Addressing Student Needs Through Curriculum and Instruction

In the book Fulfilling the Promise of the Differentiated Classroom, by Carol Ann Tomlinson it talks about using curriculum and instruction as the vehicle for addressing student needs.

Through curriculum and instruction, teachers shape lives by equipping students with the intellectual skills necessary to make their way in a world that places such high demands on academic preparation for full societal participation.

In order to have good curriculum and instruction you need to have the five characteristics. These characteristics are: making sure the work is important, focused, engaging, demanding, and scaffolding.

• IMPORTANT: As a teacher, ask yourself the following questions---Does it provide a roadmap toward expertise in a discipline? Is what we are studying balancing knowledge, understanding, and skill? Is it essential to building student understanding?
• FOCUSED:As a teacher, ask yourself the following questions---Is the task designed to get us where we need to go? Do both the teacher and the student understand why we are doing/learning this? Do the teacher and students know how what they are doing connects to the bigger picture?
• ENGAGING:As a teacher, ask yourself the following questions---Are students finding meaning in their work? Does it provoke their curiosity? Will the students get absorbed by the work? Are students intrigued or find value in the work?
• DEMANDING:As a teacher, ask yourself the following questions---Is the work at an appropriate level beyond the students reach? Is there any "loose" time (there shouldn't be)? Are there clear high standards for work and behavior? 
• SCAFFOLDED:As a teacher, ask yourself the following questions---Am I teaching for success? Am I offering various learning opportunities for the various learning strategies in the classroom? Do I have various materials/manipulatives? Have I made the criteria for success clear to the students?

One of my favorite quotes from the book is "We rarely succeed in teaching subjects unless we teach human beings as well." I LOVE this! I strongly believe that in order to be a successful teacher and to help the students truly be successful that you have to teach with this mindset. You are teaching humans skills to help them be successful in life... you are not just teaching curriculum because that is what you are required to do.

In my classroom I want my students to have fun but still find meaning and value in what they do. I never want my students to be bored or feel like they are just doing busy work. That is way I love these five characteristics. I truly think that if i remember to ask myself the questions above, that I will be able to teach more and have a positive impact and the students will enjoy school better.

Differentiation Resources

Pinterest: Pinterest has a whole board that offers countless ideas for differentiation. It has different forms of differentiation to fit the needs of your students, classroom, and curriculum.

Pinterest: This Pinterest board focuses mainly on how to differentiate your teaching instruction. This board is fun and has a lot of activities that would be engaging for students.

Edutopia: This website offers some simple but powerful ideas. They have things you can do in as little as five minutes to help differentiate your classroom.

Teacher's Survival Guide: This is an online book that is great for clearing up confusion and offer great ideas. It talks about how you might need an alternate alternate activity for some students. Some students might need more differentiation than others. What works for some students wont work for all of them.

Scholastic: This site offers four proven strategies for differentiation.

I was surprised by how many websites and resources there are out there to help with differentiation. I am very excited to use these websites and to continue to discover more. I have already discovered quite a few ideas and activities that I plan to try in my own classroom off of the Pinterest board. Now I really understand why they say you need to know and understand your students first. There are so many ways to differentiate, so if you didn't know who you were differentiating for, you would be completely lost. Great resources!!!

Movie: "At Work in the Differentiated Classroom"

***A differentiated lesson is not the same thing as a differentiated classroom*** 

Good differentiation includes:

1. Use good curriculum: This idea goes hand in hand with hallmark #2. Teachers need to develop lessons for advanced students, and the other tiers. It usually works best to develop a lesson with your advanced student in mind, then differentiate it to appropriately challenge your lower level students.
2. Continually asses your students learning level, interests, and their needs: This is the same idea as in hallmark #1. One great way to assess students readiness and knowledge is by doing a 3-2-1 summary slip. These summary slips is done by having students list 3 things they learned about "it", 2 comments about your personal connections or reflections, and 1 question you have about "it". This is a way for the teacher to know how to help the students learn better, where they need more instruction, and the things they were able to make connections with. 
3. Develop classroom community: The teacher needs to help every student feel valued. The teacher needs to find every student fascinating and worthwhile. It doesn't matter which differentiated group students are in, they still need to feel like they are a valued contributor to the classroom. By having the students read their work or the teacher reading the students work for them (with their permission) they can learn from each other and about each other. You need to have classroom community so that students feel safe sharing their work. 
4. Engaging for all: This is like hallmark #6. You need to make the tasks in the differentiated groups  respectful and engaging. This will help the students feel good about which ever group they are in. If a student wants to move back to the differentiated group they were in before (usually wanting to move back to a lower group) because they felt more comfortable and because it was easier; remember what it teaches in hallmark #5. We need to provide students with a way up and not a way out. Encourage the student to be engaged and try their best. Set up a time to talk with a student after a week or two. If they are still worried about their new placement try to come up with a common plan and goal between you and the student  (hallmark #3). 

I loved this video! It was so beneficial to see good classroom differentiation in action. I loved how energetic and confident the teacher was. I think that by being excited and confident about what you are teaching it will help your students be excited to learn about it and confident in their learning abilities. 

The biggest thing I took away from this video was the importance of creating a safe classroom. I think having a feeling of classroom community is equally as important as having a differentiated classroom. To help students succeed you need to differentiate, but in order to not have management issues or bullying, you need to have classroom community. Students need to accept and respect each other and their learning levels and abilities. Students need to feel safe to share their work and thoughts with the teacher and the rest of the class. I strongly believe that when students feel safe, they will have a stronger desire and ability to learn. 

