Diversify My Classroom: More Mirrors and Windows into Students' Lives

Funded Aug 11, 2020

I'm so incredibly appreciative of how these stories have impacted my teaching, my lessons, and my students' lives. To have a library of books with diverse characters and storylines allows me to accommodate my lessons to students' individual interests or when they'd like to learn something new. I have also learned something new from some of these books! I use these moments of personal growth as opportunities to model that we are all learning new things, and how exciting it can be. To have access to characters and plots that my students can relate to means they are more engaged and motivated to work with me.

I've been able to use these books to accommodate so many different therapy goals. For my students with complex communication needs, we pull out core words (or most frequently used vocabulary). For my students working on speech sounds, we play iSpy and find the words that have their sounds in them. For my students working on language, we ask WH- questions about the story and work together to figure out what the meaning might be.

These books have no only provided me with additional materials, they have also influenced how and what I teach. I couldn't be more grateful.”

With gratitude,

Ms. Laura