Week 2 Reflection

The Twitter conversation was enjoyable for me as a teacher and as a millennial. I appreciate that we are using different types of learning styles and differentiated instruction in this course. Reading, creating, and discussing in different ways has made me rethink how I can do this with my students. After learning a complicated concept like in Pre-Calculus such as how to find zeros of a polynomial. The students can create a concept map or flow chart on the process of finding the zeros. The websites are easy to follow but it the visuals can even be made by hand with the students.

The readings forced me to think about what the important parts of DI really is and this includes classroom environment and student engagement. I think that all teachers realize this but often we feel like that we can't change these things but the tools and ideas presented in the readings gave me ideas for my own classroom. In my own post I focused on how assessment is important for DI and that this is what helps me decide what DI I will have for the students. My classmates were able to follow my flow chart and saw what I do in my classroom now for DI.

On other posts I frequently asked questions such as how can we engage the students who refuse to learn or won't take responsibility of their own learning. The posts of my colleagues really challenged me in thinking how much I provide the information versus direct learning in the correct way. I look forward to picking the brains of my peers in exact ways of how the students take on their learning. This I will look in the twitter conversations.

Week Two: How do I make decisions about my own actions for students in a differentiated classroom?

Week 2 Blog: Differentiation Instruction Through Technology

Essential question: How do you make decisions about your own actions for students in a differentiated classroom? What is your criteria for intervention, and/or for letting learning happen?

            Every teacher has the skills to differentiate instruction but often we don’t realize this. McCarthy explains the DI can sometimes seem mystical to educators but in all reality “every teacher already has the tools to differentiate in powerful ways for all learners.” (2015) Often I feel the same way but after reading on the various rules of thumb that Tomlinson presents such as using assessments to guide instruction and content, that lessons should aim to engage all students, and being clear on the general concepts that each unit or lesson presents. (pg.19, 2001) Student interactions are what help me decide my actions in teaching and guiding learning.

            Students differ and this difference can be understood as soon as they walk in the classroom. My students differ in the same ways that Small has wrote about in her book. She provides the following example and ways students might approach in solving the task.

In one cupboard you have three shelves with five boxes on each shelf. There are three of those cupboards in the room. How many boxes are stored in all three cupboards? (pg.2, 2012)

The students might react by waiting for the teacher to help them, by drawing a picture of the situation, by using addition, by using multiplication, by acting out the situation, or by refusing to answer the problem. (2012)

            In my classroom, I use these responses from the students to help decide how I will act in the learning environment and what thinking processes that I will model for the students. I intervene with the students who respond by refusing to answer the problem and automatically seeking for assistance without beginning the thought process on their own. The way that I will intervene is by having another student explain his or her method. If this seems to bring understanding and interest, the goal of learning has begun to be achieved. Eventually I will have the student decide what response was best for them to process in answering the question. This will help the students and myself understand the way the students learn.

            The classroom environment is very important to differentiate instruction effectively. The classroom environment should have the following elements: everyone feels welcome, everyone contributes to the class, respect for all is the norm, students feel safe, the class’ goal is success, fairness in learning, and all are willing to grow and learn (Tomlinson, 2001).

Please see below the various ways I differentiate instruction in my classroom.

References:

BBC Active (2010). Methods of Differentiation in the Classroom. Pearson. Retrieved from http://www.bbcactive.com/BBCActiveIdeasandResources/MethodsofDifferentiationintheClassroom.aspx

McCarthy, J. (2015). 3 Ways to Plan for Diverse Learners: What Teachers Do. Edutopia: George Lucas Education Foundation. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/differentiated-instruction-ways-to-plan-john-mccarthy

McCarthy, J. (2016). 100+ Tools for Differentiating Instruction Through Social Media. Edutopia: George Lucas Education Foundation. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/differentiated-instruction-social-media-tools-john-mccarthy

Pierce, R. L. & Adams, C. M. (2004). One Way to Differentiate Mathematics Instruction. Gifted Child Today, Vol. 27, No. 2. Retrieved from http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.4219/gct-2004-133

Small, M. (2012). Good Questions: Great Ways to Differentiate Mathematics Instruction. New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ZCDX0SolMN0C&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=NCTM+differentiated+instruction&ots=V6RrhLuEcf&sig=ZH39DLKAsI7CPKi8fVESpF60WyA#v=onepage&q=NCTM%20differentiated%20instruction&f=false.

