The Inclusive Class

If you have been listening to The Inclusive Class Radio Show , then you have heard our expert guests repeat over and over again that inclusion is not a place, it's a way of perceiving, behaving and interacting with one another. The inclusive classroom best demonstrates that message as it begins with the belief that all children belong. Each child can demonstrate and achieve success, in various ways, according to their abilities, strengths and areas for growth. Language, as our guest Kathie Snow pointed out today, it a vital component of inclusion and an inclusive classroom. In the inclusive classroom, the teacher not only sets up physical opportunities for all students to look included, but the teacher makes students feel included through his/her choice of words and phrases. For example: Instead of    Group A and Group B ,  say,  Group A and Group 1 Instead of   This student can't.., say,   This student is learning to.. Instead of ...

Dr. Christopher Kaufman, a licensed psychologist, spoke with us the morning on The Inclusive Class Radio Show about Executive Functioning skills. Those are the skills that we have to keep ourselves organized, transition from one task to another, and control our impulses.  For some children (and adults!), however, executive functioning skills are underdeveloped or absent altogether. It is important for parents and teachers to be aware of the warning signs that a child's executive functioning skills are problematic, in order to avoid labeling the child as lazy, absentminded, disorganized or have behavior problems. As Dr. Kaufman mentioned, some warning signs include: 1. Inability to plan and strategize 2. Difficulty attending to the task and completing it 3. Unable to follow through on a sequence of steps 4. Difficulty controlling impulses outside the norm of expected behavior ie. hitting other children on the playground Between the parent, teacher and even the student, und...