In my classroom this year I have 31 students, some of whom are just learning English! Some of my students are still learning their letters and numbers as well. I try to meet all students where they are, and take them where they need to be using child-centered, hands-on, engaging strategies.
At my school and in my class, students and their families come from all over the world, literally.
I have students whose families originally were from Indonesia, China, Algeria, Syria, Albania, Mexico, Vietnam, Cambodia, and more. This adds a rich diversity that enhances teaching, learning and school culture. We teach ELLs in the regular education classroom with support of an ESL teacher. Additionally, our school and my classroom have many students with special needs and IEPs. We teach students with ASD and specific learning disabilities in our regular education classrooms with support from a special education teacher. This too adds to the diversity and social culture of our school and classrooms. We have many advanced students in our classrooms who receive enriched instruction from an MG teacher as well. Teachers at my school must become expert in differentiating their instruction to meet the needs of ALL the diverse students in their care.
My Project
In my inclusive first grade classroom, I try to deliver hands-on, up-close, engaging lessons. Understanding the attention span and needs of a six-year-old child, I alternate between teaching on the carpet and at students' seats. Teaching on the carpet allows us to sit together as a community, close to the action. The carpet is a great place for students to sit comfortably and listen to a story, to watch me model writing on the whiteboard, to learn phonics songs or practice talking to a partner about a book we just read. It also is an extremely useful resource to use at center time, when students may be doing a floor puzzle to name the 50 states, using word blocks to construct words, or reading in a small literature circle. We use the carpet to share our writing work, to hold classroom meetings, and to play math games as well. Students in my classroom use the carpet for at least half of the school day.
Students in my class already know how to use and enjoy a large classroom carpet, since we do have one.
However, my current carpet is seven years old and despite best efforts to clean and maintain it by me personally as well as by the custodians, the colors are faded and worse, there is a huge stain on it from an accident last year. We tried to scrub it out on hands and knees to no avail. Students deserve something that is colorful and clean to sit on, use, and enjoy for so much of their day!
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