Characteristics Of A Productive Mathematics Classroom

All students deserve a rewarding learning experience regardless of race, gender, economic status, or physical disability, for this reason Walnut Ridge Elementary school implements researched based practices such as differentiated instruction to help meet the individual needs of our students. Teachers are being made aware of the fact that diversity can have a detrimental impact on learning. Through the implementation of differentiation, we are able to expand the learning experiences for all diverse populations, thereby expanding educational opportunities for our students.

Mathematical understanding influences all areas of life from social to private and civil. Therefore maths education is widely believed to be the single most important aspect to establishing opportunities for young people; unfortunately, many struggle with mathematics and become indifferent as they continue to encounter obstacles with regard to engagement (Anthony & Walshaw, 2009). Knowing a

Differentiation of instruction is the process of teaching in a way to meet the needs of students with differing abilities in the same class, including those with special learning needs. One way to do this is by providing several different avenues by which all students can learn the same material. In differentiating instruction, teachers plan out and implement a variety of approaches to content, process, product, and environment. Differentiated instruction is used to meet the needs of student differences in readiness, interests, and learning needs. Many people in the education field believe differentiation has the potential to transform teaching and learning in a way that raises expectations for all students.

In order to implement this into my future class I first need to recognize the variety of individual culture, gender, background, socioeconomic status, learning style, developmental stage and other factors of students, families and colleagues. Establishing that my classroom is a safe zone and a place where differences are celebrated and embraced will help me create an environment where everyone’s diversities are respected.

Research shows ‘that individuals have to gain through learning collaboratively in appropriately structured and conducted groups’. J. Smith and A Spurling (1999:44).

Diversity encompasses numerous characteristics including socio-economic background, ethnicity, special needs, gender, and giftedness (Cazden, 2001). Today, classrooms are getting more varied and diverse with students from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, and students with a disability. It appears that teachers must meet the needs of all students successfully and individually to effectively teach a classroom of diverse students. This paper will first identify three challenges involved with ensuring that teaching strategies are

There are three main focuses to engage children in discussion small group, large group, and pairing. Mr. Reinhart wants the student to be responsible for their own understanding of math, as well as why the math is important to the student. Allowing students to process what they are learning is the most important part of understanding. “Increasing wait time to five seconds or longer can result in more and better response” (Reinhart, 2000). Another important concept that Mr. Reinhart mentioned in the article is “Be nonjudgmental about a response or comment” (Reinhart, 2000). Encouragement is the key in making students feel successful and allowing students to listen to their peers and respect differences in learning

However, further in depth research unveiled that there is a steady decline in mathematics performance in Australian school’s. This is due to unqualified teachers. Due to shortage of qualified maths teachers, thousands of children are being taught maths by teachers who are specialised in humanities subjects.

Today, Ms. Laura Garner did a professional development on Differentiation. It was amazing! I’ve read professional articles and books on this topic, but never actually saw it up close as a participant. I was not just a participant but I was an active participant. I was engaged in the learning process. In fact, every teacher in the room was actively engaged in the learning process. Everyone was not doing the same activity, but the topic at hand was the same for all participants. Thus, instruction, in a classroom, should not be one size fits all. It should be catered so the needs of each student that enters into a classroom to learn are met and more importantly, students’ weaknesses are not highlighted for everyone in the classroom to

When students worked in small groups in the classroom, they were commonly grouped into academic ability to impact their learning in the best way. Miss Amber promoted a sense of belonging within the class as students who finished earlier could assist other students who were struggling. This is stated by McInerney that streaming students according to their academic ability maximises each students’ development. Grouping students with varied abilities allows students to ‘self-help’ one another. Groundwater-Smith et al., states that there are numerous avenues of diversity such as learner diversity which is not just looking at physical diversity but also including intellectual and cultural diversities. Due to each student being different there were many varying learning styles which is affected by each experience that each student has been confronted with. O’Donnell et al., highlights the fact that differences are good as clear expectations can be agreed upon by the class community including the teacher and all the students. Expectations that may be established in the classroom could be implementing authority, putting rules in place and reminding students that the classroom is a safe

Recall Norman spent time finding games and tasks that would connect to students’ interest. Toni also used her classroom instructional practices to build a classroom culture of connecting to her students through utilizing the model of the teacher and students supporting each other. She shared, “I break off in small groups so that I can facilitate…I feel like I can really help the students who need my help and the ones who don't get to work independently”. Toni’s classroom practices of supporting students during instruction is resonated by Hand (2012). This research indicates that when students feel supported, they feel comfortable engaging in mathematical discourse with each other and the

Explanation of the teaching strategies to provide equitable learning opportunities for students with diverse learning needs and for students from diverse cultural and

Like it or not, there has always been diversity among students in the classroom. It is the fact that each and every student is unique. From every circumstance, students bring a varying set of values, perspectives, and beliefs to the learning environment. Understanding the character of students is important in order to become a competent teacher. In fact, teachers should be aware and recognize students, as unique individuals, all acquire information differently than others. Some of these differences are due to developmental variations in cognitive, physical, intellectual, moral, emotional, and social changes caused by maturation and experience. And this reality of classroom conditions makes instruction much more challenging for teachers and

The context of the classroom is a 6th grade math class. The students are at varying developmental levels from below level to advanced/gifted. The types of learners I have are the auditory, visually, and mostly the bodily/kinesthetic learners. I have students who are from multiple ethnicities such as Hispanic, White, Asian, Middle Eastern, and African American. I also have students with varying exceptionalities.

At the beginning of my differentiated course, I thought I possessed a well-developed growth mindset, but in reality I had a lot of learning to do. A growth mindset is the belief that intelligence and talent can be developed through perseverance and hard work (Dweck, 2015). Often teachers and students alike find themselves stuck in a fixed mindset. Something that I will continue to work on with my students and myself is the ongoing development of a growth mindset. We will discuss how everyone in our class has their strengths and weaknesses, but as a class we are going to help each other grow. In order to do this, we need to have a classroom of cooperation, not competition. I want to ensure that all of my students understand that it doesn’t matter what anyone else is doing or has achieved, as long as you’re growing, then you should be very proud of yourself. I also want students to feel comfortable asking each other for help and helping each other. This is a mindset change that won’t happen overnight we will learn about it and practice it each and every day. The second piece of informing students about differentiated instruction is teaching them that fair isn’t always equal. I plan to show them this picture and have a discussion about what this picture is teaching us. I will explain that I will give each student the support and tools they need to be successful, but that support and those tools will look different depending on the student (Wormeli, 2006).