What makes a completely inclusive Classroom?

This week in our class we focused on different ways to integrate differences between students. Whether it be race, ethnicity, culture, or learning styles we learned about how schools work around these differences. One way which I feel is very beneficial to a diverse classroom is inclusion. An Inclusive classroom should be centered around the needs of all the students no matter what they may be. Going deeper into this definition is equality. An inclusive classroom should have an equal feel to it among its students.  But what makes a completely inclusive classroom? Is it lesson plans? Is it the physical set-up of the class, is it the teacher to students relationships? Is it student to student relationships? I believe the answer lies in all of these questions. An inclusive classroom cannot just be one of these aspects but needs to include all of these aspects as one.

Lesson plans, in my opinion, should always be inclusive. By inclusive I mean that they can be altered or varied to students who may not be able to grasp the lesson as well or for students who find it to easy. Either way... the lessons should be flexible and tangible to all students no matter what. And this is something to always remember "NO MATTER WHAT" and that it when the lesson plan becomes inclusive.

The physical set up of a classroom is also pretty important. Students should have a set up that is easy for them. If a child is disabled the classroom should work around this trait. If a student speaks a different language maybe keeping language dictionaries or even a buddy for the student to guide them and be there for them can help this situation and still include the student. If there is a student with learning disabilities he or she should not be separated and have a different setting within the classroom but instead should be included and be a member of the class. These are just a few issues that can be worked around and fixed to make a classroom physically inclusive.

The relationships in the classroom though are most important. How students act toward eachother is very influential to other students. Children should be encouraged to treat each other equally and include everybody in the classroom during group activities. This can really only be enforced by the teacher. The teacher has the most influence on how their students behave. This is aproven fact. This being said a teacher should include all of its students in the classroom and meet the needs of each student without excluding anybody. If the students see the teacher practicing this quality they are sure to follow.

A lesson I found on Pinterest this week while researching inclusion really caught my eye and  I couldn't wait to share it! This lesson really taught students to include each other and even take the act of inclusion into their own hands without directly knowing this is what they are doing. This approach I found was very hands on and under the students discretion which makes it even more beneficial and fun. The lesson was "Fuzzy Wuzzy Bags". Each student decorates a brown lunch bag and personalizes it. The bags are hung in a tangible place in the classroom. When a student notices something positive about another student in the classroom they can write a note and put it in that persons bag. At the end of the year the students can open their own bags and read all the positive feedback from their peers. I saw this as an inclusion method because it encourages students to focus on the good things about each other and their education and if all the students participate all the students will have positive feedback at the end of the year and feel as an important member of the classroom
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/341710690451255284/