Special Teachers Have Creative Ideas

Abstract

Editorial comment: The adage “necessity is the mother of invention” is applied frequently by special education teachers trying to respond to their classroom challenges. The activities described here are ten teachers' creative responses to such challenges. The teachers were asked to describe innovative activities that had brought their students enjoyment and a feeling of success. These reports are the tip of the iceberg; they represent hundreds of others which could also be shared. This collection of short articles is a tribute to all teachers who direct some of their creativity into classroom adventures and thereby enhance the lives of their students.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

David Steinberg

David Steinberg teaches special education at Brown Station Elementary School in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Allie Ground is a second grade teacher, also at Brown Station. Jamie Hodam is a paraprofessional and graduate student in special education at the University of Kansas. Dolores Larson teaches the emotionally disturbed at Hocker Grove Junior High School in Shawnee Mission, Kansas. Patti Hastings is a teacher of the emotionally disturbed at East Antioch Elementary School in Shawnee Mission, Kansas. Claudia Reinfelds is a student in special education at the University of Kansas. Joan Casson teaches in the Alternative Education Program in the Shawnee Mission School District. Sheryl Cozad is a research assistant and graduate student in the special education department of the University of Kansas. Carmen L. Cantrell is a graduate student in the special education department of the University of Kansas. Paula M. Long is a pediatric-psychiatry teacher at University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City.