5 Step Action Plan for Social Inclusion, Understanding, and Mutual Respect in the Classroom parti...
1. Encourage Collaboration
1.1. Who?
1.1.1. Teacher can encourage collaboration with students, provide group projects and activities
1.1.2. Administration should encourage collaboration among teachers of ELL students
1.2. What and Why?
1.2.1. Provide opportunities/ projects requiring collaboration among students. This will encourage relationship building, understanding of others strengths and challenges, build a classroom with empathy.
1.2.2. Collaboration among teachers will encourage learning from one another and about self and various cultures and encourage best practice in the classroom.
1.2.3. Foster an interactive classroom that welcomes feedback, discussion, will encourage learning, engagement and provide a supportive learning environment.
1.3. When?
1.3.1. Student collaboration projects can be throughout the year. Beginning with pairs or small groups may benefit ELL and allow them to build relationships more easily. As the year progresses projects could become more complex and/or involve larger groups to encourage social inclusion and relationship building
1.3.2. Fostering an interactive classroom throughout the year will benefit all students
1.4. How?
1.4.1. Provide a variety of activities and group projects requiring collaboration. Activities could be in the classroom, on the playground, in the lunch room.
1.4.2. Encourage an envirnoment that enables students to learn from one another
1.4.3. Provide opportunities for guided and informal discussions which will allow for able and less able students to collaborate and learn from eachother
1.4.4. Provide opportunities for students to interact with one another and engage in shared inquiry and discovery
1.5. Where?
1.5.1. In the classroom mostly, some collaboration on projects may occur outside of school
1.5.2. On the playground, at recess, lunch etc
2. Provide Opportunities
2.1. Who?
2.1.1. Teachers
2.1.2. Administration
2.1.3. Students
2.2. What?
2.2.1. Provide opportunities for students to build confidence, self esteem in speaking English, being part of the class
2.2.2. Provide opportunities for students to share their stories, experiences, interests
2.2.3. Provide opporutnites for teachers to collaborate, research and discuss strategies of working with ELL students
2.2.4. Provide lots of opportunities for discussions, collaborative learning, group learning - opportunities to listen, speak, read and write
2.3. When?
2.3.1. Students should have as many opportunities as possible - everyday if possible
2.3.2. Teachers of ELL students should have regular times throughout the year to collaborate, research ideas, discuss strategies etc
2.4. Why?
2.4.1. Providing a variety of opportunities for the ELL student will allow them to experience situations that they are more comfortable with and feel more confident about as well as grow and learn in their new environment. Some cultures value more of a group approach where others prefer more individual tasks. By providing opportunities that highlight a persons strengths, you can build confidence and self esteem
2.5. How?
2.5.1. Provide pair work, small group work, choral reading groups especially for ELL students as part of the group. Mixing groups regularly to build relationships
2.5.2. Changing seating arrangements to ensure mixing of students to facilitate relationship building
2.5.3. Provide a variety of ways that students can demonstrate their learning - written work, journalling, presentations, drama,
2.5.4. Provide a variety of methods to learn concepts - drawing, identifying, hands on learning, manipulative learning, guided and informal discussions, small groups etc.
2.5.5. Allow students choice in work when able so they can share about something they already know, their strengths and interests
2.6. Where?
2.6.1. In classroom, in hallways, at recess, in lunchroom, extracurricular activities
2.6.2. Essentially everywhere!
3. Recognize and Celebrate Diversity
3.1. Who?
3.1.1. School as a whole
3.1.2. Teachers, staff
3.1.3. Students
3.2. What?
3.2.1. Do Step 1 - Get to know your students
3.2.2. Know your own attitudes, perceptions.
3.2.3. Be willing to: learn; constructively embrace diversity; create a learning environment that responds to the needs of your students
3.2.4. Realize, with your students, that people differ in many ways, that we are all equal, that we all have strengths, challenges. Understanding this will help build mutual respect and empathy in the classroom
3.2.5. Demonstrate knowledge and respect for students
3.3. When?
3.3.1. Ongoing
3.3.2. Always
3.4. Why?
3.4.1. By recognizing our students as individuals, respecting where they have come from, taking an interest in who they are etc, we will provide a welcoming and safe environment for them to learn and ask questions and succeed at school.
