Essay on Resources for Differentiated Instruction

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

Differentiated instruction is different from traditional classroom instruction in several ways. In differentiated instruction, teachers use on-going assessments instead of on assessment at the end of the unit. Differentiated instruction also uses flexible grouping, such as small groups or peer pairs, rather than simply whole-group instructions. Additionally, differentiated instruction uses an array of teaching methods based on the students learning style. Finally, differentiated instruction uses a variety of learning materials.

She was faced with the challenge of teaching a wide range of learner pathways while striving to maximize the learning for all her students grades first through eighth. While what my grandmother faced over eighty years ago is an obvious exaggeration in differentiation; the reality is that each class room in our schools is a microcosm of that environment. Each student learns through different pathways and it is the role of each teacher to maximize their learning potential by differentiating their instructional practices. Hence, the teachers of my school must strive to connect students and academic content through a responsive instructional practice that is reflective of the needs of their students (Tomlinson, C., Brimijoin, K., & Narvaez, L.,

I can incorporate elements of powerful teaching and learning into my practice by involving students in the learning and at the same time ensuring that the material helps them think for themselves. As a future teacher, I will always find methods to make learning important, accurate, and valuable to students. I will find what students are enthusiastic about and then use those interests as inspirations to increase engagement. Whether a student is passionate on one thing or has probably few areas of interest, there are many easy strategies that I can use into my curriculum. I truly believe that every student learns different ways. So it is very important for me to use in the classroom differentiated instruction, especially for those students with special needs. Differentiation is the best way to engage all learners successfully. I will also include engagement in the classroom. This is a good way to involve students in the classroom and to stay engaged in their learning and develop greater skills. When students are taught to control their behavior and work independently, the environment in the classroom is peacefully and easy to teach. I am looking forward to incorporate all these teaching strategies in my

Each year, our staff chooses a curricular focus. Each staff member signs up to share their ideas and lesson samples with staff members. For example, last year our focus was on vocabulary instruction. Each teacher was assigned a different staff meeting to bring ideas and share their strategies with staff members. While this year's focus has been determined, I will suggest making differentiation a focus for next year's staff meetings. My rationale for this suggestion will come from the survey results listed in Appendix A. Some survey questions were answered without one educator designating a level 4 usage. These areas included knowing students' learning preferences, adjusting pace of instruction based on student need, allowing choice topics to motivate students, and using tiered assignments (Appendix A). The results of this survey indicate that differentiation is a topic we need to be discussing openly and addressing. While many teachers may feel overwhelmed by current changes taking place in our district, Heacox (2009) reminds us that we can slowly implement changes by choosing one new differentiation strategy over a grading period (pg. 165). This would allow teachers to make changes without feeling overwhelmed in overhauling their current curriculum. Furthermore, one demographic may suggest why some of our survey results were so low. Many of our teachers have been teaching the same course and same curriculum for many years. All participants surveyed have been teaching for fifteen or more years because our staff only has two novice teachers - one including myself - who have each been teaching for five years. It can be easy for teachers to become comfortable with curriculum - especially when so many changes happen every year at the building, district, state, and national levels - and continue

Differentiation is a flexible process that includes the planning, preparation, and delivery of instruction to address the diversity of students’ learning needs within the classroom. Through differentiated instruction, teachers take into account who they teach, what they teach, where they teach, and how they teach. To obtain a better understanding of differentiation, Carol Tomilinson explains what differentiation is not. One method that differentiation is often confused with is individualized instruction of the 70’s. Individualized instruction sought to do something different with each student within the classroom (Tomilinson, 2005, p. 2). Although both individualized instruction and differentiated instruction required planning, differentiated instruction does not assume a separate level

Differentiated instruction has been around in classrooms for quite some time now. It is a philosophy that not all students are the same. All kids learn differently and some students may be ahead or below their actual grade. Differentiated instruction helps this issue by teaching us that this problem can be achieved no matter what the road blocks are up ahead. Nowadays, teachers are pressured and even mandated to meet certain standards. It can be hard to meet both these standards and the needs of all students consecutively. DI is there to help the teachers set each student up with their own progress learning goal and to promote the growth and success that each student will make.

The article contains views from professionals who both support and oppose the idea of differentiated classrooms and its effectiveness for teachers and students. As you read further into the text, the author suggests that there are more important questions to ask, “What are students supposed to be learning? [and] are all students mastering it?” (p. 10). Furthermore, by answering these questions leads to “broad focus on learning intentions and student learning, teachers work (and principles support and evaluation of that work) follows logically into three phases: unit in lesson planning; delivery of instruction; and follow up with unsuccessful students” (p. 11). Finally, the text discusses each aspect in-depth providing ways that teachers can make each of these phases effective in their implementation and application towards intentional

Differentiated instruction is the approach of ensuring that each student is learning in the way he or she procures it and the way he or she demonstrates the learning as a marker for the

Teaching is so exciting, and you have to love it to become one. My passion is Special Education, teaching in the public school system, elementary grades K-5. The strategy that sticks out the most is Differentiated Instruction. Differentiated instruction” is an approach that suggest adapting instruction to the readiness, skills, abilities, interest, and learning styles of your students” (Kronowitz, 2012). Today’s classes are more diverse with diverse learners.

It is an instructor’s job to ensure students’ progress in their knowledge and abilities of the cirriculum by focusing on standards they must master throughout the school year. It is well known in the education world that successful teachers take time to know their students and develop well thought out lesson plans that consider their students individual needs as the focal point of design. Instructional scheme in a differentiated classroom is achieved through four main criteria: content, student interest, classroom environment, and instructional procedure. Differentiated instruction is a feasible strategy when considering the variety of learners in a typical classroom.

Classrooms today are diverse, have issues that were not previously present, and more is demanded of teachers than ever before. The readings in chapter six of Differentiated Instructional Management (Chapman and King, 2008), stuck me that many of the presented plans are intertwined with each other. I will explain three areas of planning in a differentiated classroom. I will not only discuss the areas of planning, but also speak about how I will incorporate and use the information in my teaching.

“Differentiation provides a framework for responding to differences in students’ current and developing levels of readiness, their learning profiles and their interests, to optimize the match between students and learning opportunities” (Tomlinson and Jarvis, 2009, p. 599). Research has supported that adjusting content, environments, processes and final products addresses students’ differences. By incorporating differentiation in the classroom and school, students’ needs are addressed more fully and opportunities to excel are given.

Instructional design and technology is a mixture of the designer’s knowledge of learning behaviors that is connected to the human psychology depending on educational materials to best help and facilitate the learning objectives. Instructional design is intensively linked with psychology in terms of variety of theories that are available to put the designers and learners on the right path to learn. The description of those theories give the designers a chance to see the vision and the outline of how to well create lessons for the learners including the media in ways as a tool for learning. The first thing to keep into consideration is to make sure the learners achieve the educational goals with high performance and efficiency.

Owing to the significant diversity in society, the twenty-first century classroom is composed of a vast array of student styles and needs; greater than previously experienced (Van Sciver, 2005). A differentiated classroom incorporates an assortment of learning opportunities to engage students of varying levels of readiness, pace, interests and profiles (Tomlinson, 2005, as cited in Todd, 2014). Differentiated curriculum focuses on student strengths and similarities; the teaching/learning framework (the content, resources, instruction, student output and assessment) is designed in a way that preserves students ' locus of control (Ashman & Elkins, 2009).