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Post by Cynthia on Sept 23, 2015 3:35:19 GMT
Answer the questions below and respond to 2 colleagues.
1. How would you say that children in school today are different from children of the past? How has the understanding of how humans learn changed over the past quarter century??
2. On page 42, the author presents a set of assumptions underlying differentiation. Does the author's line of logic work for you? If so, why? If not, what would you offer to refute or revise the assumptions?
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Post by butler on Sept 24, 2015 0:52:03 GMT
1) I think that how children learn will continue to change as children change with their backgrounds. But I do thing they will continue to come back to the same three ideas:
• We think, learn, and create in different ways.
• The development of potential is affected by the match between what we are asked to learn and how we are able to apply our particular abilities to the process of learning.
• Learners need opportunities to discover and develop their abilities in a range of intelligence areas.
2) I think the author hit the nail on the head with these assumptions, because we do not know what these students are bring with them to school on any given day. We also need to focus on best-practices to meet all student needs.
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Post by brenda on Sept 24, 2015 5:33:42 GMT
Chapter 3
1. School children today are much more diverse. So many classrooms have children from different ethnic groups, or even different countries. The experiences that they bring to school are so great and so varied. The structure of households is also varied. Not all children come from a two-parent household and modest income. Some children live with one parent; others, with grandparents. There are a few very important realizations that have occurred in the past several decades as to how humans learn: (1) Humans can grow and strengthen their brains just like they grow and strengthen muscles. Humans are not born with a degree of intelligence. (2) Technology now gives us the benefit of looking into the brain. We know what works best for the brain. It seeks meaningful patterns and resists meaninglessness. (3) Humans learn best when they are challenged, but not beyond ability.
2. I agree with the author's assumptions. Doesn't every teacher see many of the differences among her students? I think most do. However, how a teacher deals with the differences is the whole issue. Differentiation to its fullest extent requires training, effort, and time.
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Post by brenda on Sept 24, 2015 5:35:44 GMT
1) I think that how children learn will continue to change as children change with their backgrounds. But I do thing they will continue to come back to the same three ideas: • We think, learn, and create in different ways. • The development of potential is affected by the match between what we are asked to learn and how we are able to apply our particular abilities to the process of learning. • Learners need opportunities to discover and develop their abilities in a range of intelligence areas. 2) I think the author hit the nail on the head with these assumptions, because we do not know what these students are bring with them to school on any given day. We also need to focus on best-practices to meet all student needs. Easier said than done! |
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markw
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Post by markw on Sept 30, 2015 21:10:14 GMT
3-1 They come from a much larger array of backgrounds with more single parent situations, cultural differences, and living in a much more higher tech world now. In answering the second par of that question research has shown each learners brain is unique. Our understanding of what we call differentiated instruction stems from expanded insight into the human brain and how children learn. Technology has accelerated things and processes, in that students think, learn, and create in different ways.
3-2 as for page 42, I would say YES for the most part as differentiation addresses the needs of the struggling students as well as the advanced learners. Both of those situations need to include modifications to address gender and cultural differences as well as strengths and weaknesses. Differentiation addresses those needs. Differentiation is also about high quality performances for all individuals and giving all students the opportunity to develop their particular strengths.
