Double Entry Journal #1

   Inclusive Education defined to me is simply not just including all special needs students in a regular classroom like they are doing with what they now call "mainstreaming". Inclusive Education is dealing more with giving all students with special needs the teaching and tools they need to achieve the highest level of education possible while also getting them involved with their community. Inclusive Education is geared towards diverse students that include a wide spectrum such as students with learning disabilities, autism, and even socioeconomic needs.
  There are several characteristics of Inclusive schools. The first that I fount interesting after reading the article "Research Review for Inclusive Practices" was how Inclusive schools try to create a sense of community for their school among their students. I feel by doing this the school is providing a sense of pride in the fact that these students belong to something where they may never of experienced this before, and everybody needs to feel they belong to something. The next characteristic of a Inclusive school is having parents as partners. By including the parents in the education of their children I feel you accomplish so much more in the long run. If you can get the parents involved then you have a better chance of educating the students bu having a solid plan and trying to eliminate the conflict of interest between the school and the home.
  The strategy that I feel is the best to help students become more responsible and effective in the inclusive process is cooperative learning. This involves having groups of students working together. By doing this they learn to work as a group to accomplish a goal. I observed this being done and working great in a six grade class I observed last semester. The students with a that were a little bit faster learners helped those that were having trouble. This was a great example of Vygotsky's "zone of proximal development".


    References
  Inos, R., & Quigley, M. (n.d.). Research review for inclusive practices. Retrieved from http://ww.prel.org
 

    Video of children in a inclusive pre school classroom from You Tube.
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   Reaction

  I chose to this video from you tube because this is Inclusive Education in action. I also feel this shows that by starting children off at a young age it will set a path for them to follow. To me by starting these students off in pre school in a inclusive classroom will definitely benefit them in the future because they will see this type of teaching as the norm and not something new and unusual to them.