On Friday mornings a team of us meets over Zoom to plan for our inclusive pod and discuss any other concerns or pressing issues. As Thanksgiving approached we’d talked about how 
we wanted to do a project that dealt with thankfulness, but hadn’t found one yet.
The day before we met I spent time pursuing Pinterest for some of those beautiful crafty projects teachers post about doing for Thanksgiving. I found one from a Montessori teacher who had her children sew small hearts to give away at Thanksgiving dinner. Well, that sounded sweet and I couldn’t think of anything better. Instead of handing them out at Thanksgiving we could mail them to people we can’t be with this year.
Last week I only touched the surface of the benefits my own children have gotten from participating in the inclusive pod. Shortly after I wrote, we experienced this moment, which confirmed everything I believe in the value of inclusive settings. 
It is November, which means I am thinking about what I am grateful for. This fall I realize that one of my greatest areas of thankfulness is that my own children have been included in the Augmentative Learning Program Study (ALPS) Inclusive Pod hosted by Joey’s Foundation. While I have always been pleased when my children were placed in inclusion classrooms in their elementary school, this feels like a completely different opportunity. 
One aspect of our Augmented Learning Study Program is providing small group academic instruction that would be seen in schools. In this time of virtual learning, we want our learners to have an opportunity to learn in groups from each other – as COVID safely as they can.
nce our first 