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markw
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Post by markw on Sept 30, 2015 21:25:09 GMT
1) I think that how children learn will continue to change as children change with their backgrounds. But I do thing they will continue to come back to the same three ideas: • We think, learn, and create in different ways. • The development of potential is affected by the match between what we are asked to learn and how we are able to apply our particular abilities to the process of learning. • Learners need opportunities to discover and develop their abilities in a range of intelligence areas. 2) I think the author hit the nail on the head with these assumptions, because we do not know what these students are bring with them to school on any given day. We also need to focus on best-practices to meet all student needs. Tyler, I believe you are right on with your assessment in that students do learn things in different ways and modes of instruction. Some are more "visual" and some are more "hands on". Learners need opportunities to discover their capabilities, and I also totally concur with you in that we don't know what they have which could impede their focus in the school setting to deal with on the home front. |
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markw
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Post by markw on Sept 30, 2015 21:28:40 GMT
Chapter 3 1. School children today are much more diverse. So many classrooms have children from different ethnic groups, or even different countries. The experiences that they bring to school are so great and so varied. The structure of households is also varied. Not all children come from a two-parent household and modest income. Some children live with one parent; others, with grandparents. There are a few very important realizations that have occurred in the past several decades as to how humans learn: (1) Humans can grow and strengthen their brains just like they grow and strengthen muscles. Humans are not born with a degree of intelligence. (2) Technology now gives us the benefit of looking into the brain. We know what works best for the brain. It seeks meaningful patterns and resists meaninglessness. (3) Humans learn best when they are challenged, but not beyond ability. 2. I agree with the author's assumptions. Doesn't every teacher see many of the differences among her students? I think most do. However, how a teacher deals with the differences is the whole issue. Differentiation to its fullest extent requires training, effort, and time. Brenda, you raise a very good point on the point of diversity. More than ever that is a factor. |
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don
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Post by don on Oct 1, 2015 15:37:44 GMT
Don Nash- I would say the big difference for me is the home life of our children. When we have a parents night for a sport there are many with two sets of parents, sometimes there is just a Grandparent. There is a lot of nontraditional situations and kids in many cases really do not have much of a foundation at home. The next biggest difference is the ability to work. When I was in school almost everyone in our school were farmers and every kid had chores. I for example milked the cows 6:00 each morning from the time I was nine till I graduated from high school. The third thing would be gadgets the kids have. Just about every kid has a computer, a cell phone, a lap tap, a radio MP3 player and the like. They can be a real asset or help but for most it just gives them something to mess around on.
I think we have more visual learners than auditory learners. I also believe that kids want instant response to questions and E-mails etc. So, they are not as patient as they used to be. When we did research papers we went to the Wahpeton Public Library, NDSSS library and the Fargo Public Library. Today, they can sit in the comfort of their homes/schools and get all the resources they need to write a good sound paper.
IN my opinion as I study Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates human beings have not changed much the last 2500 years.
The author says that students differ in experience, readiness, interest, intelligences, language, culture, gender, and mode of learning. I would say in southern California this probably is true in all accounts. Let's see in Lidgerwood.
Experience- I would say most kids are very similar here if they have lived here all their lives.
readiness- I would dare say there is a lot kids who are not ready by kindergarten so this may be somewhat true.
interest- If their parents were not interested in school there is a pretty good chance their kids will not have much interest.
Intelligence- We have had an unreal number of kids who are in special needs programs. So, we are similiar in that regard as we are with the number of children on free and reduced meals.
language- No problem here!
Culture- very similar. We have some Native-Americans and some Hispanic kids. For the most part they have done well here.
gender- boys and girls- who doesn't have that?
mode of learning. Well, this is the big question. I had the same teacher 1-3. 4/5 and 5/6. Do you think they cared that I was a more visual learner than auditory??? NO, but they were tough and they were tremendous teachers. They were also fair but we had to adapt to them not the other way around! Could they afford the time to differentiate things all the time? Probably not but they cared for us and they did everything possible to help us learn. We of course have a lot more means and ways to adjust our teaching to our students today.
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Post by cyarndt on Oct 3, 2015 22:27:08 GMT
