In recent years, the education system has realized just how important it is to include all types of learners within the classroom.  Of course, it does not just stop within the four walls of a classroom, it continues throughout the entire school.  This is a topic that I hold close to my heart.  As a student who grew up with an IEP, I often found myself feeling excluded from my peers.  I felt like I was different.  So, it is important to me that I one day create a classroom that is inclusive to all learners.  When I say all learners, I don’t just mean how they learn.  I am also referring to an inclusive classroom for all students of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds.  It is an exciting time to become a teacher with the direction that education is going in.  We are moving away from that old school way of teaching with the use of tests, and by the book approach, and moving in a direction that teaches all types of learners.  It has been recognized that students do not learn the same way.  What works for one student may not work for another.  With that being said, it is important to create lessons that reach as many different learning styles as possible.  When we aim to reach the diverse learning styles and backgrounds of each of our students, we create an inclusive classroom.

 

This photo makes me think of inclusion.  All the handprints are different colours, but together they create a heart.  The handprints represent each individual child and their differences, and the heart represents the community created within the classroom and school when we include all types of learners.