As an advocate, educator, and friend, I have a dream:

• That people will realize the pain they cause others when they use degrading names like the R word.
• That more employers will welcome the opportunity to hire more adults with disabilities and see that they are hard and dedicated workers just like any other employee.
• That society will stop assuming that people with a disability can't contribute to society.
• That our community will change their glaring looks into friendly smiles.
• That our community will see the person FIRST and their diagnosis later.
• That parents will educate their children about classmates in their class who may be ‘different’.
• That society will become more empathetic towards parents who’s child may be having a moment (just like any other child) while in public.
• That people will teach to a student's capabilities and not believe they're unteachable. 
• That restaurants, clothing stores, and other business be more accessible.
• That front line staff will be celebrated and appreciated for the GOOD that they do and not recognized for the mistakes that only a few choose to make.
• That wait list be shortened, that funding be increased, and more free services be available.
• That everyday be an awareness day, and not just one day in a month.
• That people realize that Teaching Assistants/Educational Assistants are WAY MORE than our title: We are educators first and foremost, friends, protectors, nurses, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, speech and language therapist, dietitians, (I can go on)
• That there be WAY more: love, unity, acceptance, inclusion, education, support, and awareness (just to name a few)
• And less: stigma, judgement, stereotypes, bullying, closed doors, lost voices, hurt feelings, and misunderstood individuals.

If you believe in this dream too, I encourage you to share it. Help others realize that this dream can become a reality.
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Students:
We are hired to teach them but ultimately, they are the ones providing us with many lessons in education and in life. I'm the educator, yet they're schooling me! Gotta love it. I often look back on my past episodes of LFTC to see if I've applied any of my newly learned lessons to my arsenal of educational tools amd tricks. Something brought me back to this one and I figured I'd share it with you. Be sure to share your comments and feedback below as I always love to hear what you have to say.

Lessons From The Classroom usually take place every Thursday on Periscope. Find me @msjampccs

Last week an idea came to me. I was going through the many messages I received from my feature on 'The Cult of Pedagogy' and was thinking to myself how incredible my journey has been in education. It made me think of all the educators I've worked with and wonder what their story was. Was it similar to mine? Did they stumble into education or dream about it since they were kids? Sometimes I feel that we don't realize that behind every teacher, early childhood educator, teaching assistant, and child and youth worker, is a human who also was a student once upon a time. It made me curious to know who they are beyond the classroom.
So...I've decided to start a weekly blog featuring a different educator. I don't know what else to say other than I am excited. I'm also so grateful that the Universe brought this concept to me as I feel it will benefit aspiring educators and current ones in our classrooms.
Believe it or not, it was very difficult creating the questions! I was answering a few of the questions myself which led to me self reflecting about what it was like being a student and hooooow I even ended up back in the classroom! But...I got it done. 18 questions that I am absolutely confident you will enjoy answering.

These are just a few of the questions you'll receive if you sign up to be featured:

• How long have you been working in the education field?
• What subject/ grade do you teach?
• Who was your favourite teacher when you were a student?
• What made them stand out from the rest?
• What was learning like growing up for you? Easy, challenging?
• Who or what inspired you to become an educator?
• Describe what your dream classroom would look like.
• Tell us about a challenging moment you’ve faced in the classroom. How did you deal with it?

Up for answering the rest? Send me a message via the contact tab and you'll receive an email with the remainder of the questions. Within 12 hours of initially announcing this new project, I had 8 individuals sign up.
Look out for their stories as I am certain there's much to learn!

​-jam
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Bullying awareness and prevention is a huge topic of discussion in our schools.

We teach our students how to defend themselves, how to speak up, and how to feel brave. But what about our students with disabilities? How do they defend themselves if they are non verbal? In this video, I share how we can help make bullying prevention more inclusive.

If there's one thing I don't like about some newsletters I receive is that they're incredibly long. Like I'm talking Harry Potter series LONG.

This will NEVER happen when you sign up for my updates. Why?

Because you'll be watching a 5 minute, highly entertaining Viewsletter.

For those of you who've been following me for the past few years, you already know that videos are my Jam. I feel like I'm able to fully express myself and message which is exactly what subscribers want when they click that magic button.

Viewsletters will be sent out every 2 weeks (no need to bombard you with constant updates!) So head on over to the contact tab and sign yourself up!