8 Resolutions for the 2018 Inclusive Classroom

As 2018 begins, resolutions abound of healthier eating, less spending, and more family time. I’m sure we have all made one or two for the new year. In light of resolutions, the Program for Inclusive Education (PIE) would like to offer eight strategies and tips for teachers to make inclusion in your classrooms possible: 8 Resolutions for the 2018 Inclusive Classroom. Dr. Sean J. Smith from the University of Kansas is a professor and researcher of special education and a member of the PIE faculty team. He provides insightful and practical ways to ensure success for ALL students, including those who struggle and/or are diagnosed with differences. Many thanks to Dr. Smith for his contribution and blessings to you and your schools for 2018!

~Christie Bonfiglio, Ph.D.; Director of the Program for Inclusive Education

My friends often ask me what I will do now that it’s summer and I’m on “vacation” from teaching for several months. The truth is that summer never seems like much of a vacation, but rather a time to do different kinds of work for my students. This is hard to share with friends who work a 9-5 job. They often misunderstand the work of being a teacher since much of the work of being a teacher is hidden from the students’ (and parents’) eyes.

As the number of educational technology resources continues to grow, it can be easy for educators to be both excited about the potential they have to transform classroom learning, and also overwhelmed by the sheer volume of resources that are available from which to choose. These options deserve the critical attention of ELL teachers. Choosing the most effective tools can make a significant positive impact on our English language learners' ability to acquire a new language. 

As educators, one of the core values we look to instill in our students, parents, and colleagues is a growth mindset, a constant yearning to improve and a deep belief that everyone can improve. A key behavior that helps to cultivate this value is seeing the best in others. Yet this is not an easy thing to do. Our natural inclination as human beings is to view ourselves in the best possible light, and that can have a powerful impact on the way we view others.

This time of year brings me back to some of the more challenging days in my third grade classroom in Jackson, MS. Even now, every day, I spend at least a few minutes wishing I could go back to that classroom and teach those students again, knowing what I know now. 

Photo credit: Barbara Johnston, University of Notre Dame

Are you are looking for ideas on how your school can be culturally responsive and sustaining for Mexican-American students this Advent? You may want to consider celebrating Las Posadas. This interactive and vibrant tradition of seeking posada, Spanish for accommodation or an inn, is more than four hundred years old and provides students a rich experience in which to engage their faith.

Our team in ACE’s English as a New Language Program have compiled what we hope will be helpful resources for teachers, leaders, and students to better understand the celebration of Las Posadas and incorporate it into your school’s holiday celebrations.

A couple weeks ago, we were lucky enough to hear from Dr. Ernest Morrell, a professor of English Education at Columbia University’s Teachers College, on how we can make education socially, culturally, and digitally relevant to our students. While he was teeming with ideas for how to better walk and connect with students (everything from auto-ethnography projects to science rap battles, parent mentoring programs to new titles in multicultural literature), Morell devoted a portion of his talk to this stark reality: that “we compete with the media for students’ values.”

“Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience”

A great deal of anticipation always surrounds a new papal encyclical. People wonder: Is Church teaching going to change? Will I, as a Catholic, be called to greater conversion and prayer?  Will the pope use awesome words like “sourpuss?” (The answers are pretty consistently “Never,” “Always,” and “Probably,” respectively).

Back in May, you might remember the excitement surrounding Pope Francis’ latest encyclical, Laudato Si: On Care For Our Common Home. But for many Catholic school teachers, that was right around the time they were grading finals, packing up the classroom, and getting ready for summer — not exactly the ideal time to read a 42,000-word encyclical.

Laudato Si, in short, is Pope Francis’ appeal to the faithful to take a closer look at how we are shaping the future of our planet, the effect of humanity on global issues such as climate change and poverty, and the protection and care for what Francis calls “our common home.” I can hardly think of something that functions as more of a “common home” than a school or classroom, so with class back in session and the Holy Father himself visiting our neck of the woods in a few weeks, here are some ideas on how the Catholic educator can incorporate some of the main messages of Laudato Si in their classroom.