all the time…”satisfaction guaranteed”. And why wouldn’t it be guaranteed? We pay for something, and if a business can stand behind it – shouldn’t our satisfaction be assumed or our money back?

It makes me wonder why we don’t have the same phrase attached to our schools. I realize that schools are living systems, can’t be managed and evaluated the same as businesses, due to the complexities that exist from teaching living humans as the product, but shouldn’t we try to ensure ways that satisfaction would be guaranteed? Can schools be places where there are evaluations of what we are doing and how well we are doing it; where there are meaningful and ongoing professional development opportunities to address needs that exist; so as to make sure that satisfaction is guaranteed to the greatest extent possible to the families, the teachers and the students? Hmmm…what would that look like? Continue reading →