Monday, May 24, 2010
Differentiated Instruction
My differentiation journey began years ago in the classroom. Differentiation does not take place over night; think of it as a wonderful work in progress. Once I felt comfortable with one aspect of differentiation, I would begin to add something new. For example, I first explained to my students and their parents what would be taking place that year and how it would affect their learning in a positive manner. I then added small things such as allowing my students choices in their reading and writing. I worked extremely hard that year, but the experience taught me so much. Take ample time to plan, plan, plan!
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Differentiated Instruction
ReplyDeleteAs I reflect on the day we had our training on differentiation, so many things cross my mind. I enjoyed the handouts as Jeanie discussed her life experiences as a teacher as well as her daughters in being able to visually follow along to paint a picture in my head of her experiences in how they would benefit my students.
As she described the various learning styles, much of the focus showed how important it is for me to individualize instruction to meet student’s needs and have an enjoyable school day. My highlight was the lesson planning, unit layouts, and sample sheets to begin with and it went on and on from there in all the tidbits that she shared that seemed to only take a minimal amount of effort for the kids to enjoy and stay engaged throughout the day. I'm looking forward to this summer in planning units of study for my third graders using the curriculum maps that she gave us. I can tell you before beginning my school year, that I will meet all learner’s needs without even knowing who will be in my class, based on the strategies that I learned in this differentiated session. The models Jeanie shared were wonderful and her packet full of resources made a great treasure to take home and review just in case I forget.
Lastly, I want to share how excited I was to share my resources with my mentee. She was looking for something more to do with her kids that would be "out of the box" and I was so glad to give her these resources, it seemed perfect that she asked for something that I actually could put my fingertips on quickly. Thanks so much for the TSS staff for having these workshops for us. They have proved beneficial to us as mentors and to our mentees as well. I sometimes think, “I’m so glad I have this information for my class and now I can share it with someone else!” The excitement in receive staff development that we can take back to school with us the next day shows when we share it with our mentees. They know it’s something that they can use immediately and it works, based on our excitement.
I also loved the curriculum map idea and highlighting standards as they are taught. I have been using the GaDOE curriculum maps for each subject; however, they only list the "key" or "main" standards and I would like to highlight the "subs" as they are taught. I believe posting these on the wall and highlighting them as they are taught will help me, my students, and their parents. I might even give a smaller version to the students to keep in their notebooks. I will also be using the "How Are You Smart?" survey at the beginning of the year and allow my students to keep a copy for their data books, as well as post them in the hall or classroom. Reese Road Leadership Academy is based on Covey's Leadership habits and Gardner's multiple intelligences so the survey is perfect for our school. In addition, per the GaDOE curriculum map, we are to begin the year teaching "Data Analysis and Graphing." The exit cards are another great idea I plan to use. I especially like that they can be tiered for individual needs. The "Exit Card Progress" chart given can be used on an individual basis and students can keep these in their data books as well. Overall, the Differentiated workshop was very helpful and practical.
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