A new begining

First and foremost I would like to explain that the focus of this blog has changed dramatically since the last time I used it. This blog began my junior year of high school and was used for a graphic design class. I don't suggest exploring my past posts because that would be both embarrassing for me and boring for you. I wasn't very good. Since then it has evolved into my thouhts on specific topics scripted from my instructional technology class that I am currently enrolled in.

Today I would like to share a little on one of my favorite topics in our world of education. That being inclusion of special education students into general education classrooms. This highly debated topic is at the core of my values as a future educator. I believe that the benefits of inclusion surpass all expectations of the original goal. (To allow special ed students to interact with their "normal" peers.) I think that not only do special education students increase in their social skills but their academics are raised as well.

It is not healthy to be secluded from their general education peers for the majority of the day. Students feed off of each other and if students are learning from others who have the same social and academic discrepancies, than they will never have the oppurtunity to conqure those issues. Also, being in a seperate classroom automatically attaches a stigma to the child as being "different." This kind of stigma effects the way that the child thinks about themselves. How can we expect a child to excell academically when they don't beleive that they can do this?

Including special education students into general ed classrooms is essential for their successfull completion of their education.