Search Results

For this year’s inclusion calendar, “Inclusion is More than Just Being In,” we spoke to several Brookes authors about how to create authentic inclusion in classrooms and across whole school communities. We got awesomely enlightening answers, some of them so thoughtful and detailed...

A comfortable, safe, and thoughtfully designed physical environment is essential to the success of any inclusive classroom. In today’s post, we bring you some quick tips and insights you can use to guide the physical arrangement of your classroom, from desks and tables to instructional...

We’ve had a lot of interest in our blog posts on executive function (like this one and this one), so this week we’re bringing you some helpful tools to put in your “executive function toolbox” as you prep for the new school year. Today’s post—excerpted and...

Helping young children develop emotional regulation skills is a critical goal for every parent and teacher. When kids can skillfully manage their emotions and behavior in a variety of settings and situations, they’ll have a stronger foundation for both academic and social success....

The Brookes Inclusion Lab is back from our brief hiatus, and we’ve got some new posts all queued up to help you prep for the upcoming school year. (Stay tuned for posts on improving executive function skills, preparing a physical classroom environment to welcome all learners, helping students...

The transition from preschool to kindergarten can be a challenging one for any young child. There’s a new classroom to get used to, a new teacher with new rules, and many more academic and social expectations to navigate. When a child has a disability or special support needs, it adds another...

In your inclusive classroom, you’ll probably have some students who get overwhelmed by large projects or complex activities. What’s the best way to support their success and help them avoid overload? Try breaking complicated tasks into smaller, less intimidating steps that feel easier...

ANNOUNCEMENT: Before we get into this week’s post, a quick special announcement. We’ve randomly chosen the winner of last week’s final inclusion tote bag/mini-library giveaway. The lucky winner is: Beth Sipe Congrats, Beth! We’ll be in touch with you to get your addresses...

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! To all educators who work tirelessly to create classrooms, lesson plans, and school activities that welcome and include all students: you have our deepest thanks and admiration. Brookes, the publishing company behind the Inclusion Lab, shares your goals and dreams...

...

As an inclusive educator, you’ll likely welcome some students who are making their first transition into a general education class. Whether they’re coming from a self-contained class or a separate school, they’ll need some supports and action steps from the education team to...

With school violence and bullying making headlines on a regular basis, teachers and parents need a toolbox of strategies to help children manage difficult emotions like anger before they escalate into problems. In today’s post, we bring you a few helpful tips you can share with your students...

In inclusive classrooms, peer supports are a great way to help meet the needs of all learners. While they can’t take the place of individualized supports delivered by teachers and other members of a student’s school team, they’re an important supplemental strategy to keep in your...

Happy Tuesday, readers! Today I’m thrilled to welcome Nicole Eredics: inclusion expert, educator, creator of the popular blog The Inclusive Class—and Brookes author! Nicole’s written one of our acclaimed books, Inclusion in Action, a practical guide to modifying your curriculum...

Families are the ones who know your students best—their strengths and needs, their likes and dislikes, their hopes and dreams. And the more effectively you work with and support the fami­lies of your students, the more your students will benefit. It’s important to form powerful...

What’s lesson one for teachers who want students to successfully grasp, retain, and apply new material? First—say Whitney Rapp and Katrina Arndt, authors of the inclusion book Teaching Everyone—you need to recruit their interest. And that means finding ways to make learning...

Which inclusive practices do early childhood programs need to master in order to welcome and support all learners? In today’s blog post, we’ll take you through the 12 inclusive practices with the strongest research base for supporting young children in inclusive programs. Where did...

You’ve got great universal behavior supports in place for your classroom—but every year, you’ll have at least some students who need more. How can you determine when your universal supports aren’t working for some students? What’s the best way to pinpoint which...

How do you empower your students with disabilities to plan for the future? If you’re a high school educator, one of your goals should be supporting your students’ self-determination skills so they can take a lead role in their own transition planning. Teaching self-determination skills...

Sensory issues can create barriers to learning–but with a few well-chosen modifications to your classroom environment, you can meet your students’ individual needs and help them stay focused on your lessons. In today’s post, we bring you some concrete modification suggestions from...

At the Inclusion Lab, we bring you lots of practical posts about enhancing K-12 classrooms with universal design for learning (UDL). But does UDL work equally well in early childhood settings? Yes—and today’s post gives you some simple starting points to help all young children be...

UPDATED: 3/23/22 Oral language is one of the most important skills your students can master—both for social and academic success. Learners use this skill throughout the day to process and deliver instructions, make requests, ask questions, receive new information, and interact with peers. As...

Happy 2018! Hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday season. We’re looking forward to a great new year of helping you support the learning and development of all children. On that note: Today so I’m excited to unveil an awesome project we’ve been working on for the past few...

[POST UPDATED on 2/23/22] In your inclusive classroom, how can you best address the academic and behavioral needs and challenges of learners on the autism spectrum? There’s no formula or recipe to follow, since every student—with or without an identified disability or disorder—is...