5 Tips for Success in Your Inclusive Classroom…and yes, you DO have an inclusive classroom.

By Carrie Lupoli

Whether or not you have any “officially” labeled child with disabilities in your classroom, you definitely have a diverse population of children, for each child comes to you with a unique personality, culture, background and knowledge base.  Each of your students represent various family and economic situations, which will directly impact the diversity in your classroom, as well.  

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Therefore, having a child with diagnosed special needs is not a requirement for a classroom to need to be “inclusive.”  Of course, if you adopt the philosophy of an inclusive classroom, you will be better equipped to successfully integrate a child with special needs at anytime!

1. Market your Philosophy:  It is important that your students and parents know that you recognize the individual needs of each child and that your intention is to respect the unique qualities every student brings.  Keep this philosophy front and center through your regular classroom newsletters, through the read-aloud books you share with your students, to the topics you discuss during morning meeting time.  Modeling, discussing and displaying your philosophy of inclusiveness daily will seep into the hearts of your classroom family. 
2. Change things up!  An inclusive classroom is one that is always moving, active and varied.  Groups shouldn’t be stagnant, meaning that reading groups should be changed regularly and seating arrangements can be mixed up.  Your students need the opportunity to work with each other, in all different ways at different times.  Embracing a philosphy of inclusiveness and respect will give them opportunities, in a safe place, to work with children who may be different then they are, who they may not particularly like or who are at a very different academic level.  Being able to work together in so many varied ways will give them incredible, life long experiences.
3. Speak to the Senses:  Your classroom should be a place where all learning styles are respected and acknowledged.  Kids can be totally distracted during an auditory lecture, but much more engaged if they have a visual in front of them while you speak.  Some students work much better on the computer or one on one with you.  Some will respond to certain reinforcers differently.  Pay attention and document what you are observing in each child.  Target 2 or 3 students a day, until you have specifically observed them all, during your lessons to see if you can determine how they respond to different types of lessons.  A great tool we use regularly at Live and Learn is a Reinforcer Inventory. It gives you an understanding of what motivates them to make great choices or work hard in school.  You will be amazed at how much you will learn about each child!   We adapted ours from a document written by the Center of Effective Collaboration and Practice. Click here for the reinforcer inventory, click here for the scoring sheet and here for the summary page.  All that just for reading our blog!  You're welcome!  
4. Self Reflect with Technology:  When I was a second year teacher, I was required to video tape myself teaching as part of my advanced teaching certificate.  Before watching it, I wrote a reflection about what I thought I did well, what I needed to improve on, etc.  I found that after watching the video, I totally saw so many more ways in which I could improve and I also saw the classroom through the child’s eyes, instead of my own.  Are there children missing the lesson you didn’t realize?  This process can truly improve your inclusive practices. 
5. Daily Assessment:  YES!  How do you know they “got it” if you don’t check for understanding daily?  Although teachers typically plan their lessons at least a week in advance, there must be room for adaptation within these lessons based on the learning and comprehensive of each child.  Are you teaching to the masses and checking off the fact that you “ exposed” them to a lesson or are you teaching to each child, ensuring that you have given everyone the necessary tools, information and learning experiences that have allowed them to meet or exceed the goal you have set for them?  Daily assessments can be simple and shouldn’t take a lot of time.    

• Exit Cards or “Tickets to Leave” are one great idea for informally assessing daily comprehension.   
• Another idea is to keep a notebook with a page for each child and while you walk around, gauging understanding, keep quick notes on what you are observing.  Use your notes to remind yourself of ways you need to adjust your planning in the days ahead.   
• Finally, I LOVE diagnostic assessment that gives us fabulous data on a regular basis.  www.letsgolearn.com has a very easy to administer diagnostic math and reading assessments that are very inexpensive with very clear, structured reports.  Immediately after taking the assessment on the computer, the teacher (or parent!) can access the score.  I like to give these assessments every 6 weeks to track progress and gains objectively.  Because the information on the reports can be presented in broad terms or by specific skills, teachers can see clearly what areas a child may need extra support on or areas in which they could benefit from accelerated material.

As you can see, none of these ideas are directly related to special needs, per se, however an inclusive class exhibits traits that work great for kids with a diagnosis as well.  Good teaching with solid differentiated practices will always benefit ALL and really, can you justify any other way to teach?