One area of differentiated instruction that I thought to be useful was idea of setting up a system for getting help. This would allow a series of steps for the students to follow to try to get help with their work without going directly to the teacher. Too often in classrooms the teacher is made out to be the only source of information and help. Another great aspect I saw was in Describing tasks, making sure not to overwhelm students with multiple sets of instructions but instead having written or recorded instructions that are clear and precise. Also the idea of using time and space flexibly, making sure that you can use the classroom as a whole and that you can allow more or less time for activities if needed. These are three area’s which I plan to implement into my teaching right away if possible.
I cam into today’s class feeling much better then I did last class. But I found that a lot of the other students were on edge. The professor told us about the cancellation of the IPP workshop and that we would be making the time up through extra work we would be given; this upset a lot of people. We already have lots of work we have to get done and schedules to keep. This is a very intensive and condensed program and many of us have planned out our semester in an attempt to balance home life and school. When changes are made to that and work load is increased it is a natural thing to be upset.
Once the beginning introduction to class was over we began to watch the rest of the video on differentiated class rooms. It was very interesting and informative and I got a lot out of it. It was interesting to see the junior high/high school take on differentiated class rooms; since that is the grade levels in which I wish to teach. After the video we went through a lecture and discussion on differentiated instruction. This lecture and discussion fell apart for me on a few levels. The biggest was when some issues were raised in which a student disagreed with the professor and the discussion erupted a bit. Should students and parents be told about codes, was the big question. I fully agreed that they should know; at least once the student has reached an age to understand the problem. Yes there is the whole issue of students and parents being upset but when it is for the sake of the student’s growth I say do it! We have no problem giving students numbers and labels that represent them in other ways; ie. report cards, letter grades, honor rolls, probation.
Teachers can do everything in the world to try to help students, but in the end students are the ones who have to walk through the doors teachers open. It is much easier to take the steps to help yourself if you understand that you have a problem. I was terrible in school until I found out about my disability; I thought I just wasn’t smart. But after finding out about my problem I was able to see it and over come my learning disability and realize how great I could really be. As well having the number from the coding system I think would help kids discuss their personal learning problem with a teacher without having to speak in private. If I went up to a teacher and wanted to let them know that I have ADHD without the whole class finding out by saying “Mr.Teacher I have ##”. Society has become to sensitive for it’s own good in some ways. I just hope that it doesn’t continue to becoming so sensitive that people are afraid to speak without a script for fear of offending someone.
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