Teaching in Inclusion

Being a future educator this article was very informative and educational. It has widened my thinking in many areas and has allowed me to see how I can become influential and effective in my classroom. I would like to start this reflection off with one personal experience I encountered. As a student I was one that always made good grades and tried to over excel in all my endeavors. My teacher was discussing an issue in class and it was a very sensitive issue to me. I then asked can I be excused to the office so the class would not see go through an emotional breakdown. Well, the teacher went on and on about the subject and I suddenly found myself crying an endless river of tears. The least to say the teacher never let me go to the office and ever since then I felt as if she had a sense of rejection towards me. Making a long story short, on the day all the students received their awards for perfect attendance, honor roll, or best behavior I received not one. This issue was bought to the principals attention and was later reconciled. I was never comfortable speaking in class or expressing myself because of this personal experience, but I had to come to the realization that I am a person and my voice should be heard whether anyone loves it or hate it. Past, present, and future educators must realize and understand we deal with a wide variety of races, cultures, and backgrounds and it should be our number one priority to make all students feel welcomed and enforce that their opinion and feelings are important. Now, I am not saying that we allow students to say WHATEVER comes to mind, but set guidelines and orders in doing so. We must also teach students to be open to what others say regardless if they agree or disagree. In my opinion, teaching with inclusion is a role that both teachers and students must take on. I have been in many classroom settings such where there are students with disabilities, students who are gay and/or lesbians, and come from a whole other part of the world. It is up to the educator to gain the respect of these students and keep in mind that they are humans too. Being able to teach a specific topic or organize a classroom well is not what it all takes to be a good teacher. In my opinion, an educator is one who is dedicated, able to accept differences, and have the rigorous agility to listen and influence the lives of students. When a student leaves out of our classroom they must feel enlightened and confident in the lesson they learned, but not only that they are able to take the view points of others and begin to transform themselves.