If you didn’t already know by now, I am passionate about inclusion for all students. My passion for inclusion began when I accepted a position working for an agency called Maryland Coalition for Including Education or MCIE. It was in my work with MCIE that I first was introduced to Dr. Paula Kluth and learned of her work in inclusive practices. I had the privilege of attending a training specifically focused on her book, From Tutor Scripts to Talking Sticks: 100 Ways to Differentiate Instruction in K-12 Inclusive Classrooms, that changed my perspective and mindset on inclusion. I recently came across a Q & A session with Dr. Kluth that I found useful and thought I’d pass it on. Here’s a little information about Paula Kluth from her website and a copy of the Q & A link below:

“Dr. Paula Kluth is a consultant, author, advocate & independent scholar who works with teachers and families to provide inclusive opportunities for students with disabilities and to create more responsive and engaging schooling experiences for all learners. Paula is a former special educator who has served as a classroom teacher and inclusion facilitator. Her professional interests include differentiating instruction and inclusive schooling. She is the author or co-author of ten books. They include: “You’re Going to Love This Kid”: Teaching Students with Autism in Inclusive Classrooms; A Land We Can Share: Teaching Literacy to Students with Autism; The Autism Checklist; Joyful Learning: Active and Collaborative Learning in the Inclusive Classroom; and From Tutor Scripts to Talking Sticks: 100 Ways to Differentiate Instruction in K-12 Inclusive Classrooms. Paula is also a director of a documentary film titled “We Thought You’d Never Ask”: Voices of People with Autism. Dr. Kluth has been awarded numerous honors in her field & community. Most recently she was a recipient of the 20 Under 40 University of Wisconsin Alumni Achievement Award for her work with students with autism. She was named the National Down Syndrome Congress Educator of the Year in 2007 and the Belle Center of Chicago’s Inclusion Advocate of the Year in 2006”

https://www.paulakluth.com/about-paula/
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http://blog.brookespublishing.com/you-learn-by-doing-an-inclusion-qa-with-paula-kluth/

The PSC-35 shows us how the family is viewing the child and is a way of tracking their perspective over time. The fact that caregivers complete this evidence-based form on a regular cycle may also reinforce for them how important their voice is in our work. Despite the fact that I’m often asking our clinicians to take more on, when faced with a change in requirements it does me wonders to take a moment to pause and simply take a deep breath. Breathing a bit more thoughtfully stops me from jumping down the assumption rabbit hole of negativity. I quickly find myself motivated and inspired to understand and actually dive into it a bit deeper and find the value in how it highlights and adds to the amazing work our clinicians already do.  
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If you’d like to know more, please visit: https://www.massgeneral.org/psychiatry/services/psc_home.aspx
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Name: Claudia Burgos
Position: I am currently a Lead Health Information Specialist.
 
What led you to your current position? After graduating Cal State East Bay as a psychology major, I soon discovered that direct service was not an area I enjoyed. During my work experience, I worked in 2 different construction companies assisting with operations and admin. Even though, I enjoyed learning about business and accounting, I knew that I wanted to work for an organization that had a more meaningful purpose and held similar values as mine. I feel that being a Health Information Specialist within Seneca, has combined the two worlds that I was searching for. Overall, I’m grateful that I am still able to contribute to the community we serve, as I work behind the scenes.
 
Fun Fact/Quote? Not till we are completely lost or turned around…do we begin to find ourselves.. -Henry David Thoreau  
 
What does your average day look like? My average day begins with getting a cup of coffee. I then take out my big stacks of paperwork and reorganize them into multiple different piles, such as add to chart tracking, need to enter, scanning, follow ups, etc. Every day, I always tell myself that I will complete all my stacks, but I know the truth. I then open up my emails and become an investigator, ensuring that I am able to answer all my emails as correctly as possible. Since, I currently hold 2 different counties, I have to make sure I’m relaying the correct information for their county specifically. The QA managers and specialists from other programs definitely help in my investigation as we work together to come up with the correct response. On certain days, like today, I have to travel to Contra Costa County to drop off documents to be reviewed. The few days of the week I travel, it is nice to get out of the office for a little bit. When I come back, I will finish sending out chart tracking, do some billing and begin on my stacks of paperwork, as I answer emails along the way.
 
