Kasler,+Jordan+-+Inclusion+Strategies+for+Sports+Coaching



Hello my friends and fellow prospective educators! __**1. Introduction**__ There are some things about me that you may find interesting: I am getting married in June to a fellow SOU student who is way better looking than me (see her pretty face below). Her name is Haley; she is a Communications major and she is a right-side hitter for the university volleyball team. I have traveled to some interesting places in the world such as: Greece (spent three months there studying abroad as an undergrad in 2008), Italy, Hawaii, Argentina, and Antarctica. I was born and raised in Alaska, I moved to Grants Pass, Oregon when I was 15 years old. I have a BA in History and minor in Political Science from Western Oregon University. I have been an assistant boys basketball coach at Hidden Valley High School since the summer of 2006.



I am an MAT student here at Southern Oregon University (duh!). In June I will have my Masters and Teacher's License. I will be licensed in social studies, with the qualifications to teach at both the middle and high-school levels. I plan an acquiring my math endorsement as well shortly thereafter. In addition to teaching, I hope to continue to coach basketball. I believe that sports provides a unique venue to teach youth about teamwork, discipline, responsibility, and accountability. I am also interested in possibly seeking an administrative license. We shall see about that!

My greatest fear about being a teacher is the scenario where I make a costly mistake, in some way, that causes a student to lose confidence and/or belief in his/herself.

The hardest thing for me to learn, in all my experiences as a student, was a macroeconomics class I took at Western Oregon University. Economics has always been difficult for me, but this particular class I took in the fall of 2010 was by far the most difficult. The professor made me (and a lot of the class, I believe) feel pretty dumb. His teaching style was mundane and predictable: He spent the entire class periods basically lecturing the white board as he wrote on it. As a future educator, the experience has served as a reminder to be personable and change-up methods of instruction. Do not be so predictable!

The main goal for me in this course is to learn more about inclusion strategies, especially for students who have IEPs/504s, and how I can make my classroom a place where everyone has the opportunity to learn.

There are many things that bring me joy, but here are a few things off the top of my head that come to mind: Haley's laugh, a well executed set play that I designed in a timeout, traveling, dates with Haley, an ice-cold Coca-Cola, and watching movies that I have never seen.



__**2. Introduction To My Topic:**__ **Inclusion Strategies for Sports Coaching** The reason I selected this topic for my focus of research is because I have been involved with sports my entire life; I have coached at least one sport, mostly at the high school level, for more than six years. I believe that being involved in a sports program is a unique way to learn and develop important things/skills in life such as hard work, discipline, accountability, responsibility, teamwork, and motivation etc. From my own personal experience as an athlete, and now as a coach (basketball and volleyball), I have not only developed the aforementioned skills (to some degree), but have also built lasting relationships with many people who I participated in sports with. Everyone should have the opportunity to be involved in sports; physical disabilities, gender, and people of diversity should not be denied the experience of playing on a team. It starts with coaches who are effective at not only accepting people of all abilities/capabilities, but are also skilled in inclusion strategies.

__**3. Top 5 Things I Learned While Researching**__

1.) Sports can be used as a catalyst to reduce the stigma of disabilities; sports can be used to help empower persons with disabilities.

2.) Coaches do not necessarily have to completely change how they coach persons with disabilities; coaches are (in general) by definition, supposed to cater to the individual needs of his/her athletes.

3.) A majority of strategies put an emphasis on focusing on the individual strengths of the disabled child, instead of focusing on what the child's weaknesses are.

4.) It is essential that coaches model the correct kind of behavior with disabled persons. The saying goes, "If the coach treats a disabled athlete like he/she is not really welcome, than the other athletes on the team will do the same."

