When exploring the WE Schools website, I found a lesson plan that I could use in my future classroom.  This lesson plan discusses what an inclusive classroom might look like.  Having an inclusive classroom benefits everyone.  It allows everyone to have full participation in the classroom.  Everyone should strive towards making our world more inclusive.  One way to start is by educating students on what being inclusive means.  

In this lesson, students will first learn about what it means to be inclusive within a school setting.  Then students will be given examples of places at school.  Students will determine if these locations would be inclusive or not and provide reasons.  After students have their own ideas, the entire class can have a discussion.  One student might view a location as inclusive, but another student may have a reason as to why it wouldn’t be inclusive to everyone.  The image below is a worksheet that would be given to the students to fill out.  Students can determine what locations are inclusive and what locations are not.  If a location is not inclusive, students can work together to find ways to make it more accessible to everyone. 

By the time students get to high school, most students have some idea of what being inclusive means but this lesson plan can solidify their understanding.  It can help students to think critically about ways to make the classroom work for everyone who is there.  This would be a good lesson plan for early in the year.  It can help students work together to create an environment that will be accessible to everyone.  By allowing students to work together to make the classroom accessible and inclusive, they will create an atmosphere of everyone belonging in the classroom.  Students can take ownership of the classroom and will continue to look for ways to accommodate each other as needed throughout the year.  

As students work on creating inclusive spaces within the classroom and school, they will be learning ways to apply this to other areas of their lives.  Students will be able to see when something is not inclusive and work towards finding ways to make it more accessible for everyone.  In the beginning of this lesson students might wonder if it is possible to make different locations or scenarios inclusive to everyone.  By the end of the lesson, students should instead know there are ways to make things more inclusive and be able to come up with solutions to make positive changes.