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Post by Penny Nash on Nov 17, 2015 20:25:11 GMT
What I have learned about differential teaching is to use many different methods of teaching to meet the needs of all the different learning styles so more students can experience success.
The practical challenges of implementing differentiated teaching would be the Chaotic and noisey atmosphere of the class as well as being pulled in so many directions at once. I feel that differentiated teaching is not a everyday 200 day/year teaching strategy but to be incorporated into different units of study. ie) Grammar. better being taught by the teacher. Some supports i may need would be help from the Resourse Teachers with students that have limited abilities and what is the best learning methods for them in my Classroom.
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Post by Penny Nash on Nov 17, 2015 23:07:46 GMT
I want to break this down from class to class to show how I have differentiated my classroom for each of my classes. I still am most comfortable with the students doing a worksheet on the material and then we discussing the material at hand. We try to compare and contrast things, past, present and future, we make inferences. we do Venn diagrams, we research many topics in class and discuss many issues. Civics- We did research on Presidential candidates and made posters of their candidate. We watched the first debate in class. We did a followup with a 100 word paper on their candidate and where are they campaigning and what their numbers look like at this time. We start every day with the news and we look how what's happening in the news is going to affect us. We discussed three Current Events magazines as they are heavy laden with Common Core principles and I put them in groups as they mulled over the facts given and did the 30 questions at the end. Again, this is more student driven than teacher driven. I know there is MUCH MORE I can do with this and I am trying to be more flexible in the methods used in class. So much is in this book is for large schools, with one prep for the teacher and they can try and experiment with a lot of these ideas. At the end of the day did I teach them or did I guide them to grasp the material? To me this is the most important thing. Penny here. I know discussions and activities are very important in your classes. I think you already do well with diferentiated teaching. Good Luck! |
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Post by Penny Nash on Nov 17, 2015 23:12:05 GMT
Science education has been moving towards an inquisitive approach to education for some time such as STEM programs and flipped classrooms. It's not that the old lecture method has no place because I believe it does, but I've always included labs where students conduct an experiment and then use that experiment to learn more about the science subject they are studying. Just recently, I flipped the order of instruction; instead of doing the lab after all the front loading I had the lab first and then used the lecture to emphasize what was going on. When people see a fireworks display, how many wonder how the pyrotechnic technicians get such pretty colors? In chemistry I had my students examine this through the flame test lab and then referred to the lab while teaching electron configuration. Honestly, I'm not sure how smooth everything went, but I'll try it again. That what i always remember about science classes, the Labs /hands on work. I enjoyed science the most when it involved the activity. So much easier to learn than just book info. |
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don
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Post by don on Nov 17, 2015 23:45:32 GMT
Science education has been moving towards an inquisitive approach to education for some time such as STEM programs and flipped classrooms. It's not that the old lecture method has no place because I believe it does, but I've always included labs where students conduct an experiment and then use that experiment to learn more about the science subject they are studying. Just recently, I flipped the order of instruction; instead of doing the lab after all the front loading I had the lab first and then used the lecture to emphasize what was going on. When people see a fireworks display, how many wonder how the pyrotechnic technicians get such pretty colors? In chemistry I had my students examine this through the flame test lab and then referred to the lab while teaching electron configuration. Honestly, I'm not sure how smooth everything went, but I'll try it again. Don Nash- Of all the classes that should have block teaching it is Science. By the time you get safety issues established in the class and get everyone one up to speed you do not have much time left. I like the fact you did the lab first and then you did the instruction. I personally would not do that all the time but if you get their interest and can tickle a nerve or two you may just hook them into really understanding something. Thanks for taking the time to try new things! |
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don
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Post by don on Nov 17, 2015 23:51:10 GMT
What I have learned about differential teaching is to use many different methods of teaching to meet the needs of all the different learning styles so more students can experience success. The practical challenges of implementing differentiated teaching would be the Chaotic and noisy atmosphere of the class as well as being pulled in so many directions at once. I feel that differentiated teaching is not a everyday 200 day/year teaching strategy but to be incorporated into different units of study. ie) Grammar. better being taught by the teacher. Some supports i may need would be help from the Resource Teachers with students that have limited abilities and what is the best learning methods for them in my Classroom. Don Nash- The best English teacher I had was my freshman high school English teacher Miss Alt. She was determined that after the Freshman year we should be done with Grammar. I still can diagram sentences from this teaching in 1968. I agree with you that you cannot do the same thing for a whole school year. I had to help a couple of my classmates learn some of this grammar and that helped me to be better at it. Like it has been said if you want to really want to learn something try to teach it. |
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bruce
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Post by bruce on Nov 18, 2015 2:18:06 GMT
Question 9 - Very well stated Mark. Comments you made that really stood out include (1) teachers need to be the chief facilitators in the classroom (2) more student involvement is necessary, and (3) time factor for staff in a small school is huge.
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bruce
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Post by bruce on Nov 18, 2015 2:28:21 GMT
Question 9 - Don, years of experience has led to the many good things that you do everyday in your classroom. Your last comment is great - "At the end of the day did I teach them or did I guide them to grasp the material"?
