12 Keys to High Quality Early Childhood Inclusion

I attended this webinar. it was really interesting and beneficial. the presenter presented great information have been taken from a real classroom. Actually, it was about promote inclusion education for all students. Also, she presented the benefits of inclusion in early education. The presenter tried to engage us and get us ready to the webinar. she mentioned an important idea which was value children/ strengthening, sustaining, and ensuring inclusion practices. She gave me some ideas for what I might use in my class. The presenter mention that we need to welcome, accept, and respect differences and diversity; that can be promoted by enhancing memberships (peer support/ full social development/ emotional). when the students feel like they are engaged in curriculum, they will learn much more than we expect. learning material should be accessible, and they should meet students' different styles. Before planning for the lesson, the teacher must plan to create appropriate environment. modeling is essential, and the students should be treated as children not adults!  

  At secondary level, the teacher was perfect. She had the most effective tools that caught students’ attention. She taught us English in a new way. Her personality and her language were perfect just like her. When they ask me which teacher left a touch in your school, I just mention her name T. Amal Farhat. She made me love English. Her activities were interesting, beneficial, and valuable. She motivated me a lot. She is a good listener, supportive, active, lively, full of energy, and creative. I’ve learnt many things from her, she built my confidence. She motivated us to do things much better. And also pushed us to write, speak, and read English. I learned new words, some structures, and affirmed a lot of rules in my mind. Group work, free writing, attractive topics, free reading, interesting activities for practice, support, motivation, reinforcement, and positive feedback were really effective for me. One day she told me and some girls that she wanted to talk with us after class. We went with her outside and she told us that we have nice ideas, we are creative, and we can write something good. I participated in that competition, I wrote a poem “Your Buddy”, the teacher corrected some mistakes, so I won the 3^rd place. I really appreciate her; she inspired me to be an English language teacher.

“One of the most challenging types of learners to address in the classroom is the kinesthetic learner. Kinesthetic learners learn best by moving their bodies, activating their large or small muscles as they learn. These are the “Hands-on” or the “doers” who actually concentrate better when movement is involved. Students need multiple exposures to a word before they fully understand that word and can apply it; they need to learn the words in context, not stand alone lists that come and go back each week”. Most of grade 4 students are kinesthetic learners. They learn better throughout the activities that require body movement. The more the move and have fun the more they learn and enjoy learning. In grammar, “Adjectives” lesson is really interesting. The teacher presented some objects that grabbed students’ attention (Animals) so they can describe them using the adjectives they already know (Schemata Activation). And then, the teacher introduced new adjectives, and they students classified them (people/places/ things). The most interesting part of that session was the game-like activity; when the students were divided into pairs, and when they came up to the board and stood in front of the classmates (face to face). The students tried to describe each other using as many adjectives as they can. The pupils used the new ones; the student who wasn’t able to find an adjective within 10 seconds in his turn lost the game.

As teachers, we never stop learning. Every Saturday, we attend a precious workshop that can provide us with the efficient tools that can be applied in the class room. These workshops can qualify the teachers to do their jobs in the best possible way. We work together as a team, in other words, as a family. We discuss with each other what is useful and what is not. Also, we try to choose wisely what fits students’ needs, levels, abilities, and interests. That work shop was about learning through the projects. We discussed what we know about that concept, and we revised what we took last session with Dr. Amal Farhat. During that session, we discussed teacher’s role and learner’s role too. We were divided into groups to work. We presented our work on a poster, and we discussed it with Dr. Mohammad Assaf in front of the teachers. That workshop was really fruitful; it opened our eyes on new things maybe we didn’t realize before. I really enjoyed attending such work shops; every time I can add something new to my educational repertoire. 

