Week 4 Blog Post
I'll be honest, when I first heard the term "differentiated instruction" I did assume it was very similar to individualized instruction, which to me, does sound very chaotic. How could a teacher possibly provide different instruction for nearly every student in the class to meet their needs? How could this not be chaotic, and how could this be possible in a class that only meets for 40-50 minutes at a time?
Both articles actually took away some of the overwhelming feelings that always come up when we talk about differentiated instruction. I especially like the explanation on edutopia, that described different ways to learn fractions, like watching a video, or cutting a cake (even eating the cake!). Different instruction can be short, but many different ways to explain/show a lesson is definitely achievable, unlike my previous misconceptions.
This article was also a great reminder that in lesson plans I've written for other classes, I've already incorporated differentiated instruction throughout, by including a variety of different activities. For instance, in a lesson plan, I'll usually incorporate an activity performed as an entire class, an activity performed individually, and an activity performed in pairs or small groups. This way, all students have a way of learning that meets their preference, while also pushing them just a little bit outside their comfort zone.
I do appreciate that the "Food for Thought" article states that in order to provide differentiated instruction, the teacher does have to be more active, rather than just taking a one type of instruction approach. I really believe the extra effort is worth it, and after awhile, it will become second nature. I also liked that this article mentioned that differentiated instruction is not just meant for outliers. It's meant for all students. As a student myself, I often like to work alone or in small groups or pairs. But does this mean that I always want to work alone? Nope. I think providing differentiated instruction pushes ourselves to go outside our comfort zone, and can help introduce us to styles we might not even realize we also like.
My favorite quote about differentiated instruction is as follows: "Every student benefits from being on the teacher's radar and from seeing evidence that the teacher understands their development and plans with their success in mind." I really loved this quote, because I think it's easy for students to feel like they're forgotten, or maybe not the top of mind, especially if they are a good/average student. But this quote is a really great reminder of just how important differentiated instruction is to develop EVERY student in the classroom.
Both articles actually took away some of the overwhelming feelings that always come up when we talk about differentiated instruction. I especially like the explanation on edutopia, that described different ways to learn fractions, like watching a video, or cutting a cake (even eating the cake!). Different instruction can be short, but many different ways to explain/show a lesson is definitely achievable, unlike my previous misconceptions.
This article was also a great reminder that in lesson plans I've written for other classes, I've already incorporated differentiated instruction throughout, by including a variety of different activities. For instance, in a lesson plan, I'll usually incorporate an activity performed as an entire class, an activity performed individually, and an activity performed in pairs or small groups. This way, all students have a way of learning that meets their preference, while also pushing them just a little bit outside their comfort zone.
I do appreciate that the "Food for Thought" article states that in order to provide differentiated instruction, the teacher does have to be more active, rather than just taking a one type of instruction approach. I really believe the extra effort is worth it, and after awhile, it will become second nature. I also liked that this article mentioned that differentiated instruction is not just meant for outliers. It's meant for all students. As a student myself, I often like to work alone or in small groups or pairs. But does this mean that I always want to work alone? Nope. I think providing differentiated instruction pushes ourselves to go outside our comfort zone, and can help introduce us to styles we might not even realize we also like.
My favorite quote about differentiated instruction is as follows: "Every student benefits from being on the teacher's radar and from seeing evidence that the teacher understands their development and plans with their success in mind." I really loved this quote, because I think it's easy for students to feel like they're forgotten, or maybe not the top of mind, especially if they are a good/average student. But this quote is a really great reminder of just how important differentiated instruction is to develop EVERY student in the classroom.
Hello and peace to all,
ReplyDeleteHello Ashley,
So, I am doing some final blog responses for the week (I did a couple of responses already, but had a few moments to do a few more)… I am kind of going through the ones that have no comments in them for this week, and I am seeing what good things are in them. And I gotta say I really like the very first thing you let off with in your blog post about how the articles do a good job of explaining that differentiated teaching is very different, then what is commonly thought of about the term, and that is that differentiating teaching is not individualized teaching for every student… Which would be very difficult! So, I think the very beginning of your blog post points out a very important truth about differentiated teaching, that both articles we read for the week wanted to bring up, and that was a very good point of view to raise. So I really like this point…. There were others that were cool to but this is the one I wanted to raise, as I thought it was very very important (and perceptive of you to raise).
Anyway, peace Ashley…. Thanks for the good blog posts (here, and from prior weeks too)…. Peace all