Special Education for Beginners | Managing Paraprofessionals, Special Education Strategies, First Year Sped Teachers, Special Ed Overwhelm, Paperwork for Special Education Teachers

Beyond the Buzzword: 5 Inclusive Practices Special Educators Should Promote

• Episode 204

Share episode

Inclusion is a word we hear constantly—in IEP meetings, PD sessions, and school mission statements. But for many special educators, inclusion still feels more like a buzzword than a practical reality.

In this episode of Special Education for Beginners, I discuss what inclusion really means—and why it’s more than just placing a student in a general education seat. I share my personal perspective on the true purpose of special education, offer real-life stories that bring inclusion to life, and outline 5 inclusive practices that special educators and paraprofessionals can use to create more meaningful opportunities for students with disabilities.

Whether you’re new to the field or a seasoned educator, this episode will leave you inspired and equipped to take action—because inclusion isn’t just a philosophy. It’s a practice.

🔑 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

  • Why “inclusion” has become a buzzword—and how we can move beyond it
  • The real-life impact of inclusive experiences for students with disabilities
  • How inclusion builds empathy and understanding for all students
  • Why full-time self-contained placements should not be the default
  • 5 actionable strategies to help teachers and paras support inclusion every day

Unfortunately, inclusion is often talked about, but not always backed up with systems, supports, or intentionality.

That’s where you come in.

As special education teachers, you are often the bridge—the connector between students who need the support and the general education settings we want them to thrive in. Inclusion isn’t just a general education or special education responsibility. 

It’s a team effort.

And we play a vital role in making it happen.

So here’s your challenge for the week:
Think about one classroom, one teacher, or one team that you could support in becoming just a little more inclusive.

>>Maybe it’s a conversation.
>>>>Maybe it’s a strategy share.
>>>>>>Maybe it’s helping someone see a student’s potential in a new light.

Whatever it is—your voice matters. Your expertise matters. And your students deserve classrooms built with them in mind.

Resources Mentioned:

Writing individual impact statements based on a student’s unique disability  and needs can be a big struggle AND a big time suck.! And in case you haven't noticed...extra time is not something you have a lot of.

My IEP Impact Statements Growing Bundle will give you  the resources you need to make writing impact statements a breeze.  





Sign up to be notified each time a new episode airs and get access to all the discounts!

Don't forget to leave a review of the show!

Follow Jennifer
Instagram
TPT




Speaker 1:

Hey there and welcome back to Special Education for Beginners. I'm Jennifer, your host, and we are starting a new month on the podcast. For the month of April, we are focused on the topic of inclusion, what it really means and how we, as special educators, can champion it in real and meaningful ways. Let's be honest, inclusion has become a bit of a buzzword. It's a term we hear in professional circles. We attend professional development on inclusion, we see it in district mission statements and we toss it around in IEP meetings. But when you strip it down, inclusion isn't just a word, it's a commitment, it's an action, it's a belief system. For me, inclusion is about actively creating environments where everyone feels welcome, respected and has the opportunity to participate. The dictionary defines inclusion within the educational setting as the action or state of including or of being included within a group or structure, or the practice or policy of providing equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might otherwise be excluded, such as those who have physical or intellectual disabilities, and it makes sense that it says it's a practice or a policy. When something is a practice or a policy, it opens the door for a whole lot of different interpretations. Every school's policy or practices look a little different depending on your district and where you live. So, like I said, we are going to explore some different viewpoints of inclusion throughout this whole month and really dig into what we can do to improve our own inclusive practices. So let's get started.

