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Evidence #3: Inclusion Success Plan Project |
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Evidence #3: Inclusion Success Plan Project
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My next evidence is my Inclusion Success Plan project implemented in my Level 3 Internship 2nd grade class. In this evidence, I have explained in detail what my ISP included, how I measured student success and reflections on the effectiveness on the plan from my cooperating teacher, Mr. Hearn, and also myself. I also have uploaded separately the actual paper Mr. Hearn hand-wrote his reflective paragraph on.
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My Inclusion Success Plan meets this AP in many ways. First of all, this assignment was made especially to require us to focus on the enhancing the acceptance of all students in the classroom. As you can see in my evidence, I have done just that and more. What started off as a simple experimental project turned into something that completely improved the dynamic of the classroom. As stated in my evidence, my ISP involved every student getting a chance to be in “the spotlight”, and all the other students would write a nice comment about that student. In order for students to grasp the concept of the activity, I first modeled the strategy I wanted them to learn. Also, when the students were writing their comments about a student, I was doing the same thing. I want them to see the importance of a positive classroom environment, and what better way than to model the behavior myself? At first, it was fun and exciting for each student to have their name drawn and have all their classmates say nice things to them. It immediately gave most students a new sense of confidence. Students were recognizing their peers for such specific things like their ability to understand math so well, their great spelling in writing, how quietly they always are during silent reading time, etc. After awhile, when most students already had their turn, I began to really focus on the importance of a positive classroom atmosphere with my students. I started becoming intolerant of behaviors such as tattling, mean comments, name calling, etc. If I heard a student doing something of the sort, there was a negative consequence for the whole class (our in-class behavior management system). I wanted the students to understand that even if one person is being negative, it affects the entire class. Mr. Hearn’s reflection on the effectiveness on my ISP really helped me realize that I am not the only one seeing a difference in my students. His reflection states how successful my ISP has been, and that now most of the students in the class “demonstrate throughout the day a genuine care and concern for their peers.” Piggy-backing on my ISP, I also have implemented strategies to help the students learn to be nicer to each other. We practice using nicer ways to say things. For example, instead of “stop reading so loud!” in a negative tone, we practice saying things like “Can you please lower your voice when you read? It is a little distracting”. I have been showing them the importance of explaining your side of the situation calmly when there is an issue between students. If a student has a significant problem with another student (tattles don’t count!!), I show them how to explain why they are upset or angry, so the other student can try to understand better. Basically, over time and a lot of hard work from both me and my students, the entire day-to-day atmosphere in the class has improved because the structure of our class has changed.
My ISP was implemented in my Level 3 Internship/2nd grade class. I believe my students have been heavily impacted by this project. The act of focusing on only the good in each other has really promoted a new level of acceptance and cooperation in all my students. Each and every student now considers all other classmates their true friends. I have seen students who never used to talk “buddying up” during reading time or walking to lunch. The number of selfless gestures being done in the classroom forces me to raise an eyebrow sometimes because I never thought this ISP project would have such a great impact on my students. If someone needs a sheet of paper, another student will be right there without being asked with a piece of paper and a cheerful “here you go!” which is always followed now by a “thank you.” My students are smart kids, they know what’s right and wrong, but sometimes I think it just takes a little extra to really get them to see WHY ‘right’ is right and the results being a helpful, positive classmate can bring. I am going to quote a part of my reflection from my ISP because I think it falls into this category: “At any point during the day, the students can look up at our big tri-fold poster filled with nice things they have said about each other. I often see students just standing in front of it and smiling. When I came up with the idea for my ISP, I thought it would be a fun thing for the students, but I never thought it would have the impact it truly did. After a student hears about 16 compliments in a row from their peers, it makes them stand up a little straighter and hold their head a bit higher. I have had shy students come out of their shell and be more social, and I have had students who usually have a very hard time staying on task studying their spelling words every single night, because one of their classmates complimented him on his improved spelling test scores.” By modeling the right way to do things, helping the students understand the importance of a positive classroom environment, and by giving these children strategies to learn to speak positively towards one another (and a lot of practice!!) my classroom has become a learning environment filled with encouragement, fun, and warmth.
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