5a.) It is okay to ask a disabled athlete what they are able to do; it is smart to communicate with disabled athletes about what they are comfortable with and what THEIR recommendations may be. Focus on maximizing their abilities.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">5b.) U.S. Federal law protects the inclusion of disabled athletes as long as reasonable accommodations can be made.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: center;">__**4. My Top Resource**__ <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: center;">

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: center;">

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**Rating: 5/5** This was my favorite resource for several reasons. This website is constructed for the sole purpose of <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">helping to "provide opportunities for people with disability to participate in sport and physical activity...It is a where you can learn from others, no matter where they are in the world." By joining "The Inclusion Club" free of charge, there is access to a vast amount of resources on how to be an inclusive Coach AND teacher. After subscribing to the website, there is the opportunity to download a free e-book called "Where Opportunity Knocks." In addition, this site provides case studies, access to interviews of inclusive coaches/teachers, and models of best practices etc.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> __**5. Other Resources (8 Total)**__ 1.) []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**Rating: 4/5** This is an article titled, "Making Inclusion Easy" by Sharon Phillips. This source comes from the government of Australia, specifically the Australian Sports Commission. This article makes the case that full-inclusion sports programs are not as difficult as many people would think. A coach quoted in the article states that, "Coaching well is just about providing opportunities for people as per their own individual needs...What we’re trying to do is reinforce that if you have a child in your program with a disability, your coaching practice really should not change. Be aware of the disability but maintain the strategies and competencies that we already have in the program, which is just about catering for individual needs." The author believes that coaching, itself, does not need to really change; a competent coach caters to individual needs anyway.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: left;">2.) []

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: left;">**Rating: 5/5** This link is connected to a 34-page document titled, "Sport and Persons with Disabilities: Fostering Inclusion and Well-Being." Within this document, the author discusses strategies for including persons with disabilities into sports programs. What I really like in particular, is the emphasis on how important sports can be for people with disabilities. Sports can be utilized to reduce the stigma of disabilities. The author states that, "The more that disability issues are addressed in mainstream society, the more persons with disabilities will be accepted." In addition, this document discusses "Sport as an Agent of Socialization" and "Using Sport to Empower Persons with Disabilities" etc.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> 3.) **Rating: 3/5** I found this video on YouTube, but it was originally published from my favorite resource, The Inclusion Club. This video is about the program called “Playable,” which is co-founded by the interviewee in this video, Steffi de Jong. Playable is a social business that promotes the rights of youth with disabilities through sports. This organization focuses on doing three things: assisting existing organizations in adapting their sports programs to include youth with disabilities with other youth, educating staff (instructors/coaches/administration), and assisting organizations and local programs in implementing and monitoring the activities of inclusive programs. This program was developed in the Netherlands.

media type="youtube" key="zi3daNeUykQ" height="315" width="420" align="center"

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">4.) []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> **Rating: 4/5** This is a link provided to an article titled, "Inclusion in Youth Sports" (by Mary Ann Devine, Patricia Hermann, John N. McGovern). This article provides practical examples and models about how a coach can effectively integrate disabled youth into sports programs and how to treat those youth. The authors provide this particular example: "To set the tone for inclusion, the atmosphere in a sports program must include several features. First, the person with a disability must feel welcome In front of others, treat the teammate with a disability the same as everyone else...It is important to provide an equal amount of attention to players with disabilities." Treat everyone the same; do not make the disabled athletes appear to be any different than the other athletes. The authors hold to the theory that when a coach or leader treats a player with a disability as if he or she is not really welcome, teammates do the same." Coaches should model the correct behavior.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: left;">5.)[]

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**Rating: 4/5** This source has specific links that I really like: "Sport and Adapted Physical Activity (APA)," "Policy, Practice and Future Priorities," and "Project Case Studies." These links, listed on the left side of the website, provide information and examples of how to approach the topic of sports and inclusion. The Project Case Studies link provides specific examples of how sports can improve the lives of people with disabilities, The APA link provides information on how sport and adapted physical activity can, and is beneficial for disabled people. What I like about the APA link in particular, is the link about barriers to participation. The link discusses the additional challenges people with disabilities face that someone like me would not know.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: left;">6.) []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**Rating: 4/5** This link provides a concise example about how to integrate disabled people in to a swimming program; This source also comes from the Australian Government. This link concerns simple "inclusion tips" to consider. This document is divided in to two sections: "What you can do" and "What you should do." An example of what you can do: "Be proactive, build awareness and educate your squad and other coaches about being inclusive; share your ideas and experiences with others." An example of what you should do: "When necessary, be prepared to make modifications to rules, equipment or anything else to ensure the participation of all people with a disability."

