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Orange can stand for friendship. Katy's closing remarks embody this color's bright friendship meaning. She said, "to be an ally of the disabled you don't speak over the disabled, treat us as able-bodied as possible." Katy's golden rule resonates still today. As we build relationships with people with disabilities we need need to treat persons with disabilities as capable as possible. We need to treat all people, including people with disabilities, with the respect and kindness we expect ourselves to be treated.

In the video below, Chloe echos this idea of treating persons with disabilities as individuals like everyone else.

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Proud to be Autistic (Autism Explained by An Autistic Person)

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Lavender represents meanings of dignity, devotion, peace, pride, mystery, independence, and magic.

My Fellow Classmates:

LIFE IS A MYSTERY! Tomorrow, next week, next semester, next year, is a mystery to us all. There are certain things you cannot plan for. Certain students you cannot plan to have in your class. You will teach students who have disabilities. What kind, what grade, what knowledge they already know, is currently a mystery to us all. Be okay with that. Be okay with feeling like you have no idea what to do at times. Take a deep breath. Go back to inclusive practices we have covered this semester, find outside resources, talk with parents, intervention specialist, special education teachers. If teaching was easy, everyone would do it.

DEVOTION! Stay devoted to what you believe in. Stay devoted to wanting ALL children succeed and live happy lives. Impact a child's life for the better, I know you can do it!

PEACE!
SPREAD IT!
BELIEVE IN IT!
TEACH IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PRIDE! Have pride in what you do and what you teach. I can promise you all, having a comfortable, peaceful, inclusive classroom will leave you filled with pride every day you walk out of the classroom.

MAGIC! Teaching is magical. Seeing a struggling student finally understand something, the look in their eyes is magical. Being a teacher is like having magic powers. We all have probably been called crazy or something similar for wanting to go into the education field. Use your powers to do good! Use your powers to make a child feel confident about themselves. Inclusion should not be seen as an extra step incorporated into your classroom, but a necessity. Use your powers to do good! I know you can:)

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The color turquoise is associated with meanings of calming, sophisticated, energy, wisdom, serenity, wholeness, creativity, emotional balance, good luck, spiritual grounding, friendship, love, joy, tranquility, patience, intuition, and loyalty.

So many good words, so many ways to relate them to inclusion.

My Fellow Classmates:

GOOD LUCK! Although you may not have had much experience in your current or previous placements teaching students with disabilities, I wish you the best of luck in your future when it comes to inclusive teaching. We can be given all the information in the world about HOW to teach inclusively, but its when you are actually in the field & in the classroom when it matters.

BE PATIENT! Its okay to struggle. Like I just mentioned, everything comes with practice and experience. Most likely your first year as a legit teacher, things wont go as you planned! Be patient with the students who are struggling. We are ALL learners when it comes to being in a classroom setting.

LOVE ALL YOUR STUDENTS! Yes, all your students. That is Inclusion 101 for ya, differences should be celebrated in the classroom! Kids are kids, all going through different challenges at different times, they need your love and support!! Especially students who may not be getting that equal love from their other teachers/ classmates.

STAY CALM! Things wont go as planned. That's not just in education, that's life. Keeping a calm, comfortable classroom environment will be a place where students want to be. Students will get on your nerves, but don't let it show. RESPECT THE STUDENT, DISLIKE THE BEHAVIOR!

BE CREATIVE! try something new! Students learn in all different ways and being creative when differentiating lessons will help students who don't fall in the "norm," succeed.

STAY LOYAL TO INCLUSIVE PRACTICES! Like I said, we have learned a lot of important information this semester, but its when you are in the field teaching where it will all matter.

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Black is for the horrors of institutionalization. We have to remember the dark times before society made inclusion a goal. We have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go.

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Red represents anti-bullying practices. During this semester, we had two guest speakers, Katie and Mitch, who both shared their experiences with bullying. These stories were truly hard to hear. It didn't surprise me to hear that Katie and Mitch's peers were intolerant to their differences, but it was nothing less than shocking that their teachers stood idly by and even joined in at times.

Bullying is the antithesis of inclusion. If we truly want to be inclusive, it is imperative that we implement zero-tolerance bullying policies in our classrooms. It is hard enough for students with disabilities to navigate a society that doesn't make room for them; we shouldn't allow bullies to make it more difficult.

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Blue is the struggle. Sometimes in our chosen profession, things can be overwhelming. We see what should be basic human rights denied to our students every day. This is what happens in a world that was designed to exclude certain people for the benefit of others. Money is what is important and different costs money. What do we do with our pain? For a solution we need to go into the most American music there is. The Blues.

The Blues was born out of necessity. African American people wrote music out of their pain. In the face of a world that did not want them and often abused them, they made art. Art that healed and acted as a space for healing. This is what we need to do with all of the sadness and despair that we are presented with when stepping into a classroom. We take all of the negative and make beautiful music from it. We take our students pain and comfort them with a song or a poem or a tap on the shoulder that  lets them know someone is looking out for them.

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Inclusive education is a learning experience.

For a lot of people, inclusive practices are an unknown subject. A blank slate. As educators, we have the opportunity to not only model inclusive practices in the classroom, but to invite students to partner with them in helping to create an inclusive classroom. Educators can do this through informing their students on how to help their fellow classmates, on providing differentiation at the whole-class level, and teaching with a variety of styles and methods. In addition to educating students, however, it is crucial that educators recognize that there are still parts of their understanding of inclusion that can continue to grow and expand as well.

Learning often requires surrender, for us to admit that we don't always know the answer. That blank-page-experience should be frequent for us, as we should be open to new opportunities and learning experiences that we will be able to apply in the future and share with others, to create a better and more inclusive classroom.

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Violet represents advocacy. I ask myself daily, "What am I doing to make the lives of my students better"? The way we answer this question not only determines my nature but the impact I am going to have. When we take the extra steps to assist students that need assistance, we are making a statement to them that the most important thing is their health and safety, we are saying that we care. Only after those basic needs are met can effective learning take place.

It is our jobs to take initiative in advocating for the betterment of our students lives. Not many people spend as much time with these kids as teachers do. Possibly, a kids teacher is their closest confidant. We are their eyes and ears. Inclusive teachers advocate for their students and motivate their students to take their own action to better the world.

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Green represents renewal and environment.  In an inclusive classroom teachers will need to renew their thinking every day. They will need to see the potential in every student, treating them fairly and justly.  Teachers also need to be aware of their classroom environment as well. Students with disabilities need to be included into the classroom community at all times. Teachers clarify student needs with the rest of the class as well as include them in small group discussions. The classroom environment should also be a bully-free zone. There is no tolerance for bullying.

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Science lesson: Sunflowers engage in heliotropism, which is the act of turning itself towards the sun as it moves through the sky. It is an active engagement as they go through this cycle every day, and they reset at night. We believe that while inclusion requires routine, it needs a certain path to look to. Sunflowers look to the sun as we as teachers should look to creating an inclusive classroom. The joy that comes from that is inexplicable, which the color yellow so beautifully represents.

A (rhetorical) question to ask from this:
Sunflowers turn towards the sun to survive. They need the light, and they have to turn towards the sun. It is a repetitive cycle they need to be in.

Will we be teachers who incorporate inclusive practices just because we need to in order to do our jobs?
Or will we be teachers who incorporate inclusive practices because we believe that we are partnering for an important goal?
Why are we facing the sun?