Editors Note:  We asked Teachers/SLPs/OTs and other educators what they like for Christmas.   Their responses are here in the  Facebook post.  Inspired by that, Anna Johnson wrote this guest blog post for us.  Read thru get some ideas.   If you are an educator, what do you like to get during the Holiday from your Students/Families and if you are Parent, what did you give it to the educators  Tell us in the comments section.

by Anna Johnson

Tis the season to be giving, fa la la la la la la la la.

I was especially touched by a recent Facebook post about best gifts for service providers and teachers. Wendy Weingartner Homlish suggested “A letter of appreciation specifying how you are making a difference in their lives – and be sure to cc the principal and superintendent!”

Recently, I wrote a letter of appreciation to my daughter’s teachers (2 general education teachers and 1 resource specialist) to express how grateful we are to be welcome at their new Montessori charter school. My daughter previously attended a special day class where only 10% of her day was spent in an inclusive setting. Our former school’s advice for her future was that our daughter’s needs were so specific that only a special day class could provide her the support she needed to learn. This advice didn’t sit well with me, my husband, or our daughter so we decided to take a leap of faith and enroll her in a new Montessori charter school this year.

Today, our daughter spends 90% of her time in a general education setting and only 10% pulled out. What a huge change it’s been for our first grader. With the support of the community, and in particular her teachers and service providers, she has adapted with such grace and goodwill that I’m a little overwhelmed with happiness at just how far she’s journeyed in such a short amount of time.

Her teachers and service providers provide our daughter and us with gifts all year round. Thank you to my daughter’s OT who coached her to turn triangles and squares into a beautiful picture of a Christmas tree and presents. Thank you SLP who coached ME to be a better facilitator of language development and to make language fun for our growing chatty Cathy. Thank you resource specialist for bridging the communication between service providers and classroom teachers, without you inclusion could not happen. Thank you aids for helping my kid navigate the language arts curriculum and lunch room. You help her to normalize the learning and social experiences as well as keep her safe and protected. And thank you classroom teachers for including all children (all means all) no matter their challenges AND gifts. I am grateful for your gift of inclusion at a time when our daughter needed it most.

For those readers who are looking for gift inspiration above and beyond the appreciation letter, here are a few ideas.

1. Our OT likes the Mead early learning writing products that can be found at Target and Amazon. Many of their workbooks have raised lines to help provide sensory input so that students know where letter formation begins and ends. Our 1^st grader loves these workbooks too.
2. Audio books are great to help teachers build their classroom libraries. We discovered through testing that my daughter has better auditory comprehension when books are listened through tape/CD/iPod rather than when a person reads to her. She loves to look at people’s faces so she sometimes focuses on a person’s face rather than listening to what they have to say. Frog and Toad and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom are personal favorites.
3. Create a DonorsChoose project together with your classroom teachers and service providers. DonorsChoose.org is an online charity that makes it easy for anyone to help students and teachers in need. If your child’s educators are slammed for time, you can help them by creating a donorschoose page for your classroom. I’m working with my child’s resource specialist to create one for her class.
4. iTunes gift cards. While our school doesn’t have ipads yet, maybe yours does. Even though many schools are purchasing ipads, most schools and school districts don’t provide budget to purchase high quality apps for classroom and therapy use. iPads are only as effective as the apps that are on them. So help lead the charge by including a list of your favorite apps and a gift card to buy them. Here are a few of our favorite apps.
   • Write My Name by Injini - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/write-my-name-by-injini/id500623496?mt=8
   • Scribble Press - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/scribble-press/id487300076?mt=8
   • Go Go Games - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/go-go-games/id565022507?mt=8
   • How It Works by Geek Kids - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/how-it-works-machines-by-geek/id513436058?mt=8
   • Faces I Make - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/faces-imake-lite/id357230884?mt=8
   • I Luv Drawing Series - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/iluv-drawing-people-hd-learn/id515886053?mt=8
   • Word Wizard - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/word-wizard-talking-movable/id447312716?mt=8
   • Stella and Sam series by zinc Roe Games - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/stella-and-sam-story-pack/id441939700?mt=8
   • Pages - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pages/id361309726?mt=8
   • QuickVoice Pro for recording lessons - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/quickvoice2text-email-pro/id285877935?mt=8
   • iPhoto - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/iphoto/id497786065?mt=8
   • Notability - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/notability-take-notes-annotate/id360593530?mt=8
   • National Archives - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/todays-document/id412969819?mt=8

Anna Johnson is a mom, wife and freelance writer/marketer but not necessarily in that order all of the time. Special ed supporter, CHD advocate, iPad devotee, edtech believer. She recently took a job at LocoMotive Labs, an independent developer that designs exceptional assistive and play-based learning applications to empower kids with special needs to be independent learners. She can be found tweeting occasionally about all things special ed and congenital heart defects @sumpepandwong.