Why didn’t everybody understand the material taught? This is a question that teachers and educators often face. Ideally, students in the same classroom hearing the same instructions should be acquiring and storing the same information and understanding. However, realistically, students are unique individuals. Thus, different students in the classroom will learn differently through differentiated instruction.
The purpose of differentiating instruction is to better accommodate the learning diversity in the classroom. Even though teachers would expect all students to acquire the information and learn the necessary standard skills to proceed to the next grade and ultimately succeed in life, no student learns the same.
What is differentiated instruction? Differentiated instruction starts before the teacher even teaches the lesson. Instructions should include differentiation in the planning of the lesson. Part of being an effective teacher is to prepare for situations to occur before they actually take place. In other words, teachers need to be proactive and include differentiation into their lesson planning.
Differentiated instruction is also student centered. In order to better “teach” the students, teachers and educators should get to know their students. As I mentioned in earlier writings, effective teachers build sincere relationships with each and every student that walks in the classroom every year. Therefore, when a teacher knows the students’ strengths, interests and needs, instructions should be adjusted accordingly.
In addition, assessment is a very important component of differentiated instruction. After teachers get to know the interests and the needs of their students, and they plan their lesson, they need to actually execute it. This is when the third component of differentiation is most needed. Part of student learning diversity shows in each student’s readiness when it comes to concepts and content areas. Pre-assessing is essential for teachers to gauge where each individual is and how to better present the information and the instruction.
Lastly, differentiated instruction is a blend of whole-class, group, and individual instruction to best meet all students’ needs.
After completing observation in a third grade classroom, I wanted to learn more about how my mentor teacher applied differentiated instruction in her classroom. She explained to me that technology can be a great tool when used correctly. She also pulled groups to cover different activities while other students were working on various tasks. She gets to know her student on a personal/professional level that allowed her to better foreshadow what her students would think of the lesson and how to get them to be engaged and effectively learning. For example, she knew that one of her students was struggling with the math packet given. She also knew that she was that this particular student is an English Language Learner. Therefore, she wondered if that student didn’t understand the material or the language. She provided that student with individual instruction and offered her a dictionary to accommodate her language proficiency needs. She then realized that the student just did not comprehend the term “fewer than” and could not answer the question correctly. This showed me a great example of differentiated instruction in the actual classroom.
As a future teacher, I plan on implementing the principles of differentiation in my classroom. I gained a lot of information on what differentiating instruction is and how to apply it. In the future, I will get to know my students at the beginning and all throughout the school year as their needs and interests may change during this period of time. Also, I will accommodate their needs while keeping their interest in mind when planning my lesson. As I mentioned earlier, students are unique individuals and they deserve to be taught not similarly but equally. Differentiating instruction allows me to accomplish my goals to better help my students reach theirs.
In my classroom, I plan on incorporating art, technology, presentations, and other useful ways and strategies to reach out to all of the kids in my classroom that deserve to be acknowledge for the diverse individual that they are. I will also include various genres and themes of books and readings in my classroom library.
I will also plan for individual and group instruction and activities to help students build their skills while effectively and efficiently learning the material required to be successful life-long learners.
To sum up, I firmly agree with the saying: “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” – Albert Einstein. I refuse for my students to believe that they are not capable of reaching for the stars and accomplishing every goal they ever set for themselves.
The purpose of differentiating instruction is to better accommodate the learning diversity in the classroom. Even though teachers would expect all students to acquire the information and learn the necessary standard skills to proceed to the next grade and ultimately succeed in life, no student learns the same.
What is differentiated instruction? Differentiated instruction starts before the teacher even teaches the lesson. Instructions should include differentiation in the planning of the lesson. Part of being an effective teacher is to prepare for situations to occur before they actually take place. In other words, teachers need to be proactive and include differentiation into their lesson planning.
Differentiated instruction is also student centered. In order to better “teach” the students, teachers and educators should get to know their students. As I mentioned in earlier writings, effective teachers build sincere relationships with each and every student that walks in the classroom every year. Therefore, when a teacher knows the students’ strengths, interests and needs, instructions should be adjusted accordingly.
In addition, assessment is a very important component of differentiated instruction. After teachers get to know the interests and the needs of their students, and they plan their lesson, they need to actually execute it. This is when the third component of differentiation is most needed. Part of student learning diversity shows in each student’s readiness when it comes to concepts and content areas. Pre-assessing is essential for teachers to gauge where each individual is and how to better present the information and the instruction.
Lastly, differentiated instruction is a blend of whole-class, group, and individual instruction to best meet all students’ needs.
After completing observation in a third grade classroom, I wanted to learn more about how my mentor teacher applied differentiated instruction in her classroom. She explained to me that technology can be a great tool when used correctly. She also pulled groups to cover different activities while other students were working on various tasks. She gets to know her student on a personal/professional level that allowed her to better foreshadow what her students would think of the lesson and how to get them to be engaged and effectively learning. For example, she knew that one of her students was struggling with the math packet given. She also knew that she was that this particular student is an English Language Learner. Therefore, she wondered if that student didn’t understand the material or the language. She provided that student with individual instruction and offered her a dictionary to accommodate her language proficiency needs. She then realized that the student just did not comprehend the term “fewer than” and could not answer the question correctly. This showed me a great example of differentiated instruction in the actual classroom.
As a future teacher, I plan on implementing the principles of differentiation in my classroom. I gained a lot of information on what differentiating instruction is and how to apply it. In the future, I will get to know my students at the beginning and all throughout the school year as their needs and interests may change during this period of time. Also, I will accommodate their needs while keeping their interest in mind when planning my lesson. As I mentioned earlier, students are unique individuals and they deserve to be taught not similarly but equally. Differentiating instruction allows me to accomplish my goals to better help my students reach theirs.
In my classroom, I plan on incorporating art, technology, presentations, and other useful ways and strategies to reach out to all of the kids in my classroom that deserve to be acknowledge for the diverse individual that they are. I will also include various genres and themes of books and readings in my classroom library.
I will also plan for individual and group instruction and activities to help students build their skills while effectively and efficiently learning the material required to be successful life-long learners.
To sum up, I firmly agree with the saying: “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” – Albert Einstein. I refuse for my students to believe that they are not capable of reaching for the stars and accomplishing every goal they ever set for themselves.