18

I have learned a lot about differentiation from observing different classrooms and from different classes i have been to. I think the most important thing that I took from these experiences was that I need to be aware of students specific needs int he classroom. Every child deserves to be cared about and they each deserve a good education. There are many, many different strategies to help children get a good education but they all deserve the same things from their teachers. If students feel that they are cared about and if they feel challenged and like they have purpose in the classroom, I think they are a lot more likely to want to succeed in school and in life.

17

The last post I focused more on the fast finishers in classrooms but I have also noticed a need for remediating content for those students who are behind. I do think that putting them in reading groups and having them read on lower levels is great. I see a need for more subjects in classrooms to be differentiated for those who are on lower levels. I think spelling, science, writing, and math should also be differentiated for those who need extra help completing assignments. I don't think it makes any sense to just give the whole class the same spelling list and expect them all to do well on it. It is not realistic to expect that to happen either. I have never been a teacher but it also seems like a challenge to find the time to make all the different subjects differentiated and meet all the needs of all the students. I think there needs to be a happy medium for teachers as well. I have asked a few teachers about how they meet the needs of every student and a lot of them think it is idealistic to plan three different activities for one lesson. Maybe I will just have to experience the real thing to understand how it is done.

Post 16

I think it is so important that students learn what they should be learning in a subject. The learning should also be on their level. As I have watched some classes in the last few years of being in school, i realized how much time has been wasted. I think that it is important to challenge students in subjects that they excel in. I have seen too many classrooms that have the children who are ahead of others just fill their extra time completing tasks that are not worthwhile just so the other children can catch up to them. I think kids need to be challenged and they should not have their time wasted either. Having some sort of differentiated assignments, especially in math and english, would help the students who are fast finishers learn more and not get bored or waste valuable time.

post 15: observations

I am still in the second grade classroom observing this wee. I noticed that the spelling is just given as a list for the students to memorize. I have seen that some of the kids in this class are struggling to just get their sight words down and do not know the basic concepts of decoding and phonics. Some of the students don’t know that an e at the end of a word makes the vowel long or that there are diagraphs that make different sounds. I think this class could benefit  from spelling lists that are differentiated. I really liked how we learned to differentiate spelling by using the words their way book. It has the kids in different groups according to their readiness and to what they know about spelling. Then the students are each given a different spelling list every week. I think this is a great way to teach basic word sounds and spelling concepts. I know that there are quite a few students in the class who are on low reading and spelling levels and I really think that implementing something like this would help them improve. 

post 14

I think I would like to differentiate in my future classroom by coming up with some sort of assignments in math, spelling, and reading that are differentiated to individual students needs. I think this is very important to do this. The classroom I am working now does differentiate the reading by having different groups on the same levels of reading working together. The teacher also differentiates for interest in reading by letting the students choose a book they are interested in but that is still in their reading level. They are also able to choose what center they want to go to next. They have some that are on the computer, some are with a kindle, some are journal writing, and some are reading with the teacher or independent reading. I think this is a great way to differentiate reading activities. 

post 13

I was assigned to do my fieldwork in a second grade class. The are working on subtracting double digit numbers with and without regrouping. I gave a pre-test to all of the students in the class and there were two or three who did not miss any or just missed one question. This surprised me because I was not expecting any of them to get more than a few correct since they had not learned how to do some of the types of problems that were on the pre-test in class yet. This made me see a  real need for differentiation in this class. I think that those three who got all the correct answers need something harder to work on. They don’t seem to be bored in class but they need to be more challenged. There are also quite a few students who missed more than half of the questions and need to have some remediation in math. It was interesting to see how differentiation might help these students learn. I am not sure how I would implement the differentiation because the school and grade teams all use the same books for math and they stick to the program but I can see the need for differentiation in the classroom after watching these students do math. 

post 12

This post sort of goes along with the last one which was about aiming high. I want to talk about involving students in decisions and helping students learn to set their own academic goals. Having students schedule their own assignments and tests or things of that nature can help attitudes in the classroom. This is because they feel like they have some sort of control of their own time and it gives them more responsibility. Students need responsibility to feel validated and important to the classroom community.

helping students set their own goals is also a way to build self-awareness and confidence in themselves. It also helps them see their own development and success over time. I think this is so important for students to feel like they are learning and progressing. I personally often feel like I am not learning much in school but then when I talk to someone who is a teacher I realize how much I actually have learned in my schooling. It is important for young students, as well as adults to see their own growth and accomplishments and see that all the work and effort they are putting in is making a difference in their learning.

post 11

While I was reading the Tomlinson book, I saw a section that addressed the idea that teachers often underestimate students. She says " it is likely that we underestimate what any student can accomplish, often establishing as performance ceilings goals that ought to be planks in the floor." I think this is so true. I even do this with my own children. I am constantly surprised at what they know and are able to do and accomplish. Every child has to potential to learn and succeed in school and in life. The tasks are given to students should REALLY make them think and not just be busywork. I will have to keep this in mind more as I am working with struggling learners or any student. I need to set high expectations so that my lessons don't become a floorboard instead of a ceiling.  I want to create a class full of problem solvers who can think and reason in order to accomplish a task.

