About: Mary McLaughlin

Mary has always loved learning, but was a struggling learner who couldn’t read until one day, the right teacher came along with the right methodology, and everything clicked for Mary. Understanding the struggles of children who just “don’t get it,” Mary has spent her career supporting children with learning difficulties and finding ways to excite them about education. Over her career, Mary has taught Second Grade, Third Grade, and served as a Middle School Administrator in Michigan, most often in the urban setting. In 2015, Mary relocated to Arkansas in search of new opportunities and is excited at all that has been placed before her. She currently teaches Special Education in a self-contained setting for children in grades 2-4.

Recent Posts by Mary McLaughlin

Happy 30th Birthday to the Americans With Disabilities Act!

How in One Generation, Accessibility and Opportunity Became a Human Right for Everyone   Thirty years ago on July 26, President George H.W. Bush signed The Americans With Disabilities Act into law. The legislation literally removed physical barriers –and along with them certain social and employment barriers too – so people with disabilities could experience…
Read more

Educating Kids with PTSD

Some years ago, a student entered my classroom. It is never unusual for a Special Education Teacher to hear a knock on the door and have a new student and their family member standing there, along with a school representative, waiting to enter your classroom. Such was the same for this child whom I will…
Read more

Autism, the Impact of Trauma, and the First Days of School

Supports To Help Teachers In Meeting the Needs of a Growing Demographic In General Education and Special Education Classrooms For students in my Southern school district, classes started in mid-August. Teachers returned for meetings a week prior. With each passing school year, Administrations across the country engage their teams in conversations about the changing needs…
Read more

False Assumptions About What Special Needs Students Can’t Do

People really just slay me. I was perusing a Special Education Teachers group page on social media today. A member posted that a parent questioned one of her research-based Teaching strategies (which we all use). Say What? A Teacher had been asked if students with special needs were “able” to do group work. Wait, what?…
Read more

How Much Progress Should Be Expected From a Student’s IEP

The Implications of  the Endrew F. Case As Decided By The United States Supreme Court Get Out Of the Way:  School’s Out! If you close your eyes and open your ears, listening for the sound of it, you just might hear it. Shhh… There it is. Low in the distance, you can hear the beginnings…
Read more

Recent Comments by Mary McLaughlin

No comments by Mary McLaughlin yet.