Why do you do this work? I do this work because these kids and families have been through so many obstacles and deserve to have a helping hand. It takes a village. I’m glad I can take my skills and experiences and help All In continue to thrive and expand.
 
What hope do you have for the future of our program? I hope that as All In continues to grow and expand, everyone one the team continues to feel supported and heard. The work our team is doing under the Unconditional Education model is amazing and I would like to see it continue for many years to come; I can only imagine how many lives we can make a difference in.

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When I think about why and how I do my work, the value I connect with most is curiosity. But there’s also a value I connect with that we don’t normally name – laughter.
 
Last year I was working with a student who repeatedly had conflicts with another student at their table. He would sometimes laugh at her, call her name and make a face. I noticed that the other student started telling him to stop – even at times when he hadn’t done anything. I asked the student. Why were you laughing? And he said "She always laughs with [other student] but gets mad when I laugh." That was the first time I realized – he was doing this because he wanted to get along with her – yet his action was having the opposite effect.
 
I helped the first student explain to the second that he wanted to laugh with her and have fun with her like the rest of the table did. I tried to explain the difference between laughing at someone and laughing with someone in a more positive and pro-social manner. But there are many social nuances of laughter than you probably wouldn’t think of unless you tried to explain them to first graders who are still learning how to engage with peers. You shouldn't laugh when someone falls down, but sometimes you can like if they're laughing. You shouldn't laugh at someone else, but sometimes people do something on purpose so you can laugh. You can tell a good time to laugh if a lot of other people are laughing, but not always, because sometimes people are doing it in a mean way.
 
Then I decided to show them one positive way to laugh with others. I didn’t have much so I just decided to do the first time that popped into my mind which was diving in to some weird dance moves. They looked at me, looked down at their feet, thought “this teacher is weird, I want to go to lunch” until they made eye contact with each other and started giggling. One of them started to dance, then the other once, then we were all laughing. We started laughing even more when the general education teacher walked back into the room.

Name: Theo Grant-Funck

Your Position? I am a  Bilingual Student Support Assistant at Cox Academy.

What led you to your current position?
After graduating from college, I was looking for a job that would allow me to work directly in either education or mental health care. This job was perfect because it allowed me to contribute to both at once. I also just love working with kids, especially kids who don’t usually receive the support they need to be happy and successful.

Fun Fact/Quote?
“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody”—Jane Jacobs

What does your average day look like?
I spend most of my day with a first grader in his classroom (continually tying shoes, playing tag at recess, and reminding kids how to spell “school”). I support my first grader with sensory modifications, breaks, social stories, and a sticker chart among other interventions.  I also work with a Kindergartener and a fourth grader for about an hour each.

Why do you do this work?
I really believe that All-In’s model can make a lasting difference for kids who are too often left behind. I also find it very gratifying to work in a job that allows me to see concrete and meaningful results.

What hope do you have for the future of our program?
I’d love to see our program expand its presence in traditional public schools to reach even more children and improve schools in other districts. 

As we settle into the school year, one of the issues facing educators is that of colorism. The definition of colorism as recalled from the Webster dictionary is defined as a “Prejudice or bias against persons on the basis of their skin color or complexion, often among persons of the same racial identification”. Often times when walking the halls of our K-12 schools I hear things like “you’re light-skinned or dark-skinned” and or hearing different praises for lighter skinned compared to darker skin. As I talked to my colleagues about the things I was hearing throughout the halls and playgrounds, I was curious to find out if there was any curriculum around this topic that could carefully explain this very large and complex “ -ism”.  Not only does this colorism intricately weave the European colonization into different cultures that have carried these beliefs over time, it continues to grow in other forms of movies, magazines, schools, hospitals and society as a whole.
As I went looking for answers, I started reading tons of scholarly journals and data on this and came across this article on recognizing and addressing colorism in schools.  This article is from teaching tolerance and also has some great links for educators as well as on our UE Blog to help bring a clearer picture to this topic in the classroom as well as a strategies list that include: ongoing counseling, school discipline, Book readings, mentorships as well as using curriculum that is culturally relevant.
If you know of any other great links on this topic, please feel free to post them in the comments section below!