teacher responds

The teacher responds is the third cog of the machine of differentiation. it consists of: invitation, opportunity, investment, persistence, and reflection. I have not yet been a teacher but when I am, I imagine that the persistence will be the most challenging part of this cog. I think that students will get frustrated when they are not immediately understanding a lesson. When this happens, there should be a conversation happening that has similar comments- "you are growing, but you are not finished growing", "when one route doesnt work, there are others we will find", let's figure out what works the best", "no excuses only support", "there is no finish line in learning". I have to add that something to that last one though. There are no finish lines but there are big accomplishments that should be recognized. I really liked the all of the other elements of this cog. The main idea of this is that the teacher is always there to support the growth of the students and to assist their learning. The teacher is also there for moral support. I think it is important that the teacher and the students all need each other to make a classroom function.

The student seeks

Last time I blogged about how curriculum and instruction are the vehicle or machine. I did not mention that there are three cogs of differentiation. the curriculum being only the first one of them. The one I want to write about today is what the student seeks. All three cogs work together to create a machine or a functioning classroom of differentiation. The parts of the cog that makes up "the student seeks" are : Affirmation, contribution, power, purpose, challenge. All of these things work together to create what a student wants from their school environment. I think that affirmation is one of the most important and valuable ones. students have a need to feel safe and wanted. This does not only go for kids either. imagine going into a classroom that you did not feel safe or like you mattered or were listened to or accepted in. It would be scary and miserable. I believe this is one of the first things that needs to be addressed in a classroom. the others will all fall into place when true differentiation is happening. I am not saying that affirmation is more important than the others but I do think that without it, the "vehicle or machine" would not function at all. It is just so important that there is trust and respect in the classroom.

post 8

The elements of curriculum instruction should all work together to make a machine that is a total learning experience for each student in the classroom. These are the things that I plan to use as a checklist to make sure that the instruction and activities are differentiated. the activities, tasks, and assignments should be: 

important

focused 

engaging

demanding

and scaffolded. 

I believe that if a lesson is all of these things for each individual student, it really is differentiated. Without all of these elements, or if one of them is "broken," the lesson will not truly be differentiated and will not function as a "machine"

I think this is a great way to check my lessons and evaluate if they are truly differentiated for each individual student. 

Post 7

I recently watched some youtube videos about the ps 22 and what this teacher does for his students is inspiring.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGpdULugKo4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ee-WOs1PaHQ

I think this is the definition of what differentiation should be. Every single child who is performing feels like they are good at something and that they are smart. You can just tell that they are so engaged and interested. This does not feel or look like work, it looks more like play. I think that students need to be interested in what they are learning. Learning through music can be an excellent way to differentiate. If I were to differentiate in the classroom with music, I would differentiate for interest and the students who love music could be in the same group for some assingments. After that they could do activities like learn songs that help them remember something or even come up with their own songs.

post 6

Starting with a good unit is the starting point of differentiation. You need absolute clarity of what you want the students to learn and why to have true differentiation. These are sometimes called essential understandings. Starting with the advanced learners and then Tiering for the lower students would be the next step in planning for differentiation. This can also be done the other way around starting with the lower students.

The students need to have a sense of community in the classroom for it to all work. They need to be able to trust each other to learn. They all need to feel safe and secure in their surroundings. Students will not want to share their ideas if they do not trust their group members. Growth is what should be focused on not who is the smartest one. The students need to learn how to help each other not just rely on the teacher. It should be a team effort. To me, this is the or one of the most important parts of having a differentiated classroom.

Flexible grouping and having different tasks assigned and/or chosen also helps a lot with differentiation. This can mean that some groups are student lead or teacher lead. Teachers should differentiate the content or process. Teachers should also differentiate for readiness, interest, and learning profile. All of the tasks should seem just as important and fun as any of the others because you really don't want anybody to feel left out or that the assignment is unfair.  

Continuous assessments are necessary to show what the students need to learn. This can be informal or formal assessment. A short pre-assessment can really tell you where the students need to be grouped and what they still need to learn. exit cards also help the teacher to know what the students know. A 3-2-1- summary is an example. This is where the students write three things they learned during the activity or lesson. I really like the idea of exit cards because it is good for those students who do not usually voice their opinions or learning and every students participates and shows what they have learned.

Tiering in differentiation

Tiering is necessary for differentiationTo me tiering is putting in scaffoldings that are just right. this also includes asking: what range of learning needs are you likely to address? what should students know? what is your starting point in the lesson? what is your first cloned version? what is your second cloned version? in class, we saw some cloned worksheets that were all very similar but they were different for those who were on lower or higher levels. I think this is how to differentiate.

