Brett Bigham

Brett Bigham is the 2014 Oregon State Teacher of the Year and a member of the National Network of State Teachers of the Year. He is the only Oregon special education teacher to be named Teacher of the Year and to win the NEA National Award for Teaching Excellence. He is the creator of Ability Guidebooks, a series of support books for people with autism that give step-by-step directions how to visit cultural landmarks and social events. The books are currently available in 10 countries and four languages. He is president of ORSTOY, the Oregon chapter of the National Network of State Teachers of the Year and serves on the boards of Oregon Safe Schools and Clubfunder.Org.

Posts By Brett Bigham

Teaching

Yes, I've Been Hit by Students, But I Still Believe Suspensions and Expulsions Are Not the Answer

Betsy DeVos wants to end the Obama-era discipline guidance that addresses the over-suspension and expulsion of students of color. Betsy DeVos is wrong. And I say that as a special educator serving...

Teaching

I'm a Teacher Not a Boxer, and I'm Tired of Being Beat Up by My Students

I had a job interview recently. Even though I am pretty well known for my work with older students I was interviewing for a K-2 special education classroom. There are lots of reasons for the change...

Diversity

Those Teachers in Idaho Destroyed Any Trust Parents Had in Their Teachers

Will the parents of my Mexican students ever look at me the same after Halloween in Middleton, Idaho? On Friday, I had an awesome day at school. I was the guest teacher in a fifth-grade classroom...

Diversity

I Thought I Knew How to Support Students of Color Until I Learned This

A few months into my time as Oregon’s Teacher of the Year I was asked to speak to the largest gathering of teachers in my state. As I stood at the podium, addressing an auditorium full of teachers, I...

Mental Health

Maybe My Friend Mark Wouldn't Have Committed Suicide If Someone Had Shown Him That Gay Kids Have Futures

When Education Post asked me to write something for Pride I had to sit down and think. And think. Then I tossed and turned in bed and now I find myself sitting in front of my computer in the middle...

Teaching

These Military Kids Wrote Really Cute Letters to Deployed Marines

Military kids have a different view of the world than most American children. As they bounce from station to station, they leave behind their new friends, their teachers, schools and pretty much...

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