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jeff
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Post by jeff on Nov 25, 2015 15:25:11 GMT
From reading about differentiating, the things that stand out to me are: 1) The learning environment is key for all students to be successful, 2)How important it is to take into account student differences, 3)most everyone is differentiating to a degree and don't really know it because they use a different term for it.4) It is not an overnight process for this to happen you just have to keep working at it.
The largest challenges to all of this is time and training. All the demands put on education and still finding time for a life outside of the school is a challenge, and without adequate training a lot of frustration will build and teachers will stop attempting to differentiating.
Support can come from all the usual suspects. Most important it has to come from the school board and administration.
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jeff
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Post by jeff on Nov 25, 2015 15:28:51 GMT
9. Things that stand out about the author's differentiated classroom would be (1) the learning environment is seen as the key to success (2) teachers actively attend to student differences (3) curriculum is organized to support learning (4) the teacher modifies content, process, and products based on student readiness, interest, and learning profile (5) there are a variety of strategies that may be used (6) assessment is diagnostic and on-going and (7) educators should be champions of every student who walks through the school house door. Challenges to implement this would be: (1) it is time intensive (2) need money for training beyond the regular school day (3) need training to integrate new technology (laptops) into the different strategies (4) results in the form of state testing and (5) the staff needs to buy into this. The author lists four groups that could help lead you to a differentiated classroom. Those four are (1) calling on colleagues (2) making principals partners, (3) bringing parents aboard, and (4) involving the community. This is nothing new. You need this support with the current practices that we are using and anything new that is implemented. You also need to share the controversial side of anything new that is experimented with. There was a good article written in the January, 2015 edition of "Education Week" called "Differentiation Doesn't Work". This is also worth reading. I agree Bruce that the biggest challenge is time and training. A couple hours here and there does not do a lot of good and usually leads to more questions and answers. |
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jeff
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Post by jeff on Nov 25, 2015 15:32:09 GMT
Goal: Creating a classroom that aims to work for everyone. Looking at these "real" lessons makes me KNOW that yes, I, the teacher will have to do most of the work in the classroom. I do not believe that students ALWAYS need to have skills differentiated. Usually good teaching works for most. We are not supposed to tell them what or how to do something, but we are to be concise....hmmm. Thoughts? Making informed class choices reduces greatly the number of students who are truly "unhappy" with your choices. Some learning HAS to be rote. What is the order of the alphabet? Rote is occasionally necessary as a pre-skill to the real deal. I worry that we have made huge student decisions based on year old data. I worry that in many classes, the entire class uses the same textbook regardless of skill level. Having been in the game a long time and having seen many educational practices, that were ALL here to stay according to the authors, I know that good teaching is good teaching. I do not believe that spending all the time (aka $) to eventually differentiate each and every lesson is a great use of that time. Moderation in all things, especially educational strategies. You are correct that some lessons shouldn't be differentiated. I have many areas within the shop/lab environment that shouldn't be differentiated, safety around equipment comes to mind rather quickly. |
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Post by noreen on Nov 30, 2015 19:45:10 GMT
The biggest problem I foresee with implementing differentiation in my classroom is the time, organization and not knowing where some of my students may struggle. I know I can make different tests and worksheets to fit their individual needs that also covers the needed requirements. Time is factor when trying to get class material prepared. I find myself making a lot of changes on the fly and do not keep accurate records of the changes, so when I teach that lesson again, I'm not as prepared as I could have been. I would like to find some way to make reminders for myself of the changes I made. I use the internet to find many organizational tools. I may look at using my tablet and just do voice note reminders. I'm just not sure how that will work.
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Post by noreen on Nov 30, 2015 19:52:40 GMT
Jeff- I agree, learning environment and taking into account students' differences are important in making differentiation work. It is important that support for differentiation comes from the top down.
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Post by noreen on Nov 30, 2015 19:59:21 GMT
Brenda-The process of differentiation does seem daunting. I like how you selected two statements to focus on that will help keep the process from feeling overwhelming.
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Post by rebeccadathe on Nov 30, 2015 20:05:24 GMT
Chap. 9 Differentiated classrooms are so much different than how we taught years ago. We used to sit in rows in a desk and teachers would teach everyone the same way. Teachers taught by the book, chapter after chapter and never deviated from the original pattern. I have differentiated my ways of teaching in 2 big ways. I have removed all my student desks and the students sit at tables. It's easier for discussions as students can see each other when we talk and discuss as a group. I also use use the text book more for reference and have gone to learning and projects from the internet. I highly believe that all students don't learn the same way and at the same pace. Students are most likely to learn and work in a setting that is comfortable for them. In Rochester, MN elementary they have removed all desks and the students sit on the floor, stand by a table, and sit by a table on a bouncy ball. This is where by granddaughter goes to school. They learn more when the setting is comfortable.
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Post by rebeccadathe on Nov 30, 2015 20:18:14 GMT
I agree with Jeff that in our group of students it's more different and difficult to differentiate as the students must know safety rules rather quickly before they go into learning the equipment.
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