I got sick over the weekend and had to miss yesterday’s class; I was at the doctor so I wasn’t able to engage with the class through zoom either. I was super disappointed that I wasn’t able to hear from our guest speaker directly because I am super interested in the topic of inclusion and equality for students with disabilities. My mom used to work with students with disabilities in schools, so it has always been of interest to me. I also work at the Centre for Outreach Education (CORE), which is a tutoring program ran through UVic education, so I’ve had experience working with students who have specific and diverse learning needs. CORE is a great opportunity to get involved, especially for future teachers looking for more experience, so I’ve inserted the link to CORE below if anyone is interested in learning more!

https://www.uvic.ca/education/core/index.php

Regardless of missing yesterday’s lecture, I have taken the time to look through the powerpoint slides and the additional resources which were all super helpful. On one of the first slides, I read the quote from the 2021-22 Exclusion Tracker Report regarding the mistreatment and exclusion of students with disabilities and it is so heartbreaking to see those stats. The worst part is the lack of improvement in the past 4 years, and I really hope that us future educators can make a difference for those students. The only way this change is possible is if educators and members of the school community take constant action; in this powerpoint, I learned the term “affirmative action” in relation to equity. This means that every student is deserving and has access to the resources and supports they need to succeed and participate in all aspects of school. The requirements will change depending on the student, which is why it is so important for teachers to make “Personalized Learning Plans” to decipher what each student needs to thrive in their classroom.

In my Link2Practice classroom, my teacher and the EA have integrated technology in the class to support students with disabilities or unique learning needs. One example is that we have 2 students in our classroom who are hard of hearing; these students have hearing aids/implants that are connected to a device around our teachers neck so that they can hear the teacher better, even when they aren’t in close proximity. Another example is a student we have who is new to Canada and whose first language is not english. This language barrier has made school difficult for her so far, but our teacher has implemented technology into her learning to make this transition smoother. When reading, she gets to use an iPad with a headset to translate between her first language and english. There has already been significant improvement with her english since using this technology daily. This demonstrates how technology can support equity because rather than having these students learn in a separate classroom, they have been supplied with the additional resources they need to learn and succeed in this classroom with their peers.