Our lesson was about “How to be a Good Citizen”. The students generate ideas about the concept, and they teacher wrote down their ideas on a web. One of their ideas was about “Cooperation”. Grade three students asked if they can bring oranges and lemons to make orange juice and lemonade. The teacher supported the idea. Students divided the work among each other. Each one of them has a specific task. Each task was really essential to complete the work successfully. The next day, the students were super ready to start! We worked all together, helped each other and cooperated to finish it on time. Because of the precious cooperation, we enjoyed a delicious orange juice and lemonade. Everyone was engaged. The students were happy, and they exactly understood the true meaning of a good citizen. Also, they learned how good citizens can make their community better. It was fruitful activity; students’ learning about that concept was really meaningful because they applied what they’ve learned in a real context.

Nature is the most inspiring resource for journal writing. Spring season has started; grade three students love that season a lot. As we usually do, we take 10 minutes to write a journal and draw something related to it. The students went out to the nature to write a journal about their favorite season. The girls sat beside each other and the boys as well. I realized that the sentences they wrote were more elaborated and detailed. Students’ drawings were really amazing. The students were happy, and they tried to enjoy writing in the fresh air. When the girls finished, they collected colorful flowers. When the students finished, they lined up neatly and walked gently to the class.

In term one, we followed a new routine with grade three students. The students were supposed to bring with them new adjectives or antonyms to class and teach the classmates. Mariam, Jana and Leila got two designed posters, and they presented them to their classmates. The students were happy; they tried to use these words each now and then. And they tried to retrieve what they learned by remembering who presented them. That routine was really beneficial; it paid off!! The students learned from each other. Maybe the way they used to present things for their friends was better than mine.

There was a project for grade 5 students; the students were supposed to make something out of materials (reuse). They bring what they create to the class, explained what they did step by step, and they presented its importance. The students were really creative; the material they used was simple, but the final product was really great. The students enjoyed creating thing out of used materials. Also, they learned that simple things can be useful if they have been used properly. It was really essential to teach the kids how they can benefit from everything. Reusing the materials can solve a problem, and it can save money as well. I really appreciate your efforts and your creativity my little Cupcakes! In our school, Al-Rawafid, we support creativity in any domain as much as possible, and its part of our philosophy that the student is the basic ingredient of the learning process. We work as hard as we can to make our students much more skillful and creative; we work hard to make learning Meaningful!

Grade three students were supposed to write an informational report about an animal. Firstly, they listed their favorite animals such as koalas, sharks, and penguins. Each of them generated an idea for the begging part until they wrote a paragraph. After that, they started to discuss what they know about these animals. Students were very creative; they gave precious and important information about these animals. The teacher helped them to form correct structures. Each of the students designed his/her own poster about his/her favorite animal. They presented their posters in front of the classmates. Students’ posters were published on the bulletin board. 

  

“Show & Tell” is one of the daily activities we do during the English language periods. The students bring any thing they own, present it to the classmates, and talk about it a little bit. The teacher and the students listen attentively to the speaker and show him/her an interest in what they are talking about. Students really like that kind of activities because they like to share their toys and precious stuff with their friends. The main purpose of this activity is enhancing fluency, but there are many other purposes such as build self-confidence improve listening skills and improve English language speaking skills as well. Such activities would appreciate students thoughts; students would feel like their voices are heard, and what they are doing is really important. Actually, the students like to discuss things with each other, and exchange information about a certain thing. They are all enthusiastic to watch a new presentation with new interesting object.

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” In our educational system, we care about schedule, books, and curriculum. And we forget the most important ingredient which is “Students”. Our students are not motivated to learn, and they “Hate” schools. This is an important issue that should be solved. Otherwise, the educational level will decrease!!

There are many activities that can be applied in any school easily. These activities will involve, motivate, and engage the students to love school. But before any activity, the students must feel the sense of belonging. And this is teachers’ responsibility to provide for them a safe environment. 
The teacher should be smart enough, and she should take into consideration students' levels, abilities, interests, and needs. With simple, smart and wise touches, we can make the school a place for having fun and learning at the same time .