Pedagogy For Inclusivity

I chose to dive into pedagogy for this blog post and found two great articles that further my learning of new tactics to carry with me into my classroom one day. The first article I read was "Creating A Welcoming Classroom For Students With Special Needs" written by Jennifer Gonzalez. I was immediately attracted to this article because I have always had a patience and love for working with kids with special needs and one of my greatest goals each year will be to ensure that every student, no matter level of ability, receives the needed supports and tools to reach their educational potential in my class. I loved this article by Gonzalez as she recites Jam Gamble's suggestions for regular ed teachers on how to make their classroom more welcoming. Gamble proposes 5 actions: Express your fears and concerns, consult with your specialist regularly, design activities that challenge everyone. recognize that parents struggle with their own discomfort and fear, and read books with students that encourage inclusion and diversity. My favorite quote from this post was by Gamble when she says: "You could have the most accessible classroom in terms of space and lighting, but if you don't have an accessible attitude, your classroom's not accessible." I find such truth in this statement because a welcoming environment for all students begins with the teacher and their willingness to adapt, adjust, and change for the benefit of the kids. This is one take away I will most definitely bring to my classroom and an additional one is Gamble's idea of designing activities that challenge everyone. She talks about turning the tables that instead of adjusting the lesson plan to fit the needs of the student with a disability, create a lesson that is fit for the student with the disability and gives the other students a taste of their world, uniting the class and including the students.

The next article that caught my eye was another article by Gonzalez titled "Classroom Eye Candy 2: The Learning Lounge." The concept of flexible seating in the classroom is something new that I discovered last semester, am so intrigued by and want to continue to read and learn more about it. This article is about Sherah Cash's 5th-grade science and social studies classroom, also known as "The Learning Lounge." Cash decided to remove all desks in her classroom to enable more space for her many students but came to realize that change led to deeper learning, greater student interest, and higher progress. She believes this space creates a homey, relaxed climate which allows students to open up and produce more conversation. The students read, play educational games, and even create their own games and rules. She also feels that her space has allowed for students to be responsible for their learning and have more free choice about how to continue their learning. One concern I have with Cash's choice for her classroom layout is the complete removal of desks. Not all students will thrive without the structure of a desk. I know that I love to move around when I am doing work and even lay in my bed or on the couch, but I also know that for certain assignments I need to be at a desk with adequate space and quiet. I think for flexible seating to be successful there needs to be a balance so that the room does not turn into complete chaos and distraction from the furniture and decoration alone.

I find Blume's Taxonomy to be a great structure for educators to ensure that learning goes beyond learning for a test and grade and then the information is gone. It also is something that requires dedicated teachers who are willing to commit time and effort into creating lesson plans that reach the top of that period and unfortunately, from personal experience I can say that not all teachers possess that inner drive. Passionate, dedicated, driven, and teachers who teach for the kids would benefit greatly from utilizing Bloom's Taxonomy in order to create the most success in their classroom.