3.5. How?
3.5.1. School as a whole can celebrate diversity with an International Day/Night/Event, celebrating all cultures represented at the school. Recognize with raising flags from each country represented along with home country flag daily. Welcome
3.5.2. In classroom, teacher can ensure a variety of texts and books from various cultures but especially those represented in their classroom; photos and illustrations posted around the room, welcome activities in various languages, ice breaking activities demonstrating differences, use of variety of teaching strategies, tools, types of projects to reach various students
3.5.3. Create a classroom atmosphere that respects individuals and their cultures, that involves all students
3.5.4. Provide ways to incorporate various cultural ways into the classroom i.e. foster helpfulness by allowing children to share classroom jobs (work together to better the outcome)
3.5.5. Foster an attitude of caring and empathy.
3.5.6. Teacher can model respect, understanding and inclusion.
3.6. Where?
3.6.1. Everywhere!
3.6.2. At school, in the classroom, in the hallways, after school, at recess, etc.
4. Get to Know Your Students
4.1. Who?
4.1.1. Teachers
4.1.1.1. Especially homeroom teachers but all teachers involved with student should know their students
4.1.2. Classmates
4.1.3. Administration
4.2. What?
4.2.1. Academic standings
4.2.2. Cultural Background, language spoken, amount of English proficiency, family support and dynamics
4.2.3. Interests
4.2.4. Strengths
4.2.5. Where they have come from, what they have covered
4.3. When?
4.3.1. Before they arrive in the classroom
4.3.2. Ongoing from the first day of school
4.4. Why?
4.4.1. It is important to have a good understanding of the various aspects of your students life so that you can facilitate integration into the classroom, understand where they are coming from, recognize and use their strengths to build their confidence so they feel safer in their new environment and more willing to participate and enable them to succeed.
4.5. How?
4.5.1. Collaborate with family, previous teachers, administration. Read school reports, ask questions.
4.5.2. Meet with ELL students formally and or informally to discuss concerns, desires, interests.
4.5.3. Have all students complete questionnaires that aid in your understanding of your students backgrounds, interests, strengths, likes and dislikes
4.6. Where?
4.6.1. At school, in classroom, in hallways, in lunchroom, at specials, at recess
4.6.2. Extracurricular activities
5. Build Meaningful Bridges
5.1. Who?
5.1.1. Teacher primarily but students can participate in this.
5.1.2. Families may also be able to participate by providing information to the class about their culture and experiences, sharing food, celebrations etc
5.2. What?
5.2.1. Connect students experiences to school experiences
5.2.2. Weave information about a variety of cultures into the curriculum and classroom
5.2.3. Infuse traditions and experiences into the curriculum in meaningful ways for ELL students and all students
5.3. When?
5.3.1. Whenever possible particularly when effective when naturally incorporated into the curriculum
5.4. Why?
5.4.1. Allows students to feel important, valued, respected.
5.4.2. Allows students to interact, be engaged, share knowledge they are comfortable with.
5.4.3. Improves interpersonal skills and deepens intellectual curiousity
5.5. How?
5.5.1. Use opportunities in the curriculum to ask questions, listen to students, encourage sharing of experiences, use various tools and methods for sharing
5.5.2. Use students strengths to give them opportunities to share
5.5.3. Provide cues around the room with posters, pictures reinforcing different concepts, allow for ELL students to demonstrate their knowledge in a variety of ways depending on English proficiency.
5.5.4. Invite ELL students lives into the classroom: have books, pictures objects reflecting their culture.
5.5.5. Encourage sharing of foods, traditions, celebrations of various cultures when able in the classroom and at the school.
5.5.6. Foster interactive classroom learning environment
5.6. Where?
5.6.1. Mostly classroom but could be anywhere!