Inclusion in the Classroom

Tuesday was our first full day at Colegio Roosevelt. I got to be a part of the morning routine and experience a full day in Mr. P’s classroom. To start the morning off Mr. P gave each of his students a handshake and welcomed them into the room. It was a great way to start the day and made many of the students smile. Once they got settled, they began with a morning meeting where they read part of a chapter book out loud and shared how they were feeling. They had to rate how they were feeling that morning on a scale of 1-10, 1 being terrible and 10 being amazing. They could also provide an explanation as to why they said each number. In this way, the students could share any positives that were happening in their life or anything that was making them sad or frustrated. I was also there for reading workshop, writing workshop and math.

During reading workshop, the students chose a book for their book club that we were going to start. They got to discuss with each other what book they wanted to read and then set the rules for how much they should read each day and what to do if someone does not do their part. I was impressed with the students ability to work with each other and come to a consensus on what the rules for their book clubs were.

During the writing workshop, the students were beginning to write a fiction story. They were brainstorming ideas for what to write about and Mr. P had them think about what kind of a person they were. He had them answer, I am the type of person who… and then would list all their characteristics. After they had their ideas down he asked them to think about whether they could write a fiction story based on one of their characteristics. He wanted them to begin with something that they were familiar with and then turn it into a fiction story. The students had great imagination and were eager to write.

During math, the students were learning how to multiply fractions. It was fun to see them do this work because I had just learned about all these methods in my math class at Marquette. They were drawing pictures, using parts of a whole and repeated addition to support their answers. The students enjoyed a challenge problem and many of them could figure it out. They all seemed to enjoy math!

After school, we went back to our host families house and had a pasta like dish that was delicious. It was pretty much spaghetti, but much better! It was also Claira, our host sister’s birthday a couple days ago. She was on a trip to Columbia and got back late on Monday night, so we had cake to celebrate on Tuesday night. She told us all about her trip and we had a great celebration!

Throughout my first couple days at Colegio Roosevelt, I have seen that inclusion is important in contemporary education. Inclusion in the classroom can come in many forms. It can either be including different races, learning types, languages or just about anything else that will make the classroom a place for people to feel like they belong. Inclusion in the classroom is important because it allows for each student voice to be heard and provides the students with a sense of belonging. In today’s day and age, it is hard to find a place to be accepted and to feel like you are valued in all aspects of life. However, I believe that contemporary education should be that safe space and should be where students feel like they belong and where they are valued.

While I have seen a lot of inclusion in my classroom at Colegio Roosevelt, I also feel like there is room for improvement. The students are very diverse as they are from all over the world, however, they are expected to speak English in the classroom and are told to switch their brains when they are speaking Spanish. While the students are included in the classroom because they attend class each day and the teacher encourages them to participate, their ability to use their own language is not inclusive.

It is also important to give students voice and embrace diversity because it puts the learning in their hands. When the students are given a voice, they can say what they want to learn and can share what they already know about the topic they are learning about. It is also important to embrace diversity because it provides the students with the ability to learn about different cultures and use what they learn to enhance their own viewpoints on certain topics. Mr. P does a great job of giving students voice in his classroom and I am looking forward to realizing how he embraces diversity. See ya later!