Next year will be a first for me: I'll be teaching an inclusion classroom. I'm really excited about it but also a little nervous. 

First and foremost, I am flattered that I was asked. I would like to think that means that the special education teacher I will be working with sees positive things in me that will support our special education students. Secondly, I have always considered myself to be an advocate for my students and this will allow me to push that to another level.

Backstory: I had a baby when I was 16 years old. I was a young, single mom (she is the product of abuse) and on my own for five years. I met my husband when I was 21 years old and we had a very whirlwind relationship (moved in together after 3 months and married after 6 1/2). We had our first baby together before our first anniversary and our second one before our second anniversary [you could say we did everything fast in our relationship!]. 
Our first daughter together has high-functioning autism, sometimes referred to as Asperger's Syndrome. She is also the middle child, has a processing disorder, anxiety, clinical depression and IBS. Poor kid. Of course, I didn't know all of these things about her when she was small. She has always been quirky but that's what makes her who she is. We enrolled her at a charter school for Young 5's (pre-K) because I was displeased with how our local schools had handled her speech delays. I will never, ever forget, as long as I live, sitting in that first IEP with her Young 5's teacher (a woman who spent her days with 4 year olds) and watching that woman have to think about something nice to say about my child. 

I was a brand new teacher at that time. I was actually a first year teacher that year. That situation made such an impression on me, both as a mom and as a teacher. First and foremost because how do you have to think about something nice to say about a 4 year old? Second, this was not a school that was in a difficult area. In fact, most of the clientele in that school were single-income families with the mom staying home. I always felt like the early years we were there (while my younger girls were in Young 5's - second grade), some of those teachers judged me because I worked, even though they all clearly had jobs too. The exception was the first grade teacher who was amazing and totally understood me because she was a working mom too. 

These teachers wouldn't have known hardship if it bit them on the behind. They certainly did not have teaching situations that were even remotely like mine in the city. Not even close. I guarantee they never had to stand between parents to stop a fight from brewing. I work with tough kids and always have. I have had some students that it was downright difficult to like because they were so challenging. But guess what? I could say something positive about every single one of those students without even batting an eye. 

That's why moving into this inclusion situation makes me feel excited, even though it may also be scary because it is unknown. I want to be that advocate for those kids, their champion when other people haven't been. One thing we have insisted upon is that all of these students will be on MY class roster. I don't want anyone to be able to tell who the Level II resource students are and who the general education students are...because it shouldn't matter to anyone. Obviously accommodations will be followed and whatnot and I will know who is who but the average person who comes into my room should have absolutely no idea who is who...because they are people first and each and every one of them has an important place in the world. It's my job to help them find it. 

I am one of those people who loves to read. It isn't just something I say, it is something I live by. It was incredibly difficult these last couple of years to carve out adequate time to read for pleasure as I had to spend so much time reading for my research study. I got around that somewhat by really digging into books in bed before I would go to sleep! I often find myself wishing my students loved reading as much as I do.

This year has been an interesting one. It's only my third year teaching third grade but this year was so vastly different than the previous two. Being in a new school is just part of it. This group just didn't come alive for books like my previous classes have. I remember last year, I had told my class I couldn't wait to get home one day because I was so excited to finish reading this book that I was reading. They, in turn, were so excited to share their books with me. That has not happened this year. Most of my students will continue to tell you that they find reading to be incredibly boring. I have said to them often that if they don't like to read, it's probably because they just haven't found the type of books they like yet. But is is very discouraging to have a whole group of students who at 9 years old are so disinterested in books.

When I was a child, if I got into trouble, my parents didn't ground me from the television or from playing outside with friends. They grounded me from my books. (I know, that sounds so horrible to me as an adult, but to be fair, it's the only thing that got through to me too. I couldn't have cared less if I got grounded from TV, I rarely watched it then--and still rarely do now!--and if I was grounded from being outside, I could just read so it wasn't really a punishment.)  Why do children not love books as much anymore?

Well we know one reason: technology. iPads and other tablets, more than three channels on the television and social media have taken the place of reading. It kills me a little to be honest.  I also think a big part of it is that children do not see their parents reading either. It probably won't surprise you to find out that my mother is an avid reader. She devours books, reading 15-20 a month. (I wish I had that kind of time!) I can't ever remember a day growing up that I didn't see my mom reading at one point during the day. In other words, it was modeled for me. 

Recently I went to a focus group about the Third Grade Reading Law in Michigan. One of the biggest arguments I have about this law is that the accountability is 100% on the schools/teachers. Parents are, first and foremost, their child's teacher and I would argue the most important teacher. The examples we provide by reading to our children are so important. Lap time, just looking through books even when the child is too young to read, talking about the pictures and sharing what we are reading (as appropriate) with our children is important.

Way too many adults I know can't name the last book they read or even tell when they last read a book, but we wonder why our children can't read. I certainly don't wonder. I often tell my students that the time we spend reading at school is not enough, they have to practice at home if they want to be good readers. Unfortunately not all of them listen to that advice.

Then there is me. I am beyond stoked that in just a couple of weeks we will be out of school for the summer. Not because I hate my job or don't like my students, but because I am going to have hours upon hours of free time that I haven't had in years to just read! (Over winter break I read 10 books because I had time to.) I have a huge list of professional books that I've been buying but haven't had time to devour and now I will. I have been reading for pleasure like crazy since I finished grad school. I just wish there was some way to instill this zest and love for words with my class, because as often as I talk about the books I'm reading and how I'm so excited to get my hands on a new book I've been waiting for, they just do not share my excitement and I find that to be incredibly sad and discouraging. 

Check out what I'm currently reading: