Guest ECE Student Blogger: Kenzie

A New Perspective  

"Hello, I am Kenzie and I am a junior studying early childhood education at Ohio University. I have had a vast amount of classroom experience, but one of the most memorable moments occurred what seems like a lifetime ago. In high school, I was in a program that let high school students shadow a working professional. The possibilities were endless, and we were allowed to choose any profession that interested us. I immediately knew I wanted to be inside a classroom.

  

I was placed at a nearby elementary school only a few minutes from my high school. All I had was the teacher’s name and what time I needed to be there. I had truly no idea what to expect. When I walked in, I was greeted with over 20 smiling faces and even a few hugs. I quickly realized how fast-paced kindergarten was. We were learning about numbers and then letter sounds, and it was activity after activity. Next thing I know, it’s lunch time and I am sitting down having lunch with my teacher. She was talking about the school and how she really enjoys working in an inclusive school.  

DEC (2015)

It suddenly hit me. I was in an inclusive classroom and I didn’t even know. An inclusive classroom means that children with developmental delays and disabilities are in the same general education classroom with students without disabilities. I spent half of the day with these children and did not realize what was happening around me. I truly learned that day that kids are kids. They all like to color, love snack time, and get smiles on their faces when they suddenly get that one math problem right. The benefits of an inclusive classroom are significant, but the greatest benefit of all is children with disabilities have the chance to finally be treated just like their same-aged peers.  

*Note: I understand that children with disabilities and developmental delays require more accommodations than their same-aged peers. This was just about the fact that no matter the diagnosis a child may have, every child should be given the opportunity to be treated with love, equality, and respect. It is in my humble opinion, that an inclusive classroom setting can do just that."