Our third-grade classroom is composed of 16 students, two teachers (myself and my mentor – Jill) as well as a half-day, push-in ELL Teacher, Richie. One of the most unique things about our classroom is its linguistic diversity. Students in our classroom represent four different languages and frequently converse in them when collaborating throughout the day.
It is important to note that our classroom is a part of Woodland’s leveling approach. Students in our classroom were placed here so that they could receive more intense support services. While many students suffered throughout the pandemic, the unique needs of the populations in our classroom faced exacerbated barriers to learning during the pandemic. This has created massive obstacles for these incredibly intelligent and radiant children to academically and behaviorally thrive in a traditional school setting. 3rd grade-level content is not appropriate for the majority of students in our classroom – by no fault of their own. Universal design (firm goals with flexible means) has been a critical part of redefining education in our classroom as something that is built for our students.