Building Your Inclusive Classroom

To create truly inclusive school and classroom environments, educators must be prepared to include all students--including students with intellectual disabilities, who are not always given the opportunity to be full participants in the classroom. This book provides an overview of the history of inclusion, the philosophy underlying inclusion, and the role that curriculum accommodations and modifications play in making inclusion possible. The author discusses four ways to modify curriculum for students working well below grade level: altering content, conceptual difficulty, educational goals, or instructional methods. She then provides 40 curriculum modification strategies, based on Robert Marzano's New Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, with directions for implementation and samples of student work.

Building Your Inclusive Classroom explores why we need to adapt our teaching – and our approaches to children and young people – and how this will support the achievement of everyone in the classroom, including the teacher. It will help educators in mainstream settings, across all key stages, to adapt not only their resources but also their approaches for children with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) and their peers. This accessible resource provides a toolkit of ideas, methods, and motivation to enable teachers to make their classrooms fully inclusive. Chapters present the most effective evidence-based approaches – exploring both relational, restorative practice and traditional methods – to provide the foundations upon which to build inclusive classrooms. The book: - Offers practical suggestions along with examples and case studies - Includes reflective questions to encourage readers to consider their current settings - Provides clear summaries and breakdowns of key guidelines and concepts - Does the heavy lifting for you and presents evidence-based approaches in an engaging manner - Incorporates the voices of staff and parents throughout - Inspires the reader to take risks, enhance current practice, and to make meaningful change for children and young people. Adaptive teaching has traversed beyond just the mini-whiteboard and the writing frame, and we need now, more than ever, to differentiate and adapt our approaches too, for children both with and without diagnosed SEND. This book will be essential reading for mainstream teachers, Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities Co-ordinators (SENDCOs) and trainee teachers, across all key stages.

Inclusion means more than just preparing students to pass standardized tests and increasing academic levels. In inclusive classrooms, students with special educational needs are treated as integral members of the general education environment. Gain strategies to offer the academic, social, emotional, and behavioral benefits that allow all students to achieve their highest potential.

Widening the Circle is a passionate, even radical argument for creating school and classroom environments where all kids, including children labeled as “disabled” and “special needs,” are welcome on equal terms. In opposition to traditional models of special education, where teachers decide when a child is deemed “ready to compete” in “mainstream” classes, Mara Sapon-Shevin articulates a vision of full inclusion as a practical and moral goal. Inclusion, she argues, begins not with the assumption that students have to earn their way into the classroom with their behavior or skills, it begins with the right of every child to be in the mainstream of education, perhaps with modifications, adaptations, and support. Full inclusion requires teachers to think about all aspects of their classrooms—pedagogy, curriculum, and classroom climate. Crucially, Sapon-Shevin takes on arguments against full inclusion in a section of straight-talking answers to common questions. She agrees with critics that the rhetoric of inclusion has been used to justify eliminating services and “dumping” students with significant educational needs unceremoniously back into the mainstream with little or no support. If full inclusion is properly implemented, however, she argues, it not only clearly benefits those traditionally excluded but enhances the educations and lives of those considered mainstream in myriad ways. Through powerful storytelling and argument, Sapon-Shevin lays out the moral and educational case for not separating kids on the basis of difference.

This practical and timely revision of a popular book shows teachers how to create safer classrooms that meet the needs of all students. No matter what their needs, backgrounds, and skills, this remarkable book explores how to create effective learning environments where all students feel they belong.

Integrate global learning activities in your elementary classrooms today with this easy-to-use guide! The world is more interrelated today than ever before. This smart, all-in-one resource from widely acclaimed authors Homa Tavangar and Becky Morales helps busy, budget-conscious educators give younger students the global edge. You’ll find hundreds of easy, stand-alone activities, resources, and projects to: Seamlessly integrate your existing K–5 Common Core curriculum with fun, interactive global awareness themes and activities Effectively recruit more parent and community volunteers and organizations Securely and productively use social media for student global collaboration projects Confidently infuse fresh ideas and best practices into your international events Plan after-school global awareness clubs, foreign language programs, and cross-curricular activities This book includes a handy 12-month timeline, backmapping tips, a checklist of 50+ ready-to-start projects and activities, and invaluable links to online global education sites, as well as the author’s site that includes tools, templates, references, and much more. Bring the world into your classroom the easy, practical way with this ready-to-use guide!

Written by a special educator experienced in inclusion and in mentoring teachers, Inclusive Classroom offers proven strategies and practical guidance for building a successful inclusive program that welcomes and supports all students' learning needs.