Speaker 1:

Hey, special educator, are you overwhelmed by the absurd amount of paperwork on your to-do list? Do you wish you had the skills to build a rock solid team with your staff? Do you find yourself scouring the internet for how to meet the needs of each student on your caseload? Well, hey there. I'm Jennifer Hoffaber, an award-winning veteran special education teacher and current instructional coach, who has walked in your shoes through each of these challenges and, yes, I have the metaphorical blisters to prove it. I have cried your tears and felt your pain, and now I'm here to support you in the way I wish someone would have been there to support me. Listen in each week as my guests and I dish out practical wisdom, to help you handle all the classroom curveballs that are thrown at you and learn how to laugh in spite of the chaos, to celebrate those small yet significant victories that only a special educator can understand. So are you ready? Wipe your tears and put on your superhero cape, because together we are going to learn how to survive and thrive in the ever crazy, completely overwhelming laugh, so you don't cry. Profession of being a special education teacher. Okay, so my two cents on.

Speaker 1:

Inclusion is the ultimate goal of special education is not just to support students academically, behaviorally, emotionally. It is to prepare them for the real world, a world where they deserve to be seen, to be heard and to be included. Inclusion isn't just about school, it's about life. We are not preparing students for classroom participation. We are preparing them for community involvement, independent living, employment, friendships and relationships. Inclusion now lays the foundation for belonging later. Let me say that again. Inclusion now lays the foundation for belonging later. Let me say that again Inclusion now lays the foundation for belonging later.

Speaker 1:

About this time last year, I shared my experience with the Tim Tebow's Night to Shine event, an incredible prom night experience for adults with special needs. That evening confirmed what I already knew in my heart is that our students want what everyone else wants. They want joy, connection, celebration, they want to be seen as a part of something bigger. They want to experience life just the same as anyone else. And you want to know what one of my biggest joys is True story. At the end of every day I get on TikTok and along with scrolling recipes and DIY home projects that I'll never do, I watch individuals who have disabilities dance on TikTok. It truly makes my heart so happy to know that they feel comfortable enough and included enough to go out into the big internet world and show people how much they are enjoying life. They see the TikTok dances that others are people, how much they are enjoying life. They see the TikTok dances that others are doing and they want to be included, and every time I come across one of those videos, I immediately go to the comment section to ensure that there isn't anyone on there who would dare leave a negative comment to them. I don't engage on TikTok, but I would have no problem defending them if needed, but that's never the case, or at least I haven't come across it. So when we deny our students the chance to be included with general education peers, even in small ways, my opinion is we're doing them a disservice and, honestly, we're doing a disservice to neurotypical students too, because inclusion doesn't just benefit the student with a disability. It builds empathy, patience and understanding in every student. It helps create humans who are accepting of others.

Speaker 1:

Now you might not agree with me on everything I'm about to say, and that's okay, but I'll tell you this I'm not a huge proponent of full-time, self-contained classrooms. For the majority of students Do those classrooms have a place? Absolutely. Some students truly need that level of structure and support and that is their least restrictive environment. But in my experience, far too many students are placed there by default because of a label, a behavior or a low test score. I've worked with students who, on paper, would be labeled as needing a life skills classroom, but when you see them with same-aged peers, they light up. They become more engaged, more social and more motivated. They rise to the occasion, and that's not something you can measure with a standardized tool. That's the power of inclusion, Even if it's just lunch in the cafeteria, even if it's a recess, or one class a day, even if it's a peer buddy during a science experiment. Access matters, Exposure matters. Denying students the opportunity is denying them the chance to grow. But hang on a minute. What inclusion isn't is putting a student in a general education seat and calling it good. True inclusion is about building equitable access to learning, growth and community, and no one is better positioned to lead that work than you are.

Speaker 1:

This episode is titled Beyond the Buzzword Five Inclusive Practices Special Educators Should Promote in Every Classroom Because, like I said, inclusion is often talked about but it's not always backed up with systems, supports or intentionality. And that's where you come in. So in today's episode, I want to walk you through five strategies that you can help bring to life. Whether it's through co-teaching, coaching, collaboration or simply speaking up in meetings, these five practical strategies can be used by both teachers and paraprofessionals to facilitate inclusive opportunities for students with disabilities. They are designed to be simple, impactful and easy to implement in a variety of classroom settings.

