Self-directed learners and the role of differentiation
How ironic that this is the topic I am blogging on after I attended training this week on response to intervention which stresses the need for differentiation. When I went back to school this week and spoke to some other teachers they all have their input on how time consuming it is, etc. But a thought struck me this week and I am still thinking about it this weekend. Each and every day I hear teachers, including myself, talk about the way students have changed over the last however many years. All of our students are on different levels, come from different economic situations, and have a variety of learning problems. How then are we to meet the needs of all of our learners? DIFFERENTIATION!!!! It sounds like a lot of work and effort, but I once took a staff development session called "Start small, don't just stand still" and I believe that says it all. Even though it seems time-consuming and difficult, take one step at a time and eventually you will build a variety of lessons and strategies to pull it off. It is better to a little, than to not do anything at all. I became a teacher to educate and enrich the lives of the students I teach. It is my job and my responsibility to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to learn no matter what level they are on.
posted by Kristy Carter @ 7:40 PM
4 Comments
4 Comments:
I agree with the idea of starting small./ It is overwhelming to try to do it all at once. I try to change one thing each year.
Differentiation is so right! That is the only way we can meets all our students different needs. You so want to do it all, but in reality you just can't.
Start small. That's the ticket!
Charisse
I was going to create my question, but I think that the previous comments are right on the ball. Differentiation makes all the difference when meeting the needs of our various students. One thing that I will say, though, is that in order for differentiation to work, you must build a rapport of trust with your students. Also, it has been my experience that a little bit of structure and routine goes a long way, but a completely structured routine (one that you could bounce a quarter off of) will take you the whole way and will bring happy and calm students along with you.
I just finished SIOP training in Austin, and the bottom line for implementation is the same there: start with small bites and add changes (note that I said changes, not more to do) as you digest and feel more comfortable with each bit. However, change in and of itself is not the goal here, but change based on what is best practice and what will gain the most success for our students. There are so many demands and so many needs that we teachers must be deliberate, focused, and systematic about how we change in order to meet students' needs.
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