Inclusion, Respect, Acceptance, Understanding

                There is a lot we can do to promote a respectful, safe and learning environment.  I believe that the key points though are that we as educators create and maintain an environment that is as inclusive as possible as well as one in which there can be many opportunities for social interactions among the students.  Inclusive as I define is that we have a class in which we have people with disabilities (person first language from my adaptive physical activity class), students in the general education incorporated into our classrooms; moreover, with tentative issues such as the judgment and harassment of individuals based on their appearances or sexuality we must take measures to "protect" these students and make sure they do not feel alienated (or the least possible form of "segregating" these students from the general population of students) or miss out on academic activities.

                As we learned from our latest readings, as teachers we are a bridge for many, whether that be from students to parents, parents to administration, standards to students, or students to students, and as that bridge we must be able to see every single person's viewpoint to better communicate and work with.   In addition, as teachers in the classroom we must be a "Golden Gate Bridge" for our students, especially in promoting cultural and individual diversity.  For example, with the issue of Cynthia from our RAFT, as a teacher I would definitely create an environment in which she could be included and interactive with others in hopes of breaking down stigmatizing labels.  Also, the same could be said for students with disabilities, such as the case with the child with Autism Spectrum; moreover, collaboration would be key in that scenario.  By collaboration I mean the general education teacher communicating with the special education teacher, and then having that expert evaluate the student and address and communicates any issues with the administration or worried parents.  I believe that having all these diverse students is a social challenge, but it is accomplishable and the rewards are great for the students because they all bring in unique perspectives to discussions and the classroom, which allows other students to learn a great deal, to achieve a deeper understanding or interpret something different, whether they learn about the subject matter or another culture it is still learning.  In conclusion, teaching our students to be understanding, acceptance, and respectful will allow for greater learning, and that could be applied to all our scenarios in class (i.e. the student with Autism Spectrum, the student who may be transsexual, the girl who doesn't want to be anything else than exceptional, or the case with the students using derogatory slurs).