Ira Socol's Toolbelt ...Education for Everyone

I think everyone, but especially teachers and parents, should read
this intriguing blog post by Ira Socol. (Click on the title to go to the post yourself). Pat H from Successful Teaching from my PLN alerted me to this post.

Everyone needs "TOOLS" to achieve what they must accomplish in life.

Although every student needs an IEP (Individualized Education Plan), currently in our school system we only make them for students with so-called "commonly defined disabilities." Each of us have our own "disabilities," but some of our "disabilities" are not as obvious to others. Many of us have "disabilities" that are more easily overlooked.

Each person finds tools to use for various parts of his/her own IEP to navigate our lives. Some of us are able, through our own abilities, to determine these "tools," but others need extra help to determine the right tools for each job and each situation. Currently, this happens in schools only for a portion of the school population, but not for all students.

Every person, student, child, or adult, needs "tools" to compensate for our "disabilities." We are not all experts at everything. There are areas where we may need "special tools" to help us accomplish our goals.

If we want to become Life-Long Learners, we all need a Personalized TOOLBELT! Perfecting that Toolbelt is what education must be, not only for the 21st Century, but for all time!