TL;DR:
- Understanding differing abilities help us define the obstacles and the bias about ableism.
- Lesson plan ideas on talking about abilities and special needs by putting the person first.
- Explore a growth mindset while learning about biased perspectives.
Equity and Inclusion Reflection Questions:
- Why does the society we live in consider able-bodied individuals as having more value?
- Think of a time when you’ve had to stop, reflect, and change your way of doing something because you were taking someone who needed to approach it differently.
- How would you make it possible for someone with different abilities to be successful?
When Building That Perfect Campfire for Your Classroom Community Consider…
It’s the end of those quiet summer moments we all cherish that help us read, relax, and reflect on our practice. These are the sunset moments that make us smile and have fun in life while embracing learning opportunities that give us lots of time with loved ones.
When you think about those with special needs, I believe in the word differently able. All children are allowed to pursue a topic to the best of their ability in order to attain success. Differently able is the point of view I want to share as I blog this month.
“I believe in the word differently able, so all children are allowed to pursue a topic to the best of their ability in order to attain success. Click To Tweet.”
Able-ism
Able-ism is a topic I’m diving deep into this summer as we explore learning about putting the “person” first rather than the disability. The idea is that a disability needs to be addressed by understanding the person and accommodating. Each child is able to be successful with the right tools in place. Be proactive by identifying and removing barriers so they can achieve the best results when completing their studies.
A Few Ideas
Minecraft Education for Abilities Gaming Taken OVER!
I found this new Minecraft abilities program to use gaming to teach about differentiating abilities. I look forward to trying it out with students.
Able-ism song from a Picture Book: Don’t Laugh at Me!
Integrated curriculum expectations are 100% how I love teaching. The importance is placed on all subjects related to the concepts that are important to remember. Music brings about so many emotions that help us reconnect with the idea that we are all different.
We can respect differences to learn more about how we interact with others. I enjoy teaching through songs so you can see how students can embrace differing abilities to learn how each child in their classroom, community, and society as a whole is different than them in an ever so slight manner.
Media Arts Projects
I love teaching using media to emphasize how society can teach about accepting abilities as a whole. The most important consideration would be what we consider as a definition of able vs. not able. That can teach us about the biased perspectives we may have which in return will help us as educators understand the word ableism.
List of Books on Disabilities:
https://www.littleparachutes.com/category/health/disabilities/
[scroll down to keep reading]
Important Considerations
- Accommodations vs. Modifications
- Programming with individualized learning plans
- Personalized social and academic goals
- Building value-based education to respect differences
- Addressing bias by identifying, learning, and growing as an educator
How do you address bias against being able to do something differently?
Address physical differences in abilities, learning disabilities, and emotional disabilities. They need to be addressed with the basic concept of ensuring all children are successful at school. Remember Implicit Bias too!
- Know that we can all have biases when we meet one another.
- Gather knowledge about how to accommodate and modify programming.
- Try out some strategies to ensure students with differing abilities have access to learning opportunities.
Yours in Education,
Nilmini
About Nilmini Ratwatte-Henstridge
Nilmini Ratwatte-Henstridge teaches in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. She was born in Sri Lanka and immigrated to Canada with her family. As an elementary school teacher who is passionate about equity, social justice, and human rights in education, she enjoys teaching the younger generation to be global-minded citizens.
Discovering the world by connecting with others is an opportunity that we have today in our society today and she loves meeting new people! She is always learning while traveling to understand the inter-connectedness of this beautiful earth we live in! Nilmini LOVES cooking great meals, watching movies, and the latest fashion trends! Family and friends are close to her heart as she looks forward to balancing social media and navigating professional learning communities in education to network globally this year!
