I went into research this week's essential question with a BIG question of what do I do to prepare parents for differentiated instruction? At first my answer seemed to be little to nothing. This has quite a bit do with the fact that I teach at the high school level which needs less parent involvement in education of students mainly because the students are beginning to take responsibility and control of their own education. After researching and reflecting on my own teaching, I realized that I do communicate with parents on DI but to me it seems like having a regular conversation about a student and how the content and I am meeting the student at his or her level and guiding them to learn every day.
First of all, I was amazed how many of my classmates have adult learners. This was a great moment to take a step back and not assume that all of my peers are K-12 educators. Second, the overall takeaway this week as a class is that we (teachers) need to come to the level (or environment/culture) of the parents and/or adult learners so that we can clue them on what specific strategies we are using for the learner. Third, students will ultimately learn more if the teacher knows more about the student academically and personally.
I was able to get many more resources from classmates such as the list of positive parenting tips created by CDC (from Jim) or ways to get parents more involved (from Jule). Gerald provided me with some hope that I can use technology more frequently in the math classroom and after asking him what specific technologies does he suggest, he thought maybe coding would be helpful for Algebra 1 students and I agree. Coding teachings input-output concept which is exactly what functions are. After reading the comments between Heather and Rachelle, I can sense a bit of difficulty of adding in DI at the collegiate level. Heather confirmed my thoughts on how students need to ultimately be the one advocating for themselves at the higher levels such as high school and postsecondary. This makes learning much more important to the learner versus everyone else around them (parents, teachers, administrators, and coaches).
The two things that I will try and PTC in three weeks is to provide more of a organized way to talk about the students I am teaching with parents and guardians. I will use a simple survey that I will fill out so that parents don't feel the extra pressure of being at PTC. In preface, I will explain how learning is most successful if it is connected to the student's interests and learning styles. Then I will ask about 5 questions. Lastly, we will take a few minutes discussing these things and ask the parent on how to include them in the math classroom (not obligated). I hope this will work. Honestly, I am not 100% sure because many of my parents are very quiet and don't provide much of the conversation and PTC. A way to differentiate for the parents would be to give them the paper to think about and then email, text, or call me with some answers and if willing, some ideas.
First of all, I was amazed how many of my classmates have adult learners. This was a great moment to take a step back and not assume that all of my peers are K-12 educators. Second, the overall takeaway this week as a class is that we (teachers) need to come to the level (or environment/culture) of the parents and/or adult learners so that we can clue them on what specific strategies we are using for the learner. Third, students will ultimately learn more if the teacher knows more about the student academically and personally.
I was able to get many more resources from classmates such as the list of positive parenting tips created by CDC (from Jim) or ways to get parents more involved (from Jule). Gerald provided me with some hope that I can use technology more frequently in the math classroom and after asking him what specific technologies does he suggest, he thought maybe coding would be helpful for Algebra 1 students and I agree. Coding teachings input-output concept which is exactly what functions are. After reading the comments between Heather and Rachelle, I can sense a bit of difficulty of adding in DI at the collegiate level. Heather confirmed my thoughts on how students need to ultimately be the one advocating for themselves at the higher levels such as high school and postsecondary. This makes learning much more important to the learner versus everyone else around them (parents, teachers, administrators, and coaches).
The two things that I will try and PTC in three weeks is to provide more of a organized way to talk about the students I am teaching with parents and guardians. I will use a simple survey that I will fill out so that parents don't feel the extra pressure of being at PTC. In preface, I will explain how learning is most successful if it is connected to the student's interests and learning styles. Then I will ask about 5 questions. Lastly, we will take a few minutes discussing these things and ask the parent on how to include them in the math classroom (not obligated). I hope this will work. Honestly, I am not 100% sure because many of my parents are very quiet and don't provide much of the conversation and PTC. A way to differentiate for the parents would be to give them the paper to think about and then email, text, or call me with some answers and if willing, some ideas.
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