Don Nash- I would say the big difference for me is the home life of our children. When we have a parents night for a sport there are many with two sets of parents, sometimes there is just a Grandparent. There is a lot of nontraditional situations and kids in many cases really do not have much of a foundation at home. The next biggest difference is the ability to work. When I was in school almost everyone in our school were farmers and every kid had chores. I for example milked the cows 6:00 each morning from the time I was nine till I graduated from high school. The third thing would be gadgets the kids have. Just about every kid has a computer, a cell phone, a lap tap, a radio MP3 player and the like. They can be a real asset or help but for most it just gives them something to mess around on. I think we have more visual learners than auditory learners. I also believe that kids want instant response to questions and E-mails etc. So, they are not as patient as they used to be. When we did research papers we went to the Wahpeton Public Library, NDSSS library and the Fargo Public Library. Today, they can sit in the comfort of their homes/schools and get all the resources they need to write a good sound paper. IN my opinion as I study Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates human beings have not changed much the last 2500 years. The author says that students differ in experience, readiness, interest, intelligences, language, culture, gender, and mode of learning. I would say in southern California this probably is true in all accounts. Let's see in Lidgerwood. Experience- I would say most kids are very similar here if they have lived here all their lives. readiness- I would dare say there is a lot kids who are not ready by kindergarten so this may be somewhat true. interest- If their parents were not interested in school there is a pretty good chance their kids will not have much interest. Intelligence- We have had an unreal number of kids who are in special needs programs. So, we are similiar in that regard as we are with the number of children on free and reduced meals. language- No problem here! Culture- very similar. We have some Native-Americans and some Hispanic kids. For the most part they have done well here. gender- boys and girls- who doesn't have that? mode of learning. Well, this is the big question. I had the same teacher 1-3. 4/5 and 5/6. Do you think they cared that I was a more visual learner than auditory??? NO, but they were tough and they were tremendous teachers. They were also fair but we had to adapt to them not the other way around! Could they afford the time to differentiate things all the time? Probably not but they cared for us and they did everything possible to help us learn. We of course have a lot more means and ways to adjust our teaching to our students today. Don, considering that you believe that students are more visual learners, what types of adaptations do you feel may need to be added to assist students in learning the material? If students are given the opportunity to have information at their fingertips with instant response, what can we as educators do to promote the responsible use of this information? How can we help students develop these skills so that they can be more critical thinkers in how they take in the information that is so readily available to them? I would say in my experience (close to home  ) students very much differ in their experiences. Even if the students have lived in Lidgerwood their whole lives, their daily experiences would be very different. Students interpret and reflect on new information given to them and attach the new information to experiences they may have had to help them retain that information or know how to process it. Now, considering that information, student A from Lidgerwood that comes from a two parent household where both parents work may not have had the same educational experiences (story hour, preschool, being read to nightly, opportunity to explore museums, take family vacations outside of our area, interacted with people from various cultural backgrounds, food experiences, and fundamental needs) as student B with the same type of two parent household where both parents work. Now take into consideration, those students that have non-traditional (quickly becoming the new norm) family settings and we begin to get very different "cultural" backgrounds. Culture is more than just nationality. Culture includes intellectual achievements, musical connections, lifestyles, customs, beliefs, and behavior characteristics. |
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Post by cyarndt on Oct 3, 2015 22:30:07 GMT
3-1 They come from a much larger array of backgrounds with more single parent situations, cultural differences, and living in a much more higher tech world now. In answering the second par of that question research has shown each learners brain is unique. Our understanding of what we call differentiated instruction stems from expanded insight into the human brain and how children learn. Technology has accelerated things and processes, in that students think, learn, and create in different ways. 3-2 as for page 42, I would say YES for the most part as differentiation addresses the needs of the struggling students as well as the advanced learners. Both of those situations need to include modifications to address gender and cultural differences as well as strengths and weaknesses. Differentiation addresses those needs. Differentiation is also about high quality performances for all individuals and giving all students the opportunity to develop their particular strengths. Mark, brain research has led to so much more information available to educators on how students learn and how they retain that information! |
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Post by maryroman on Oct 5, 2015 18:31:14 GMT
Times change. Change/different is not necessarily bad. After 28 years in education I have found parental involvement has made the greatest change in the little people that walk into our school doors. More screen time, less page time is model driven. Lack of persistence is model driven. Lack of accountability is model driven. Lack of so many skills educators see as necessary are started before they come to kindergarten. That said, there is little, beyond parent education, to be done about that. It is our job to accept, recognize and address these pre-school learning skills, or lack thereof. Comparisons to 100 years ago are pointless. Comparisons to 10-20 years ago are informative. We all have, and probably always will, learn differently. Which is why multiple intelligences/learning styles are addressed in classrooms. By NOT teaching only to a child's preferred style, we acknowledge that these styles are malleable. Making connections is a biggie for me. If I, personally, do not understand something, the hows and why, I have trouble "learning"/memorizing it. When discussing degree of challenge, I see "downshifts" 2 different ways. Yes, there are the students who opt out over perceived upcoming failure. An equal problem, I believe, is our higher achieving students who "downshift" to make their unchallenging educational career palatable. I hesitate calling them "gifted" when what we often consider "gifted" is what I believe EVERY child is capable of with the right situation.
I would be very interested in what each of us feels our "critical content" is. Standards??
I am also interested in the weaning process of all of this. Teacher modifications FOR the students STOPS upon graduation. When do they learn adaptation/coping skills for AFTER high school...because the big bad world doesn't care about differentiating for them.