Tomlinson, C. A. (2001). How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-ability Classrooms. Alexandria, Va: Assoc. for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Week One Reflection

This week was a rough start for me because of the basketball tournament. I apologize for my late post and it was mainly because I had scheduled the first post to be next week according to the class calendar. With this said, I know that I will keep up for the upcoming weeks and I am excited to try out meeting with my peers on twitter. Something that I have never done before.

When it comes to blogs, this week I read and commented on Kendra, Jule, Cherie, and Jim's blogs. The main idea of defining differentiated instruction was different methods to teach material to the students at what level and learning style they are in. Many of my classmates acknowledged that they do have DI incorporated in their classroom already but look forward to seeing how we can use technology to incorporate DI.

Week One: What is differentiated instruction?

Week One: EDET 637 Differentiated Instruction Through Technology

Essential question: What is differentiated instruction?

            When I was in elementary school, the differentiated instruction that was provided for me consisted of working on higher level math concepts in a group of students, going to an enrichment program during the day with all of the advanced kids from the different schools once a month, and being put in a reading program that had me tutor other kids in the lower grades. As a student that excelled in the material I was learning, it was important that differentiated instruction was provided but it seemed like the opportunities of differentiated instruction stopped in middle school.

            As a teacher, differentiated instruction (DI) sometimes seems like this golden ticket that is unobtainable but in reality this is not true. DI is knowing the level of each student through frequent formal and informal assessment and using this knowledge to provide instruction at the level of each student. This does not mean that every student is on an individual learning plan and that the teacher is juggling 10-20 different paths of learning. Thomlinson explains that DI is used in the classroom by blending whole-class, group, and individual instruction and that there are “multiple approaches to content, process, and product.” (pg.4, 2001) Smith and Throne explains that “DI is guided by the constructivist or student-centered approach to teaching and learning.” (pg.31, 2009) This means that DI is one of the most effective ways to teach students because the focus is on the needs of the student and teaching them at their level so that they can grow in the most organic ways.

            The difficult part of implementing DI is the fact that it is student centered so this means that it can be fully planned and it is needed to be constantly fluid. There are programs that do prepare teachers with materials that can be easily applied to students and their needs. Callahan explains in an interview with Wu a DI program that was created for rural schools and that “the whole differentiation process has been built into the curriculum” and this provides a clear direction that teachers can take with their students when it comes to DI. (pg.54, 2017)

            After researching DI, I thought that it seemed similar to RTI (response to intervention) when it comes to the students who need extra support. The two fit together and have many similarities and O’Meara explains that “both DI and RTI address important aspects of teaching that need to be a focus in order for effective learning to take place.” (pg.45, 2011) This means that some of the same methods that are used in RTI can be applied while providing the classroom differentiated instruction.

References

O'Meara, J. (2011). RTI With Differentiated Instruction, Grades K–5 : A Classroom Teacher’s Guide. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Corwin.

Smith, G. E., & Throne, S. (2009). Differentiating Instruction with Technology in Middle School Classrooms. Eugene, Or: International Society for Technology in Education [ISTE].

Tomlinson, C. A. (2001). How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-ability Classrooms. Alexandria, Va: Assoc. for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Wu, E. H. (2017). Paving the Way For Differentiated Instruction in Rural Classrooms Under Common Core State Standards. Journal Of Advanced Academics, 28(1), 51-65. doi:10.1177/1932202X16683646

This shows that DI needs assessment frequently and after this assessment, the teacher decides what grouping and part of learning should be done knowing the students' levels.