Hello!
I am very excited to be starting the new semester in TE 402! I look forward to gathering new knowledge and ways to make Language Arts and Math fun and meaningful in the classroom! I was very pleased to hear that we would be incorporating blogging in this class so I am more apt to keeping my blog up-to-date with information.
In this week's class, we will be talking about "differentiation" and how it is utilized in teaching. Differentiation in the classroom, to me, means the teacher's responsibility to adjust his or her lesson plans to each and every student, no matter which level of learning they may be at. This is mostly applied to students with learning disabilities.
There are many ways differentiation is utilized in the classroom. For example, simple adjustments such as allowing students more time to complete a worksheet or giving them options as to which activity to take part in may be useful. However, if you have students who still do not prosper in literacy even with these adjustments, you may, as the teacher, need to turn to outside sources. For example, you may need to talk with the school counselor and have the student tested for a learning disability. In these cases, students may be pulled out of the classroom for a period of time each day and worked with individually on their literacy skills. This option is used with a couple of the students in my field placement and seems to work rather effectively. Communication with the students' guardians is extremely important and aids in the success of the student. When students with learning disabilities are surrounded by a positive, motivating support system, they will be more likely to succeed in school.
I am looking forward to learning more about differentiation in this week's class!
Monday, January 21, 2008
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3 comments:
Hi Ashleigh!
So now that class is over, were you able to pick up some information on differentiation?
We never really discussed this but is accommodation the same as differentiation?
Gina
It's great that we have a new batch of teachers who recognize the importance of differentiating instruction. Unfortunately, not all teachers are as supportive of it. However, the Marcus article shows that differentiation can be for LD students or students who may be disabled, but it can also be for gifted and talented students, and that those gifted might (gasp!) be LD as well. It seems to be really redefining the concept of what makes someone "intelligent." How do we define success, intelligence, or failure? If the parameters were slightly different, would that change the outcome of all participants, or just some? These are interesting questions to explore! :)
I think your thoughts on differentiation are great. I like how you considered "all" students when talking about the teachers adjustments to the classroom. I think it is important that no matter what teaching strategy is used in the classroom, all students in the classroom are taken into consideration. Your point on communication is awesome, communication seems like the greatest key to success. Not only is communication something that should happen between the teacher and the students, but also between teacher, student, parents, and outside sources(if any). I think differentiation is a great approach to teaching and I look forward to learning more about it and effective ways to apply it in the classroom.
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