Inclusive Learning Strategies

 Dear Reader,

    In the modern classroom you will always find a diverse group of students waiting to learn. Every one of these students has individual needs to help them learn best and feel welcomed in the classroom environment. If the needs of a student are not met they will not be able to properly learn and could fall behind other students in the classroom.

An Educator's Role in the Classroom,

    It is the responsibility of an educator to ensure that every student feels welcomed in the classroom and has the resources available that are most conducive to helping a student learn. While it may seem difficult and time consuming to attempt to create an environment that includes every student without leaving anyone feeling left out it is the first step an educator can take to creating an effective learning environment. By creating an inclusive environment in the classroom you will feel a great sense of accomplishment as an educator and will save you many future headaches and will help you build connections with your students.

      While it may seem overwhelming to try and come up with and find strategies that will work for your classroom there are many helpful resources available to help make this process as smooth as possible. One of these helpful resources is Inclusive Learning 365: Edtech Strategies for Every Day of the Year. This resource includes hundreds of learning strategies that you can implement into your learning environment. With how many learning strategies are included in this one resource it is possible to change up the classroom everyday if you would like to ensure that every student can find a method of learning that they work with the best.

Strategies to use for an Inclusive Environment,

     With how many learning strategies are available to use there are bound to be some that are more effective than others and include the most students. One of these strategies is including alt text whenever you use images. By using alt text, auditory learners can listen to the alt text to find out what is happening in an image. Also by utilizing alt text it forces the person inserting an image to think about why the image needs to be there and describe its most important aspects (Inclusive Learning 365 pg. 36). Another one of the more effective strategies to be found is using natural and soft light in the classroom as much as possible. The overhead lights commonly found in classrooms can be overstimulating for many students and by providing natural light students can work without distractions (Inclusive Learning 365 pg. 8). There are many more strategies just like these to use in the classroom, so I highly recommend taking a look for yourself to see what you can implement in your own learning environment.