Educators implement effective planning, instruction, assessment and reporting practices to create respectful, inclusive environments for student learning and development.
Standard 5 over these past6 weeks of block 4 has been something that I have been able to reflect on immensely, particularly from the inclusion class and diversity class that we provided during that time.
Planning, instruction, assessment and reporting are so intertwined and being able to adapt those to our students’ needs are not only needed but required for the success of our students. As I reflect on my own experiences from the teaching and learning from our inclusion class, several things stood out to me that I would definitely include and not include in my classroom. I believe that an inclusive environment needs to be adaptable and always assessed during the teaching process. By this I mean that if multiple students are stating that there is an issue, as a teacher that needs to be assessed, and addressed to make sure that this situation is solved, and all the needs of students are being met.
In our diversity class, inclusion tied in greatly to making sure that all students needs were respected and accepted in a classroom. So, while we were talking about different ethnicities, religions, learning disabilities, etc. all the ways to adapt and include them directly in the classroom were examined. I believe that knowing our students and what makes them unique and then accepting and including them in lessons should be required by all teachers. From my personal experience in both the 390 and 391 practicums by planning for all student’s needs, the instruction of those lessons becomes more easily teachable to all students in the classroom. By having an effective plan for instruction, the assessment will naturally come from that with no surprises to the students on how they will be graded and no fear on if they are meeting the expectations. And in an inclusive classroom that is exactly what should be happening.