Notes: Differentiation

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

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.

Differentiated instruction in a type of teaching approach in which the teacher makes changes to lesson plans or unit curriculum so that students of all levels achieve the same level of learning. The whole lesson might not have to be changed, usually they just will make changes to the content, process or product of a given lesson.

Prior taking this RETELL class I thought differentiating meant “dummying down” work. I struggled with the concept of differentiating strategies because I thought it help students to be all they can be. Taking the class have given a clear understanding the meaning and the usage of differentiating teaching, matter of fact, some the strategies I use in class are similar to some of the strategies taught in the RETELL class. I realized that Differentiated instruction is about using teaching strategies that connect with individual student's learning strategies. The ultimate goal is to provide a learning environment that will maximize the potential for student success. The important thing to remember is to hold on to the effective teaching strategies that lead students to positive learning outcomes and to make adjustments when necessary. It's about being flexible and open to change. It's also about taking risks and trying teaching and learning strategies that you would have otherwise ignored. It's about managing instructional time in a way that meets the standards and also provides motivating, challenging, and meaningful experiences for school age

Differentiation can be guided by a teaching assistant. The teacher will plan guided reading sessions

Differentiation is the tool used by educators who recognize that all students come to them with different readiness levels and learning styles. It allows us to meet the needs of each individual student while meeting the standards developed by state and national education associations. Additionally, there are many different types of differentiation that can be used in a classroom: teachers can create learning centers, use differentiated assessments, and develop anchor activities, etc. Currently, I utilize differentiated assessments, but my goal for the upcoming school year is to utilize more learning centers and to incorporate anchor activities into my daily classroom routine.

Readingrockets.org defines differentiation as tailoring instruction to meet individual needs. Differentiated instruction is a broad framework for supporting student differences by varying content, process, products, and learning environments based upon students strengths and weaknesses (Tomlinson, 2000).

All in all, differentiated instruction is a method used by teachers to accommodate all the different learning modalities, levels of learning, cultural and language barriers and special needs often integrated in one classroom with one lesson plan.

Chapter one “Defining How Differentiation Looks in Today’s Classroom,” is an outstanding way to introduce this Best Practice book because

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

Differentiated instruction is personalized for students of different levels of achievement, which allows students to choose what kind of teaching they want to use to learn. It lets students grow at their own pace through new material. For a differentiated classroom, teachers use assessments to determine student readiness. Assessments such as pre-tests are effective in determining what a student needs to learn or what level the student is. It lets teachers teach students based off of the common core standards but they do it also based on each child’s learning style and what level of knowledge they are at, at the same

curriculum. The teacher will achieve this by providing learning tasks, and outcomes tailored to meet the needs of students. The teachers are the ones who would provide quality instructions to meet the varying needs of the students. Ongoing assessment is crucial as it points out the weaknesses and strengths of the students and it informs them as to where they are at and where they need to be. This assessment also guides the teacher’s planning and choice of effective strategies to ensure that at the end of the lesson all and if not all the majority of the students have learned the lesson’s content and

Differentiated instruction is the way the teacher techniques to learn. Every child learns differently and will not learn on the same pace this is when differentiated instruction takes place. Teachers should enhance their materials and lesson plans so that all children are able to learn successfully. By teachers using differentiated instruction with her students when they are tested it will show rather or not the student comprehended the lesson. It shows if the teacher accommodate her students the proper way.

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