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"A lessoncast is a spreadable example of the what, why, and how of effective teaching. Lessoncasts feature one lesson idea or management strategy in 2 minutes 30 seconds or less. Lessoncasts include teacher-created downloadable resources to help implement the ideas. A lessoncast is NOT a lesson plan, but rather a quick how-to overview meant to inspire and support teachers looking for effective resources."

"Gever Tulley uses engaging photos and footage to demonstrate the valuable lessons kids learn at his Tinkering School. When given tools, materials and guidance, these young imaginations run wild and creative problem-solving takes over to build unique boats, bridges and even a roller coaster!"

"As I prepare for another afternoon of district-provided professional development activities, I always make sure that I bring plenty of work to do (papers to grade, lesson planning, etc.). This isn't because I have a bad attitude and hate professional development (PD). A great PD event can really energize me to improve my classroom instruction. However, the sad fact is that the majority of PDs I attend are repetitive, simplistic, or downright boring. I bring other work to do so that I don't get irritated when I feel that my time is being so carelessly wasted."

Description: The Agrability Project offers assistive technology and resources to farmers, their families and their communities, which allows agricultural workers with disabilities to be successful and live independently.  Those eligible for services may have blindness, deafness, developmental disabilities, cerebral palsy, amputations, arthritis, stroke, or spinal cord injuries. The Agrability Project works with groups like 4-H clubs to encouraged students to participate in making modifications to farms, and eliminating accessibility barriers, etc. It currently serves 24 states.From the Home Page, if you click on "Communities of Interest" it will list different groups that discuss the latest issues about disability in agriculture. Topics include: Arthritis and Agriculture, Assistive Technology, Ergonomics, Mental/Behavior Health, Peer Support, and Vocational Rehabilitation. From the Resources Page you can click on "Youth" and be taken to a page that offers lesson plans about assistive technology and Inclusive 4-H resource materials. As a special educator it is important to be able to think "outside-the-box" sometimes when it comes to helping a student meet their goal. Knowing the area that we live in and the interests of my students, there is definitely a pull to the agriculture industry. This website is a good resource to use when trying to assist the students with this particular career interest in mind for the future.

"When a teacher is looking for a new way to teach a student, a concept, or a lesson, the chances are the best resource is another teacher. On LessonCast, teachers share ideas and resources through screencast videos called lessoncasts. The LessonCast community connects educators with classroom-proven experience and great ideas"

"Can the lessons of individual schools and school networks that have shown success with "personalized" models of education be applied to whole systems?"

"Webb's Depth of Knowledge (DOK) provides a vocabulary and a frame of reference when thinking about our students and how they engage with the content. DOK offers a common language to understand "rigor," or cognitive demand, in assessments, as well as curricular units, lessons, and tasks. Webb developed four DOK levels that grow in cognitive complexity and provide educators a lens on creating more cognitively engaging and challenging tasks."

"After last week's announcement of a new effort to address widespread disparities in the treatment of students of color with disabilities, we asked two educators to react to the news, drawing on their own experiences as special education teachers."

"Make any video your lesson Pick a video, add your magical touch and track your students' understanding"

Today, the agency launched "Social and Emotional Learning Competencies," a guide for incorporating these practices into lesson plans, using them as part of classroom management, and infusing them in school culture. The website also includes resources on what social and emotional learning is; how this learning intersects with character development, technology, and before- and after-school programs; and provides supports for teachers and other adults.

This video is about two sisters. The oldest sister is narrating the story talking about her younger sister who is special needs. I is a really touching story about acceptance and tolerance, as well as a lesson on family bonds. It is an eye opening video that touches anyones heart. This is a great video for teaching acceptance and tolerance to younger and older students. I personally used this video for a graduate school project on Intellectual Disabilities. It was a perfect example of what I.D can look like. Using this video with say 5th or 6th graders would be ideal because they could relate to having that younger sibling possibly and relate to the bullying aspect and how that would make anyone feel.

I think its excellent that you discovered this video Erin! I completely agree with what Sarah said about using it as a way to start a discussion about accepting others. This would be beneficial for older students.

I love this video! I agree with everyone. This video could be used for all ages for acceptance and relates to self-determination; just because he looks different, does not mean he can't do the things that other people can do.

This video is a wonderful resource for teaching tolerance and acceptance of all abilities. It is really touching, moving, and eye opening.It gives the viewer a visual of what these disabilities look like and how these people are just like any one else, people. They just have different abilities than others which is natural and occurs in people with and without disabilities. I would use this video as an acceptance and tolerance lesson with late elementary-high school students. I would pair it with a writing prompt or some other type of assignment to get the students really thinking and feeling from this video. My hopes is that it would open up a wonderful discussion for the class.

This article focuses on children with autism. Children with autism typically have communication and social needs. Technology can assist in the communication needs but the author warns against using technology to teach social skills. This is due to the fact that a computer is not a real person. To teach social skills children need to be interacting with other people. It is all about creating a balance. This reitterates the fact that no child autism or not is the same. Not one thing is going to work for all. Through having this resource and using co-workers, parents, etc... as resources we can better meet the needs of all students. Not one particular learning experience will meet the needs of all students. We as teachers need to vary the methods we use to teach depending on our individual students.

"Computational Thinking (CT) is a problem solving process that includes a number of characteristics and dispositions. CT is essential to the development of computer applications, but it can also be used to support problem solving across all disciplines, including the humanities, math, and science. Students who learn CT across the curriculum can begin to see a relationship between academic subjects, as well as between life inside and outside of the classroom."