As an educator, my mission is to provide a supportive, all inclusive curriculum, develop partnerships with parents, and respect cultural diversity, while encouraging students to learn through interaction, exploration, and experimentation. Among these things, I plan to teach balanced literacy in my first grade classroom. My classroom will be student centered, encouraging my students to be active participants. They will be encouraged to explore and seek out new things on their own. Inclusion is very important in my classroom, as it should be in any classroom. I will make sure all of my students feel that they are a part of the class. For example, if I have a student who does not speak in my classroom, I will always try to incorporate something into the lesson where he can show me his answer, whether it is by picture, by sign, or any other means that he can express himself. I will also make sure that he is included in groups. For instance, he would do partner work just like the other students. I think it is important that all teachers realize the vitality of making sure every student is included in all aspects of the classroom and school communities. The only exception would be for students who need a specific accommodation that calls for them to be in an individual setting to better suit their needs. .
Balanced literacy will be a priority in my first grade classroom because I want to share the importance of reading and writing with my students. It will be especially important with my first graders because they are still in the process of learning how to read and how to use the reading strategies. Balanced literacy involves techniques to help all students read and write, with the main one being gradual release of responsibility. Defined by Ellen Levy, gradual release of responsibility is a successful approach for moving classroom instruction from teacher-centered, whole group delivery to student-centered collaboration and independent practice (Levy, 2007).
