Differentiation Between Students And Learning Opportunities

In response to the varied student learning needs, differentiation will be a key component of this classroom. It is “designed to improve access to the general education curriculum by adapting instruction to each student’s diverse learning needs” (Smith, 2007). “Differentiation instruction means changing the pace, level, or kind of instruction you provide in response to individual learners’ needs, styles, or interest” (Heacox, 2012). Because each student comes to this 6th grade classroom with unique needs, differentiation will implemented frequently to ensure that each student receives the rigor needed to master the 6th grade curriculum. It will be relevant to your student and his/her needs. It will provide an appropriate level of challenge. It will be engaging and at times, it will offer choices. Delivery of differentiated instruction will frequently involve centered based learning activities and small group instruction. A list and description of some of the centers will be distributed to parents and is attached as Appendix

Differentiating instruction is a valuable instructional management and delivery tool, which can be used to assist teachers in meeting the needs of the diverse populations of students which they now find in their classrooms. In using these strategies, a teacher may use pre-assessments to determine the learning styles, interests and readiness of the students, prior to the introduction of a lesson or unit. After developing a learner profile, the teacher may then differentiate according to the readiness of the student, by process of delivery, and by the product which the student may produce to

To get to know their students through evaluating the students readiness, interest and learning profile. Readiness can be evaluated through examining results of formal or informal tests or by viewing the student’s academic record. Interest can be

In order to fully explain differentiation it is important to turn to The National Curriculum and look at what has become known as the ‘general inclusion statement’. This statement contains a statement that defines inclusion as “a demand on teachers not to ignore the three principles of inclusion (below) in their planning” Session 1 / Inclusion, the individual and the environment. In short, these three principals are: To set suitable learning challenges, to respond to pupil’s diverse learning needs, and overcoming potential barriers to learning and assessment for individuals and groups. In other words teachers are expected to develop lessons

Mrs .Sikkema said she has foyr high achiever students and two students who are on behavioral plans (Sikkema,2015,personal communication). She also said it is important to document and observe the students so you can understand their needs. I like how Mrs. Sikkema meet the learning needs of all the children in her classroom. Mrs.Sikkema help me to do my lesson plan in a timely manner. When I observe the classroom I was shock that the students was well behaved and attentive to the students. I have a lot of expereiences implementing different leson plans which was time consumer but it help me to do be able to implemnent a lesson plan in the future. Differentiated Instruction for Exceptional Learners provides an introduction to children and youth with a wide range of exceptional educational needs. There are five learning style auditory, visual, tactile, kinesthetic, and tactile/ kinesthetic (Differeitate Instructional

After reviewing my self evaluation and working with both groups of fifth graders, I have determined a need to provide a wider range of differentiated instruction. I have worked in the past to try groupings that benefited the students, but I am seeing that this is not working as well with this group. These students communicate and respond well to each other and are willing to help each other but some of the learning gaps between them are significant.

Once I have identified the student’s motivation I would develop an individual plan that would remove each of these barriers and enable the student to move to the next level.

According to UNESCO (2004), teachers around the world are exerting efforts in trying out innovative teaching strategies. There were dedicated and committed teachers who make a difference to the students’ lives and even providing important learning opportunities in their communities. To meet the students’ diverse learning needs, teachers cater variety of learning opportunities and experiences. In an interview of Carol Ann Tomlinson, an American author and educator known for her works with techniques of differentiation in education, she described differentiation as shaking up the classroom to be more appropriate for the learners. Regarding the methods of instruction, there should be a variety of techniques for collecting and presenting the lesson considering the students’ needs, abilities, interests, and backgrounds of experience.

The most effective method of differentiating is to ensure that resources and assessment methods, as well as teaching and learning approaches meet individual learner needs. According to Francis and Gould (2013) setting a single objective for a whole group will not be appropriate for all learners, due to the diversity of the group, therefore, as Gravells (2008) suggests we must identify the learning needs, styles, aspirations and potential of our learners. At this very stage, any barriers and boundaries should be identified, so the teaching and learning approaches, assessment methods and resources can be planned accordingly.

Explain the way in which teaching and learning plans can be adapted to meet the individual needs of the

Assessment arrangements can be adapted by allowing the learners to have an element of choice on how the criterion is assessed. This will allow the learners to feel included and means that the tutor is not offering an alternative or necessarily forcing the learner to disclose their lack of understanding or forcing adjustment.

Within my practicum classroom there are several students who have been coded or diagnosed. In fact, there are even a couple of students who just require a little extra help. In order to cater to those students i had templates created. These templates consisted of sentence starters such as; “My most magnificent thing would be….” and “one time i was really frustrated when….”. These students were asked to complete the sentences and glue the sheet into their journals. In addition, because it is a grade two classroom i had words students may have difficulty spelling written on the smartboard.

Nash Central Middle School (NCMS) is public middle school with many diverse groups of students. At NCMS, the motto is Student’s First and as Tomlinson states, “the practice of differentiation is rooted in a student-centered philosophy or ethic of teaching”(Tomlinson, 2010). Moreover, a primary school improvement goal and focus for the 2015-2016 school year is to provide professional development for teachers on differentiating instruction. The Collaborative Professional Learning Project researched and conducted by this candidate provided an introduction to differentiation as well as gave valuable resources related to implementing differentiation.

When teachers develop differentiated instruction strategies for students they provide several different avenues for the student to achieve the same learning goal regardless of which path they choose. Student choice in which avenue they ultimately select creates a sense of ownership with the students and actively engages them in the lesson. The different avenues all lead to the same learning goal just as many roads might lead to one destination. Differentiated thinking empowers teachers to be responsive rather than reactive to the unique and individual personalities,

Within a scheme of work differentiation must also be used as this is an approach to teaching that attempts to ensure that all the learners learn well despite their many differences. Having the ability to differentiate within teaching is a great attribute as “A teacher who understands what helps a learner learn will be a better teacher because they recognize differences and are prepared to alter