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> 7.) youth ** sports ** . ** rutgers ** .edu/ [youth ** sports ** . ** rutgers ** .edu/documents/disablilities/Home%20Page.doc]

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**Rating: 5/5** This article is titled, “Including and Coaching Individuals with Disabilities <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">in Recreational Youth Sport Programs.” This Microsoft Word document link includes other links worth investigating. The authors provide recommendations for coaching individuals with specific disabilities such as intellectual disabilities, behavioral disabilities, neuromuscular disabilities, and athletes with limb deficiencies etc. This particular source provides 20 case studies to be examined. Here is an example of a case study: “Moderate Down Syndrome in Basketball (23-28 year olds).” Something interesting to note that I discovered in this article is that under federal law, disabled athletes must be included if “reasonable accommodations” to rules, policies, or practices can be made.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: left;">8.) []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**Rating: 3/5** This is a link to the “Youth Sport Trust.” The Youth Sport Trust is a charity dedicated to changing young people's lives through sports. This charity is “passionate about helping all young people to achieve their full potential in life by delivering high quality physical education and sport opportunities. “ By registering free of charge, the user can access several case studies regarding inclusion in sports (http://www.youthsporttrust.org/resources.aspx?search=&search_extras=categories:UMDP-1109).

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: center;">__**6. CBL Project**__ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Arrange to observe or participate in an IEP meeting (make sure the parent is present!). How did each member of the team participate in the meeting? What did you learn about the IEP process? What questions do you have from this experience? __Final project will include an account of the IEP process you observed and a personal reflection on the process.__


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">** How did each member of the team participate in the meeting? **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;"> Assistant Principal: Introduced himself and his title, listened, took notes, otherwise he did not speak at all during the meeting.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;"> SPED Teacher: Ran the meeting, spoke with positive/nourishing tone of voice, was “matter-of-fact,” gave the father and classroom teachers several opportunities to offer input and ask questions. He closed the meeting at the end.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;"> Father of Child: mostly just listened while the SPED and general education teachers gave their reports on the progress of his daughter. He did not ask many questions. He agreed with the recommendation to pull his daughter out of her P.E. class. He made the argument, at times, that the physical disease his daughter has could have an effect on her education, however he also noted that his daughter does sometimes use it as an excuse to be lazy and not complete classwork.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;"> Teachers (all teachers are sent an invitation to meeting, not all were present): Each teacher took a turn to deliver brief reports on the academic progress of the student and then respond to any questions from the parent and/or SPED teacher. Teachers were free to make personal recommendations about how to accommodate the student. Teachers present:
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">P.E. Teacher
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Math Teacher
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Geography Teacher
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Science Teacher