Speaker 1:

So the first is to encourage peer interactions purposefully. They're not always going to happen if we don't engage them intentionally. If we don't engage them intentionally, Instead of always having paraprofessionals work directly with a student one-on-one, look for ways to fade adult support and promote peer-to-peer connections. You can set up peer buddies for activities or do some partner work. You can use cooperative learning strategies. You can model and coach appropriate social interactions and you can encourage shared responsibilities during tasks. Like one student passes out the materials, the other student passes out papers. They're modeling for them, and why this works is because it fosters natural relationships, it builds social skills and it helps all students see each other as valued members of the classroom community.

Speaker 1:

The second is to pre-teach and preview. Teachers and paras can set students up for success by previewing academic content, vocabulary or steps in a task before a lesson begins. Way back when I would be in the classroom providing support to students, I would make sure I knew the questions that the teacher was going to ask and I made sure and prepped the student to have an answer so that they could hold up their hand and give an answer. Even if they weren't able to get that answer themselves, they were able to participate in the classroom discussion. You can do things like review visual schedules together. You can go over key concepts or vocabulary before the class starts. You can preload behavior expectations for upcoming transitions. You can walk through classroom routines that may feel overwhelming. This works because pre-teaching builds confidence and it allows students with disabilities to participate more fully and more independently during whole class instruction.

Speaker 1:

The third strategy is to use inclusive language and promote belonging Model language that assumes competence and celebrates diversity. Refer to our students rather than your students or my kids. Use person-first or identity-first language, depending on the student's family's preferences, Point out student strengths and normalize differences. And encourage classroom conversations around diversity, empathy and inclusion. When you're in a classroom with general education students and they're asking questions and they're curious, have those open and honest conversations with them. Let them understand that there are differences but there's so much more that they have in common than they have in differences. The words we use sets the tone for the students. Inclusive language promotes respect and it helps build a classroom culture where everyone is valued.

Speaker 1:

Strategy four is to facilitate access, not dependence. Train paras to support access to the content, environment and peers, but avoid doing the work for the student. I have a prompting hierarchy I'm going to link in the show notes so that you can provide this to your paraprofessionals to help them strategically fade support over time. It's important to allow students to struggle productively and encourage independence. You need to provide access to materials, visual aids or assistive technology tools and then support their communication in ways that empower the student to share their thoughts. True inclusion means participation and that only happens when students are given the tools and space to engage on their own terms. And then the fifth strategy is to collaborate and reflect regularly. Inclusive practices improve when teachers and paras communicate openly and regularly.

Speaker 1:

Set aside five to ten minutes a week to debrief, Talk about what's working and what's not working, Share observations from inclusive settings, Adjust roles and supports based on student growth and changing needs. You're going to want to have these conversations with your paraprofessionals, but you're also going to want to have these conversations with the general education teacher. How can you all work together? When special education teachers, paraprofessionals and gen ed teachers work as a united team, they can better identify opportunities for inclusion and make timely adjustments to support student success. As special education teachers, you are often that bridge Maybe not even often. You are almost always that bridge, that connector between students who need the support and the general education settings we want them to thrive in.

Speaker 1:

Inclusion isn't just a general education or a special education responsibility. It's a team effort and we play a vital role in making it happen. So here's your challenge for the week Think about one classroom, one teacher or one team that you could support in becoming just a little more inclusive. Maybe it's a conversation, Maybe it's a strategy share, Maybe it's just helping someone see a student's potential in a new light. Whatever it is, your voice matters, your expertise matters, and your students deserve classrooms built with them in mind. Next week, we will continue the conversation on inclusion, and I will be joined by two teachers who work together to provide reverse inclusion services for their students, and I actually hadn't heard that term before, so I'm excited for you to hear about it and to learn more from them. Until then, go out and have a great week.