Photo: http://youthvoices.net/sites/default/files/image/22701/feb/clip-art0020.jpg

Compass of Differentiation

Courtney, one of my classmates, posted something on her blog that really stood out to me. She posted about the idea of differentiation being like a compass. Here is the link to her blog so you can read it for yourself if interested.

I love the idea of the compass. It helped me to clearly the concept of differentiation more clearly. It reminds of Hallmark #7 Proactive thinking and planning for different pathways, and how we talked about the need to have a "roadmap" of where the student is now and where you want them to end up at the end of the year. That way if they have to take a detour with the student you know how to help them get back on track to head towards their ending desination. I just think the idea of using the compass of differentiation goes along with this really well!

Image from: http://futuredesignstudio.myupsite.com/files/2011/06/Roadmap-with-compass-300x200.jpg

Building a Positive Environment in the Classroom

There are many strategies teachers can use to build classroom community and make it a positive classroom experience for their students. In the book Fulfilling the Promise of the Differentiated Classroom, by Carol Ann Tomlison she offers many great strategies.

• Study Students' Cultures - Know their background, where students are coming from, and value the uniqueness they bring to the classroom.
• Convey Status - Point out great things you see the students doing.
• Commend Creativity - By allowing the teacher, students, and who class to add creative touches to the classroom it shows there are many kinds of people who make up the classroom and contribute to it. 
• Make Room for all Kinds of Learners - Learn your students learning styles. Understand whether they learn better when it is loud or quiet. Allow them to feel that there is a place for them to learn, regardless of how they learn.
• Help Students Know About One Another - In order to create positivity and community in the classroom students need to feel comfortable with one another. Help them get to know each other.
• Celebrate Success - Make a big deal out of student success. Help them to realize their great ackomplishments. You could do a student spot light, call the parents, or just simple verbal praise. 

I love these strategies! I think the idea of commending creativity is brilliant. I am a very neat and organized person so I like things to be in their place. But I love the idea of waiting and letting your students help decorate some of the classroom. By adding their creative touch it will build unity and help students feel like they belong. I truly think it will help the classroom feel like their "home away from home". The other strategy I really liked was helping students know about one another. This reminds me of morning meetings. Morning meetings are a great way for students to share and get to know things about each other. You could also use Sylvia's idea of making connections for the students. "You like dogs too, that is great! You guys should talk about your common interest on the playground."

I think the biggest thing to take away from this reading chapter is that it is important for students to feel safe and like they belong in the classroom. I think having a sense of community in the classroom with help the students feel success and help the teacher have success. 

Photo from: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSxhaVnbGcAf00hKkHl9LY1xLY0rm2byj2CyxUTs8xS2FemeGHsCpiSm6JmcgaY0CCUmsGhZlTBzTT-cP1-hNjPNHw_FFfKbZDKaCMFPckLGkj06hSnTJ2BDZ-3OM8EPAA2bzWog52kdU/s1600/Classroom+Community.jpg

You are teaching individuals

We need to remember that we are not teaching to a whole class; we are teaching to INDIVIDUALS. Taking the time to get to know your students PERSONALLY will be critical and beneficial for creating classroom COMMUNITY. By truly LISTENING, CARING, and taking the time to UNDERSTAND your students it will create a SAFE zone where students can thrive in their learning abilities. TRUST, RESPECT, and FRIENDSHIP with come naturally between the teacher and students and between the students and their peers when time is taken to treat  everyone as an individual and get to personally know them. 

I agree with this 100%. I can think back to my own personal experiences when I had teachers who took the time to get to know me individually rather than just viewing me as "a group". I felt valued and it helped me build my confidence and be more outgoing.

I think this can also be applied when interacting with our student's parents. We should take time to know them individually also. A parent can be a teachers best friend, or worst nightmare, so why not take the time to show them that you care and build a relationship with them as well. It probably will take a little more time, but I think it will be extremely beneficial in the long run. 

Different Learners + Different Lessons = Successful Classroom

"Squeezing students into a one-size-fits-all curriculum has left many behind. By Differentiating your instruction, you can meet the needs of every child."

--Carol Ann Tomlinson

Teachers in differentiated classrooms use various teaching strategies, are flexible with time, use students interests, and work together with students in a partnership to create the ideal learning situation. You can not force fit students into a standard mold, they are individuals and learn differently.

There may be times that trying to differentiate for all your students seems next to impossible. It is times like this that we need to remember that differentiating every minute of every day just isn't practical. It should be done when possible, but if you try to do it all the time you will get burned out like the teacher in the picture. 

When trying to figure out the best way to differentiate for the students in your classroom, remember this... we differentiate in response to the learner's interest, learning profile, and readiness. This will give you a place to start and help you to know how to create and carry out a differentiated lesson.

I often worry that with all the demands that are placed on teachers that I will get burned out if I try differentiating for all my students. Sometimes it makes me tired just thinking about it. It is times like this that I try to remind myself that it can't be done all the time and that I just need to base my differentiation off the learning needs of my students. I honestly think that if I am able to differentiated successfully it will keep the curriculum fresh in my classroom. I wont fall into a mundane routine. It will keep me on my toes, fresh, and right there learning with my students.

*** Differentiation is beneficial to not only the students, but also for the teacher ***