The difference between good teaching and differentiation is that for differentiation the teacher is having different activities that are simultaneously meeting the specific needs of each student in the class. I think all of the hallmarks that we have learned about really help teachers to be able to do this.

We did some examples in class of how to differentiate. We did worksheets that were in different groups. We differentiated for reading levels and the reading process, readiness, comprehension, and for readiness. We also had a choice in some of the activities. We differentiated the content by letting us choose the different presidents. This also differentiated for our personal interests.

I think if we can do this for all of our lessons, the students will really learn quickly and be more motivated to learn because they are all on their levels and they have a choice in their learning. This also makes them feel more in control of their own learning. If the students are more excited about learning, this makes it easier for everyone. I am so excited to try this in a classroom!

post 4

There are important things about differentiation that I learned while reading this week. some of those things include, emphasis on the child as an individual. This is probably one of the most important things when talking about differentiation. If a child is not viewed as an individual, they will not feel that they are cared about. Independence is also an important aspect of differentiation. Activities that are planned should be geared toward the individual cild and encourage independence. I really liked the part in the book by Carol Tomlinson that said

" The point is to relentlessly seize the remarkable opportunity of a teacher to shape lives- to do the best we can to ensure that we are better at reaching children today than yesterday, better at it this year than last. connecting with each child is at the heart of differentiated teaching, because this approach to teaching does not accept learners as interchangeable parts."

I think that this is the whole idea of differentiation summed up into a few lines. This also was exactly the entire presentation by Sylvia was about.  Every student deserves to have a teacher that cares about their education and their individual needs. Being better at this should be a goal of every single teacher.

post 3

This week in class we discussed more examples of morning meetings. I really liked this morning because of the fun ideas for the greetings. I really liked the activity where you throw a ball to someone and they say the name of the person who threw it to them and then they throw it to someone else. I also think that writing questions on a ball and then having the students catch the ball and answer the questions their thumb landed on. This could be a really fun activity for many different questions. You could use it for any subject really just to review what was learned earlier in the week.

We also discussed the hallmarks more in depth this week. It was very interesting to me because there were a few different common themes between the majority of the hallmarks. The first and most talked about one was that you need to keep your end goal in mind when planning. working together to achieve goals was something that was mentioned in quite a few hallmark presentations as well.  Backwards lesson planning and thinking about the outcome of your teaching were also common themes between the hallmarks. I think that it is very important to have all of the qualities that were talked about in the hallmarks in your lessons. I think for some teachers many of these things come naturally for teachers and other things will need work. Just talking about doing these things makes me more excited to teach and make goals for me and for the students I will be working with.

Sylvia Allan morning meeting

Morning meeting presentation by Sylvia Allan

this was a fantastic presentation on the importance of implementing morning meetings into the classroom. Morning meetings are important because it is the only time when every child is successful and is able to respond. I think this is the reason they work so well. I personally have a much easier time learning if I don't feel intimated or unsafe in the environment.

the most important thing I got out of the presentation was that there are 2 critical pieces for teachers.
-never sit at your desk during morning meeting. Get involved!
-Morning meeting is not a therapy session. Do not share drama with your students. It is a time to discuss  information, solutions, and business.

greetings should be on mondays and you should role play how you want the students to speak to each other.

memorization- there should be no pressure to memorize the piece. The students should just try to do their best to remember. There is not a grade you get.

class business- make connections throughout the entire morning meeting. Ask the students who has a similar experience and have them talk about it at recess. Under this category there are several things that are needed for the full experience. They are "vegetables"or things that are good for us. The second thing is "dessert" this is good things that they did that you notice. The third thing is "medicine" it will taste really bad but it will fix the problem.

All of these things, if implemented correctly, can make the classroom the ideal environment for teamwork and learning.

post 1

This blog is dedicated to ideas for differentiating in the classroom.

There are some great ideas for differentiating in the classroom that you can find in multiple places. I watched a few different morning meeting examples on youtube to see what they were all about. I have come to the conclusion that I really want to implement them into my classroom when I become a teacher. Doing morning meetings with your class allows you to communicate all of the announcements and important things that will happen that day to your class. It brings the students together as teammates and makes the classroom feel like a safe environment. It also makes the morning more fun!

The 9 hallmarks are also a great way to make sure you are actually differentiating in the  classroom. 

-There is a strong link between assessment and instruction

-There should be absolute clarity about what the teacher wants the students to know, understand, and be able to do

-There should be shared responsibility for the classroom between the teacher and students. It should work for everyone. 

-Individual growth should be emphasized as central to classroom success.

- a way up is usually through multiple and varied pathways

-There should be respectful and engaging work for all students

- proactive thinking and planning for different pathways

-There should be flexible grouping in the classroom

-There should be flexible use of time, space, and materials.