Diversity, technology, and inclusion are important factors in the classroom today.  Students often come from a variety of socioeconomic, religious, cultural, and ethic backgrounds.  Some students are different in their abilities and they often have different genders and ages. Technology can be used to aid instruction, to find materials for students, and for students to use as a resource.  Today there are many programs that teachers can use to remain organized.  Technology is of increasing importance in the classroom.  Inclusion is part of the P.L. 94-142 and it is something that benefits students but requires a great deal of work and training on the part of the teacher to provide the right services for the individual student. Standards and objectives often dictate what is to be taught as implicated on the IEP for an inclusion student.  In order to get a real view of this subject matter, I interviewed two fabulous teachers.  I interviewed Erika Manning, a former reading teacher at Renaissance Charter School in Irving, and Marsha Wheeler, a special education teacher from Eagle Charter School.  These women had very different views of which were the most important: diversity, technology, or inclusion.
     First, I interviewed Erika Manning, a first grade-reading teacher.  She believes that diversity impacts here teaching because it shows in the students’ attitude toward reading.  Ms. Manning said that most of her students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds tend to have more issues with reading.  She attributes this poor attitude to reading to be the lack of parental literacy; a lack of books in the home, and in some cases a language barrier.  Erika Manning thinks that students often don’t try to read because they have trouble understanding the words in English.  In addition to difficulties with diversity, there are similar issues with technology.
Ms. Manning believes that technology can be useful in the classroom, but there is such a lack of funding that it makes it difficult to keep up with the newest materials on the market.  Erika Manning uses technology to help students to read.  She claims that their interactive reading programs, using headphones, help students to hear and see the words and learn reading at their own pace.  Ms. Manning also keeps track of the students grades on the computer using an excel spreadsheet.  Erika also said, “I often have to start from the beginning because I have so many inclusion students in my classes.  My special education students require a great deal of attention.”  Ms. Manning believes that it is important for students to have the interaction with other classmates to be able to learn to build their vocabulary and to learn to read.
    When Erika was asked which one of these topics impacts here the most, she said that the diversity of the students does.  Her explanation of the reason for such an impact due to diversity is because of the student population of the school.  Ms. Manning comes from a school with a large population of Mexican immigrant children.  There is also a large population of African American students at the school as well.  Erika Manning said that technology affects the teaching environment the least because they don’t have the funding to keep up with the latest technology trends.  She claims that she hardly uses the technology, but when she does it is used as a resource.
 After speaking with Erika Manning, I spoke with Marsha Wheeler. Mrs. Wheeler had a very different view from Ms. Manning.  I asked Marsha Wheeler to explain how diversity, technology, and inclusion are used in her classroom.  Mrs. Wheeler told me that she did not see a great deal of diversity at her school.  When I asked her about gender differences and family differences she changed her mind.  Marsha Wheeler comes from a school that is a middle class Caucasian school.  She does have a diversity of student family types that have both male and female children.  Mrs. Wheeler claims that because she never though of her school as diverse, she it hasn’t really impacted her classroom instruction.
    For Marsha Wheeler, technology is an important source of information in the classroom.  She said, “Technology is the wave of the future and my students are the future.”  Marsha has a strong foundation in the idea that technology is important for the students to succeed in society today and in the future.  In Mrs. Wheeler’s class, she has the student word process almost all of their major papers, she uses computers as a resource tool, and she uses computers as a teaching tool.  When Mrs. Wheeler was asked about other technology, she could not come up with any other tools that were used in her class.  I examined Marsha Wheeler’s room and found an overhead projector and a sheet to check out a TV and a VCR.  Indeed, Mrs. Wheeler has forgotten some of the technology that she uses in her own classroom.  Maybe since the technology has been around for a while she does not see it as technology.
    Marsha Wheeler was very passionate about inclusion.  She believes that inclusion is vital for her special education students.  Mrs. Wheeler wants to help all of the special education students, but there is one of her and over fifty students that require services.  Marsha has a teaching assistant, but it is necessary for teachers to play a role in this process.  Her students appreciate her in depth attitude and her help with the regular education teachers to help them succeed in educating those students that require assistance.  Marsha Wheeler takes the time out to walk the hall during the teachers planning time and visit about the various students that she is accountable for.  Each regular education teacher is visited on a weekly basis and is aware of the open door policy.  She said, “The students that require special education services need to be treated like any other student, but they sometimes need a little help to do the same work that all the other students can do on their own.”  Marsha Wheeler says that inclusion impacts her teaching the most because that is what her job is all about.  Her job is to make sure that all the students are included in the learning environment and that they are learning the material.  When asked which of the areas affects the classroom instruction the least, she claimed that diversity would probably be the factor that is least significant.  Marsha Wheeler gave her reason because she did not even recognize the existence of such diversity on her campus.
     Both Erika Manning and Marsha Wheeler are exceptional teachers.  The two of them use a variety of strategies in their classroom.  Erika Manning sees the need for educating the diversity of students and Marsha Wheeler sees the need to help those with special education needs.  Both of the teachers agree that technology can be used in a variety of ways in the classroom.  I hope that the two teachers got a great deal out of the interview, because I certainly did.  We, as teachers, need to consider diversity in our classroom.  A room of Caucasian males can be diverse.  Diversity is not just culture and teachers need to respect and help others to respect differences.
    In addition, technology needs to be considered as a necessity in the classroom and ways need to be established to obtain access to such technology.  Technology is not just computers and we need to remember that there is a variety of technology to aid implementation of curriculum.  Marsha Wheeler could have used videos to aid the special education students who had trouble with their writing abilities.
    Lastly, inclusion is necessary.  The law requires that teachers do their best to help students who are in need of special services.  Both of these teachers see inclusion as necessary.  Marsh Wheeler certainly must be an excellent special education teacher, but Erika Manning needs to seek further training and assistance in modifying the curriculum to meet the needs of the students.  I suggested to Erika, because she sounded overwhelmed, to attend ARD meetings where she could have some say in the writing of the IEPs.  Diversity, technology, and inclusion are three factors that can be overlooked by teachers, but today it is necessary that a second look be taken.  Students need the full benefits of all three of these factors and it is we, the teachers, who can provide it.