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">** What did you learn about the IEP process? **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;"> IEP meetings are not just reports from the SPED teacher and general education teachers. It is also an opportunity to present new alterations and changes to the IEP student’s current educational format. Changes can be made immediately.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Though conversation and discussion can be casual at times, the meeting, and the consequences of the meeting, are very serious. The meetings are really important because the decisions made affect the student immediately. Teaching methods, class structure, and other modifications to the IEP can be made from one meeting.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">The role of a school administrator in an IEP meeting seems to be minimal. They are more of a “presence” than a participator.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Paperwork! Everyone in the room had to sign an attendance form. There were at least two other documents that had to be signed by everyone present in the meeting. For example, though I was not a participant in the meeting and am not member of staff, I was required to sign two forms, one of them which was the attendance sheet.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">** What questions do you have from this experience? **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Does an administrator have to be present at each meeting?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Do parents have to be present for each IEP meeting? Does the student have an option to be present at the meeting?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Can an IEP meeting be held without a SPED teacher?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Can individual school districts construct their own rules for what can be accomplished at IEP meetings, or who has to be at each meeting? For example, at my placement, I think the policy is that there has to be at least one of the IEP student’s teachers present (besides the SPED teacher).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">This meeting was conducted on January 24, 2012 at the middle school where I am currently student teaching (at 7:45am). The IEP was for a 7th grade female student; her IEP is designed specifically for language arts/reading. She also has a muscle disease called Dermomitosis (though I do not think she is on a 504). Her current accommodations currently include: extra time to complete assignments/tests, frequent checks for understanding, and she gets points in each class for participation (how she is primarily graded in each class) etc. Once all the teachers arrived, including the SPED teacher and assistant principal, the SPED teacher went out to the office and brought in the father of the IEP student; then the meeting started.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">** IEP Process Account **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;"> The SPED teacher started the meeting by introducing himself and explaining how the meeting was going to be conducted: first individual teachers would give accounts of her current academic status and how he/she is accommodating the student according to the current IEP. Next, there would be discussion about how the IEP should change, remain the same, etc. The father was told to ask questions or speak freely at any time.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;"> Each teacher introduced him/herself and stated the student’s current grade in the class. Each teacher then discussed both the “good” and “bad” characteristics of the student in the particular class. Common positive remarks about the student included comments such as” She has a good attitude” and “She is bubbly.” The student’s highest grade was a B- and her lowest was an F. Each teacher made similar conclusions: the student has issues with study habits, motivation, effort in class, and using her physical disability as a “crutch.” The father did not disagree. He made the comment that her child does in fact use her disease as an illegitimate excuse. She is really struggling in P.E. because she almost never participates. Her father stated: “I get a lot of calls from her while she is at school. Most of the time it is because she says she is sick. It is almost always right before P.E. I know that she is not always sick and she just doesn’t want to do anything in that class.”

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;"> After each teacher report, the SPED teacher asked the father what he thought we might change about the IEP or what he would recommends for anything else. The father said he thought his child should be pulled out of P.E. and go into a different class. The SPED teacher agreed; pulling the student out of P.E. was the only major change that was made from this meeting. The SPED teacher emphasized that the teachers were going to put more emphasis on “encouraging the student to participate.” Right after he said that, he reminded the father that he wanted to make sure that he knew that “we do not want to violate her rights” in any way and that if he had any problems or questions to notify him at any time. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;"> The meeting was concluded by the SPED teacher after about 20-25 minutes. Before everyone left, each person in the room, including myself, had to sign two documents. One of the documents was just an official document that noted who attended the meeting. The second document was the “placement page” for the student. The document confirmed that the student would remain in SPED for reading.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">I thought this particular meeting was beneficial to all who were there: the teachers, administrator, and the parent of the student. Though the meeting was short, I thought there was a lot accomplished. I felt like each member left the meeting with a clear idea of what needed to be done to help the IEP student succeed.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">** Personal Reflection **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;"> I thought each member of the meeting showed sincere care for the student. Teachers were able to identify qualities of the student that they really liked about the person, while they also were able to candidly speak about the particular problems they had with the student without speaking harshly, or offending the student’s father. The teachers care about her; there is no doubt about that.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;"> I was saddened by the story of the student’s physical disability (which was diagnosed the previous summer; chemotherapy had begun over Christmas break). It seemed that a few of the faculty were unaware that she was going through chemotherapy. That is just a hunch I have, I never actually found out if every teacher knew about her physical condition. It is my understanding that there is no current cure for her particular disease.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;"> I am interested to see other IEP meetings. This one was really successful; it was also the first IEP meeting I have ever been in where a parent was present. I wonder if other meetings are this meaningful and beneficial. I definitely would like to sit in on more meetings.