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Post by alecia on Oct 7, 2015 3:19:12 GMT
1. As this chapter talked about children and how they have changed I was agreeing with it. Children of the past were different than they are now due to so many things such as their family lives, environment, and of course the technology they are around. This and many other factors affect their learning and your ability to teach them something. Humans learning has changed over the past century by the fact that they dont learn at the same pace and they used to have teachers that understood that and did that all the time.( Ex. One room school houses) However now this teaching style isnt as apparent in classrooms.
2. I do agree with the authors assumptions on p. 42 because all students come to us with many different factors in their lives and personalities. Factors such as parents, shelter, money or food or lack there of all these things can cause issues. This then also can make their personalities work well with the educator or not work well with the educator.
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Post by alecia on Oct 7, 2015 3:23:50 GMT
Chapter 3 1. School children today are much more diverse. So many classrooms have children from different ethnic groups, or even different countries. The experiences that they bring to school are so great and so varied. The structure of households is also varied. Not all children come from a two-parent household and modest income. Some children live with one parent; others, with grandparents. There are a few very important realizations that have occurred in the past several decades as to how humans learn: (1) Humans can grow and strengthen their brains just like they grow and strengthen muscles. Humans are not born with a degree of intelligence. (2) Technology now gives us the benefit of looking into the brain. We know what works best for the brain. It seeks meaningful patterns and resists meaninglessness. (3) Humans learn best when they are challenged, but not beyond ability. 2. I agree with the author's assumptions. Doesn't every teacher see many of the differences among her students? I think most do. However, how a teacher deals with the differences is the whole issue. Differentiation to its fullest extent requires training, effort, and time. Brenda, you raise a very good point on the point of diversity. More than ever that is a factor. Yes, I would hope all teachers see the differences in their students but NOT every teacher deals with those differences well. |
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Post by alecia on Oct 7, 2015 3:30:51 GMT
Times change. Change/different is not necessarily bad. After 28 years in education I have found parental involvement has made the greatest change in the little people that walk into our school doors. More screen time, less page time is model driven. Lack of persistence is model driven. Lack of accountability is model driven. Lack of so many skills educators see as necessary are started before they come to kindergarten. That said, there is little, beyond parent education, to be done about that. It is our job to accept, recognize and address these pre-school learning skills, or lack thereof. Comparisons to 100 years ago are pointless. Comparisons to 10-20 years ago are informative. We all have, and probably always will, learn differently. Which is why multiple intelligences/learning styles are addressed in classrooms. By NOT teaching only to a child's preferred style, we acknowledge that these styles are malleable. Making connections is a biggie for me. If I, personally, do not understand something, the hows and why, I have trouble "learning"/memorizing it. When discussing degree of challenge, I see "downshifts" 2 different ways. Yes, there are the students who opt out over perceived upcoming failure. An equal problem, I believe, is our higher achieving students who "downshift" to make their unchallenging educational career palatable. I hesitate calling them "gifted" when what we often consider "gifted" is what I believe EVERY child is capable of with the right situation. I would be very interested in what each of us feels our "critical content" is. Standards?? I am also interested in the weaning process of all of this. Teacher modifications FOR the students STOPS upon graduation. When do they learn adaptation/coping skills for AFTER high school...because the big bad world doesn't care about differentiating for them. Good point Mary, the outside world (beyond high school) doesnt differentiate for them. |
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Post by maryroman on Oct 7, 2015 21:56:29 GMT
A teacher has to be, to a certain extent, a performer. Keep it visual, auditory, grab 'em and keep 'em grabbed!! The more lessons I plan, use, tweak and reuse the easier this gets.
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) students very much differ in their experiences. Even if the students have lived in Lidgerwood their whole lives, their daily experiences would be very different. Students interpret and reflect on new information given to them and attach the new information to experiences they may have had to help them retain that information or know how to process it. Now, considering that information, student A from Lidgerwood that comes from a two parent household where both parents work may not have had the same educational experiences (story hour, preschool, being read to nightly, opportunity to explore museums, take family vacations outside of our area, interacted with people from various cultural backgrounds, food experiences, and fundamental needs) as student B with the same type of two parent household where both parents work. Now take into consideration, those students that have non-traditional (quickly becoming the new norm) family settings and we begin to get very different "cultural" backgrounds. Culture is more than just nationality. Culture includes intellectual achievements, musical connections, lifestyles, customs, beliefs, and behavior characteristics.