danblanchard

The History of Special Education Blog 7            I got my master’s degree in special education in 1995 from the University of Hartford. Since then, I have spent a good part of three decades working in and out of the special education classrooms in public education. And the thing tickling my fancy now that I’m […]

Crip Camp Blog 6   So now that I’m officially part of the first cohort for the CT Aspiring Leadership Academy for Special Education, our first assignment is to watch Crip Camp. I’ve never heard of the movie. I don’t know anything about it. But, the special education leaders of our group tell us that

CT Aspiring Leadership Academy Blog 5   So, there I am, just minding my own business teaching my social studies and special education students at Brookside School, when I get an email that catches my attention. It is an email about a new leadership program in special education. I thought it would be great to

Returning to Teaching Blog 4   After teaching for a decade in New Britain, I resigned and packed my family up to go teach in the business world. I had been offered a very lucrative job to teach in the real estate industry in Florida. Southwest Florida’s real estate market was exploding, and people were

The Early Years of Teaching Blog 3   As mentioned earlier, I started my teaching career with Saint Thomas More. It was an unconventional start to my educational career. Saint Thomas more was an international preparatory boarding school that didn’t require teachers to have a teaching license. But did require teachers to live there on

The College Years Blog 2             My friend Danny told me that he had gotten his master’s degree in special education from the University of Hartford. Their program was quicker than the program at the college where I was taking my social studies classes. I drove down to the University of Hartford to talk to

The Beginning Blog 1 At the time of this writing, I am a special education teacher in an alternative high school. I do the special education testing, modifications, accommodations, Individual Education Plans (IEPs), and the Planning and Placement Team (PPTs) meetings. I also teach all the history classes of the school. I am dual certified

Owning the Mat Blog 14 Week 14   This is the week of the New England Wrestling Championships. None of our E.O. Smith wrestlers qualified for this elite-level U.S. northeastern tournament. However, Connecticut wrestlers did do well. Saint John’s Prep of Danvers, Massachusetts, took the team title. But, Xavier High School from Connecticut took second.

Owning the Mat Blog 13 Week 13   It’s another do-or-die week, and the stakes just got a whole lot bigger. The State Open is no joke. This is where the really big Connecticut boys come out to play. Every single match will be a one-on-one war on those mats. And only the top five

Owning the Mat Blog 12 Week 12   In some ways, many years, it seems like week 12 leading up to the Class State Championship weekend tournament feels like the hardest one every year. There is so much anticipation over where our wrestlers, or our sons, will rank in the mid-week coaches seeding meeting. Many