The document discusses strategies for creating an inclusive classroom environment. An inclusive classroom has students with and without disabilities and it is the teacher's job to make all students feel comfortable. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires students with disabilities receive education in the least restrictive environment. Teachers should have high expectations for students with mild to moderate disabilities and help build their confidence. Project-based learning allows students to work in groups on real-world problems and tap into their interests. Teachers must understand each student's IEP/504 plan and create a universal design for learning to engage students through multiple methods.

1. Professional Development:
Strategies for the Inclusive
Classroom
David Robbins
SPD-540
Instructor

2. Inclusive classroom, what is it?
• An inclusive classroom is your typical classroom.
• There are a wide range of students in this
classroom with varying levels.
• This is a classroom that many of us have today as
it is a classroom that has students with and
without disabilities.
• As educators it is our job to make sure that the
classroom is comfortable to all students no
matter their disability and create a strong
learning environment for every student.

3. The Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act, better known as “IDEA”
• IDEA requires us to give students with
disabilities a free unbiased education in the
least restrictive environment possible to
students with special needs. This includes
realistic expectations for personal and social
behaviors.

4. Realistic Expectations for Personal
and Social Behaviors of students with
Mild to moderate disabilities.
• Expectations for these students should be those that are
implemented for the rest of the class.
• We need to hold high expectations for these students and
realistically understand that they are not bad because of
their disability they are still a student that is capable of
learning.
• “In fact, 86 percent of students in special education have
mild disabilities and function much like anyone else in
society. What they primarily lack is the self-confidence and
support to plot their own course in life” (Johnson, 2015).
• Expectations should not be based on a students disability
and it is an educators job to build the self-confidence in
these students and show them you believe in them.

5. Assisting individuals with mild to moderate
disabilities to develop their interpersonal skills
for educational and other social environments.
• Assisting individuals with mild to moderate disabilities to
develop their interpersonal skills is easier then many
realize. These can include:
• Remind students to use basic manners. “Positive social
behavior lifts up the entire community and helps schools to
focus on other more academic concerns” (Gatens, 2015).
• Communicate with parents and work with them to help
develop goals and skills for their child in your classroom.
• Have students work together in diverse groups.

6. Learning environments that motivate and
encourage active participation in individual and
group activities.
• Create and use different problem solving strategies, like
breaking down different studies or events, students will
then work on a solution to this independently.
• Make sure it is in the interest of the students you are
working with or you will not motivate and encourage them
to participate.
• Have students debate or use socratic seminars to
encourage and have students participate in group
activities.
• Allow time for small group discussions, that help students
build upon communication skills.

7. Learning environments continued:
•“Brainstorm learning objectives – if you involve students
in the development of classroom activities, e.g., allow
them to choose the topic of a short discussion or generate
ideas about how a concept could be applied to a problem
that interests them, it automatically increases
engagement levels. Involving students in classroom
activities also requires them to assess their understanding
and skill and rather than allowing them to rest
comfortably with a surface knowledge, it forces them to
develop a deeper understanding of the material”
(Promoting Active Learning).

8. Organizing, developing, and sustaining learning
environments that support positive multicultural
experiences
• Focus on keeping students engaged in the
lessons being taught.
• Show interest in the different backgrounds of
your students.
• Observe and maintain an understanding of
language concerns in your classroom among
students.

9. Project Based Learning “PBL”
• “Students work on a project over an extended period
of time – from a week up to a semester – that engages
them in solving a real-world problem or answering a
complex question. They demonstrate their knowledge
and skills by developing a public product or
presentation for a real audience”(What is PBL?).
• Using PBL allows all students to work in groups and
tap into their passions.
• Students are able to have a more hands on
understanding in their learning and can choose their
own path when doing so, which allows for self
advocacy and self determination skills.

10. Understand the IEP/504
• The first step in working with these students is to
understand their IEP/504, what accommodations
they require and what you need to do to help
meet these.
• Understanding these documents will allow
teachers to better understand their students.
• Upon knowing the needs of these students, you
will be able to better accommodate the students
and create a learning environment that promotes
collaboration and teamwork among all students.

11. Create a Universal Design for Learning,
“UDL”.
• This builds on Howard Gardner's theories of multiple
intelligences.
• This in broken down into three different principles and
networks that impact a students learning:
• Understanding the information that comes in and impacts
what the students learn is called the recognition network.
• Strategic network dictates how students process the
information and relate it to their background.
• Affective network is what impacts a students attitude and
how they feel about the information that is being
presented. This is the why in students learning and being
engaged.

12. Reference:
• Gatens, B. (2015, October 12). Five Ways to Develop Students'
Interpersonal Skills. Retrieved July 31, 2019, from
https://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/curriculum-teaching-
strategies/improving-interpersonal-skills/
• Johnson, D. (2015, November 25). The Power of High Expectations
in Special Education. Retrieved July 31, 2019, from
https://cehdvision2020.umn.edu/blog/high-expectations-special-educatio
/
• Promoting Active Learning. (n.d.). Retrieved July 31, 2019, from
https://teachingcommons.stanford.edu/resources/learning-
resources/promoting-active-learning
• WHAT IS PBL? (n.d.). Retrieved July 31, 2019, from
https://www.pblworks.org/what-is-pbl