Love Is a Classroom: Stories of Inclusion

Andrew D.L. Goff
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Love Is a Classroom: Stories of Inclusion is a podcast that aims to serve as a bridge for a more inclusive world. Through storytelling and conversation, each series illuminates the collective experience of individuals who strive to break down barriers and foster a more inclusive world for children with disabilities or who are neurodivergent. Together we explore and discover practical ways we can all contribute to building a society where everyone belongs.

  1. Episode 1

    Season 3 Episode 1: Something Different

    Why does Bayfield Early Education Program (BEEP) feel different? Dr. Andrew D.L. Goff begins his five-episode journey toward understanding what makes BEEP different from the other 79 programs he has visited in western Colorado over the past two years. 00:00 A Preschool Welcome 01:59 First Impressions Matter 03:16 Meet Dr Goff 03:53 Stephanie Joins During Covid 09:11 Learning Without Pressure 11:48 Julia Finds Her Place 14:26 The Real Work Begins 16:46 Searching for the Secret 18:12 Families First Culture 24:31 Peace Within Chaos 25:29 A Parent Needs Proof 26:31 Hayes Tour and Inclusion 29:22 Episode Wrap and Thanks.

  2. Episode 2

    Season 3 Episode 2: Making Room

    In episode two of Love Is A Classroom: Stories of Inclusion, Dr. Goff follows Lauren as she enrolls her son Hayes at the Bayfield Early Education Program (BEEP) and confronts the vulnerability of leaving Hayes, a child who can’t describe his day. Staff and therapists support Hayes’ difficult transition by meeting him in hallways, using sensory strategies, modifying schedules in minutes, and building communication through eye contact, hand leading, and tools like picture supports and a button. BEEP supports the whole family by arranging transportation, reducing stressful drop-offs, and coordinating consistency between home and school. Over time, Hayes increases classroom tolerance from 10 minutes to an hour and a half, participates with peers, and joins a walk to the park safely. The episode closes by previewing episode three’s focus on adult collaboration 00:00 Trusting the Team 01:06 Episode Two Begins 02:11 First Day Transition 04:11 Should We Send Him 06:59 Transportation Game Changer 10:02 Minutes Matter 12:02 Breakthrough Communication 15:07 Classroom Adapts 16:32 All Hands Support 18:07 Everything Is Ish 19:42 Peers Become Classmates 20:49 No Summer Break 21:45 Summer Camp Routine 23:51 Skills Transfer Home 25:13 Second Year Growth 27:00 Walking to the Park 29:14 Making Room to Belong 30:17 Looking Ahead 31:47 Thanks and Resources 32:52 Closing Credits

  3. Episode 3

    Season 3 Episode 3: Hire the Person, Not the Position

    At the Bayfield Early Education Program (BEEP), staff members are not interchangeable. Some bring decades of classroom experience. Others arrive with few formal credentials but with patience, commitment, and a willingness to learn. Teachers, paraprofessionals, and administrators hold different responsibilities, yet knowledge and ideas move across those roles. In Episode 3, Stephanie, Colleen, Julia, and April describe how BEEP’s staff learn to work through differences in experience, personality, and authority. Their stories reveal that collaboration depends on more than hiring the right people. It requires time to reflect together, relationships in which uncertainty can be acknowledged, and structures that allow people to contribute while continuing to grow. What appears from the outside as chemistry among staff is supported by intentional choices about hiring, mentorship, co-teaching, communication, and shared decision-making. Together, these choices help explain how responsibility for inclusion can extend beyond a single educator or director and become part of a program’s culture. Learn more about the podcast, the Growth Model for Inclusion, and early childhood trainings at heartsetandmindset.org. 00:00 Stress and Support 01:20 Episode Three Begins 03:51 Team Differences 05:12 Kids First Values 06:55 Collaboration Structures 08:36 Extra Adults Join 10:14 Stephanie Finds Voice 12:40 Communication Breakthrough 14:23 Julia Learns Teaching 15:37 Hayes Shapes Educator 17:06 Hire the Person 22:05 Paras Influence Plans 24:39 Families First Staffing 26:52 Beyond Depending April 29:56 Next Episode Tease 30:56 Thanks and Outro

  4. Episode 4

    Season 3 Episode 4: What Counts As Evidence

    Colorado Shines evaluates its view of quality at BEEP. The overall score was good, but its classroom observations, where the work matters most, revealed the limits of what an outside observer could document during a brief visit. Staff discussed the gaps between the standard measures of quality and high-quality, meaningful inclusion. The episode then follows BEEP’s curriculum and assessment decisions, where professional judgment involves interpreting what each source of evidence contributes within a particular context. Chapters 00:00 — Waiting, independence, and adult action 02:36 — Colorado Shines and competing evidence 08:01 — Preparing for an ECERS observation 11:30 — Building curriculum from multiple sources 16:06 — Planning for what happens “ish” 17:14 — Choosing an assessment system 18:40 — Observation, relationships, and professional judgment 21:01 — What makes educational decisions possible Learn more about the Growth Model for Inclusion Course and other trainings at heartsetandmindset.org. Contact Dr. Andrew Goff through heartsetandmindset.org/contact.

  5. Episode 5

    Season 3 Episode 5: What Are The Ingredients For a High-Quality Inclusive School?

    April begins with one non-negotiable: BEEP considers the student first and the resources second. That commitment requires the program to build teams with outside specialists, prepare children for kindergarten, and support the adults doing the work. Episode five follows those relationships into staff compensation, benefits, governance, retention, and connections that extend throughout the Bayfield community. When April, Stephanie, Julia, Colleen, and Lauren identify BEEP’s “ingredients,” they describe respect, trust, communication, knowledge, professional judgment, voice, and shared responsibility. Together, their stories suggest that inclusion does not come from reproducing another program’s practices but from creating the conditions in which people can contribute to what happens next. Chapters 00:00 — Student first, resources second 01:39 — Building teams beyond the program 03:21 — Including and supporting adults 04:41 — Carrying knowledge into kindergarten 07:27 — Retention, compensation, and governance 12:23 — Families and community as resources 14:28 — Naming BEEP’s ingredients 18:28 — A program shaped across generations 19:36 — Replicating practices or supporting growth 22:32 — What has already been growing here? Learn more about the Growth Model for Inclusion Course and other trainings at heartsetandmindset.org. Contact Dr. Andrew Goff at AndrewDLgoff@gmail.com.

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About

Love Is a Classroom: Stories of Inclusion is a podcast that aims to serve as a bridge for a more inclusive world. Through storytelling and conversation, each series illuminates the collective experience of individuals who strive to break down barriers and foster a more inclusive world for children with disabilities or who are neurodivergent. Together we explore and discover practical ways we can all contribute to building a society where everyone belongs.

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