An Unusual Website For Teachers
I love creating curriculum and sharing it with teachers. Over half of my items on TeachersPayTeachers are free. I just added a free “Welcome Everybody” sign for your classrooms. LGBT students are at a higher risk for suicide and these signs will let LGBT teens know they have a safe place at school.
As many of you know, I have been working on my Ability Guidebooks for years but I had always stuck pretty close to home. It was a big deal to me when I made the book for the Oregon City Elevator and Willametter Falls because they were my first books outside of Portland.
Last week I posted my new book for the Inca Museum in Cusco, Peru and was thrilled to have gone international. Today I am crossing the country and presenting my newest guide: I Am Going To The National Museum of the American Indian.
Since being Teacher of the Year I have travelled over 85,000 miles and visited many different states. I’ve taken pictures for books on every trip. My goal is to get the ball rolling in other cities with the hopes other teachers may create more books for their community.
In February I attended the NEA Gala in Washington D.C. as part of being an NEA Global Fellowand took the opportunity to visit the museum. I’m super excited that students and people with autism will now have this guide on how to visit the museum. I hope it makes their world a little bit bigger and a little bit better.
Ability Guidebook Museum of the American Indian
For the past several years I have been creating “Ability Guidebooks.” These are simple books that give a step-by-step instructions on how to visit places in the community. Most of my books have been for the Portland, Oregon area but each time I travel I try to take pictures to create new books.
This past summer I had the absolute honor to be named and National Education Association Foundation Global Fellow. With this honor came the chance to travel to Peru to meet with teachers, students and administrators as well as meet the Peruvian Ambassador to the United States.
I tried to think of a way to thank Peru for their wonderful hospitality and it became clear. My thank you would be a book for those people in Peru who have autism. This is the English version but a Spanish version is coming soon.
Dear Peru, You opened your arms to the 2015 NEA Global Fellows and showed us amazing hospitality. Please accept this token of thanks from an American Special Education Teacher. It is my hope that there will be people in Peru who will benefit from this guide.
Thank you to Kristen Record, the Connecticut State Teacher of the Year and Global Fellow for being a good sport about me taking her picture!
I Am Going To The Museo Inca In Cusco, Peru!
I am very excited to finally have my website up and running! I cannot wait to share projects, inspiration and ways which we can support the teachers and students all over the world.
As the 2014 Oregon State Teacher of the Year and one of the 2015 National Education Association Educator of Excellence winners and through my participation in the NEA Foundation Global Fellow program, I have had the honor of visiting schools all over the world. In those travels I have seen how education is the great equalizer. It does not matter what country, what language or what religion a person may be, but it is education that makes them all equal.
It will be my honor to support teachers and I look forward to hearing from you!
Brett Bigham