In reading the articles this week I was struck by a topic that has caused me to struggle a bit, differentiated instruction. I believe the article alluded to part of why I have found it to be so difficult. When you have topics like accommodation, modification, and differentiation coming at you all at once I think it can be easy to look at teaching as individual instruction. The idea of individual instruction seems like an exhausting impossibility. “Food for thought on differentiated instruction” made it feel about as clear as it has ever been presented to me in the comparison to an old one room schoolhouse. Sometimes you address the whole group, sometimes a small group, and others an individual. Individualization is a sure path to burnout. Differentiation on the other hand furthers each student’s understanding as well as builds a sense of community within the group. These articles make me feel more confident in my understanding of the concept of differentiated instruction. The added depth of content, process, and product methods of differentiation was also interesting as it gave me a different perspective in how differentiation can happen. The associated links have definitely added a few new tools to my toolbox.
Friday, July 3, 2020
Week 4 - Differentiated Instruction
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Hey Jim, I'm glad I'm not alone struggling with differentiated instruction. How can you devote specified time to all students evenly? What I found helpful was the use of getting to know students in the beginning of the school year and tailoring the lesson plan or the delivery of the lesson plan and make references to their likes and interests. I got that from an Economics teacher at Joliet West High School. He said that he uses students extra-curricular activities, TV shows, music, jobs, certain restaurants in the community, etc. to make the lesson more relatable. Having the students complete a "some things about me" type of worksheet on the first day of school could help. Reviewing IEPs and 504s are also very important understanding the students.
ReplyDeleteOk these are coming up as Unknown for me, but this is is Kevin Cathey
ReplyDeleteI thought the same thing at the beginning when it comes to DI. I always though that each student should have their own little section on the lesson plan especially when they have an IEP or a 504 plan. I struggled on how I should incorporate them in the lesson plan without having it to feel like they are not part of the whole class section. Definitely, these two articles clear some of those questions away.
ReplyDeleteLuis