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The pros and cons of diversity for the effectiveness of teaching and learning
Importance of diversity in education
The pros and cons of diversity for the effectiveness of teaching and learning
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In today’s educational environment, all students expect to receive the same level of instruction from schools and all students must meet the same set of standards. Expectations for students with learning disabilities are the same as students without any learning difficulties. It is now unacceptable for schools or teachers to expect less from one segment of students because they have physical disabilities, learning disabilities, discipline problems, or come from poor backgrounds. Standardize testing has resulted in making every student count as much as their peers and the most positive impact has been seen with the lowest ability students. Schools have developed new approaches to reach these previously underserved students while maintaining passing scores for the whole student body. To ensure academic success, teachers employ a multi-strategy approach to develop students of differing abilities and backgrounds. Every student is different in what skills and experiences they bring to the classroom; their personality, background, and interests are as varied as the ways in which teachers can choose to instruct them. Differentiated instruction has been an effective method in which teachers can engage students of various backgrounds and achieve whole-class success. When using differentiated instruction, teachers develop lesson strategies for each student or groups of students that provide different avenues of learning but all avenues arrive at the same learning goal.
Classroom Appearance
How do teachers enable all students of varying abilities to reach the same goals and standards established for their grade level? Instruction begins with a concept of treating each student as a unique learner whose strengths and weaknesses ha...
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Bibliography
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.... (2007). Tips for teaching: Differentiating instruction to include all students. Preventing school failure, 51(3), 49-54.
Cloran (n.d.) suggest teachers need to have a broad understanding of giftedness and learning disabilities, a variety of identification measures and the ability to modify the curriculum and implement differentiated teaching strategies to meet the unique needs of all students. A graduate teacher recognises that students learn in their own way and should understand and be able to identify a number of teaching strategies to differentiate and meet the learning needs of all students. They may create groups based on previous assessment results and set clear or modified instructions for each group based on ability or learning styles. To address the specific learning needs of all student abilities, multi-sensory strategies using charts, diagrams, outside lessons and videos, as well as posters around the room or information on the desk could be used. Tomlinson (1999) suggests that differentiated instruction aims to build on student’s strengths and maximize their learning by adjusting instructional tasks to suit their individual needs. Ensuring teaching and instructions are clear, revising and prompting students during lessons and providing templates and assisting student in breaking down tasks into achievable, systematic chunks are some additional examples. Lucas, (2008) suggests highlighting key vocabulary within the text to focus students on the central concepts within the text. Quick finishing students should be provided with the opportunity to extend themselves with extension tasks that have a specific purpose and
For this lesson I still need to learn how to analyze instructional goals and differentiated instructional strategies. When I transfer to a university to further my education; in my educational classes I will learn about this. In addition to student teaching, I will be learning how to handle future situations with the appropriate grade level. Lastly, I will ask for advice from art teachers and teachers in general to find out more information on differentiated instructional strategies.
Once practices such as mainstreaming and inclusion were set into place, pressure was on teachers to create a curriculum that would encompasses the various learning needs for all the students in their classroom. Teachers began to retro-fit the current curriculum in ways that would meet individual students’ needs (Udvari-Solner et al., 2002); not an easy task considering education is generally taught in a teacher-directed way, to the “average” student. This type of instruction is what stu...
Students with learning disabilities can learn; each student has his or her own strengths and weaknesses. Educators must continue to focus on the strengths of each student and building on them, creating a stronger student and person. Identifying the weakness is at the core of getting a student help with their learning disability, but after this initial identification and placement, the focus should shift to the strengths and adjusting the student’s schoolwork to reflect these strengths. For instance, if a student is weak in reading but has wonderful group interaction skills and is good with his or her hands, the students' reading tasks should then be shifted to reflect these st...
Richards, S., Taylor, R., Smiley, L. 2009; Exceptional Students: Preparing Teachers for the 21st Century
Tomlinson, C.A. (1999) Chapter 2: The Rationale for Differentiated Classroom in Mixed Ability Classrooms. The differentiated classroom: responding to the needs of all learners. US: ASCD.
Currently I am co teaching a fifth grade class of eleven students. The class is a general education class with four students who have disabilities. My main focus for the class is teaching the human body system and implementing writing into the class. Differentiation of instruction is something we need to show that we are implanting in our classroom. There are four levels of differentiation of instruction; content, process, product, and affect. What we teach, how we teach it; how students demonstrate what they have learned, and how students feel about what they are learning is what DI is about. Educators need to start by choosing the best content that will help all of their students. The content not only has to relate to the subject matter, but need to connect to their culture. The process is also a crucial component of DI and Santamaria feels that the best thing to do for the students is having them work in groups, but Utley took an individual approach to DI. Santamaria feels that cooperative learning stimulates learning. The last component to DI is the product. This could be as simple as allowing the students to present their final product
Robb (2016) vividly described what differentiated instruction is with reference to other researchers. Her purpose for the article can be properly deduced, as it is presented in an even flow throughout the article’s content. A major strength of the article is that Robb’s arguments are supported with data and real life situations in her own classroom; thus, the article is strong enough to be a resource in the development of leaning. I would apply her brave techniques in the teaching and learning processes in order to invoke creativity and critical reasoning among the students. Discussions, as advocated by Robb, promote interaction and dismiss any differences among students, thus making learning coherent; also, as a teacher, I would incorporate it into my teaching for better
Instruction. These two strategies are approaches that address classroom diversity in general education settings, and inclusion classroom settings. The idea of UDL is that instructional lessons, strategies, and assessments are planned with supports, which are more likely to be well-suited for students with special needs. The supports minimize the need for adaptations at a later time. Properly designed classrooms require fewer adaptations for students with special needs, is an ass...
First, in regards to instruction I have learned the importance of using a variety of instructional strategies and practices to meet the needs of academically diverse learners. These include incorporating the seven multiple intelligences and different learning styles. As well as, effective strategies for gifted students, cultural diverse students, and limited English language students. “All learning disabled children can learn and become successful students, given fair opportunities” (Scholastic, n.d., pg. 1-3). Additionally, in regards to assessment I have obtained knowledge in frequently monitoring student progress through assessments. Progress monitoring is one of the four essential components of an effective response to intervention. “Progress monitoring is used to assess students’ academic performance, to quantify a student rate of improvement or responsiveness to instruction and to evaluate the effectiveness of the instruction” (Center on Response to Intervention, n.d. para. 1). At Evansville Elementary, we use district wide evidence-based tools and assessments to monitor our students’
“Students with mild or severe learning disabilities received more benefits from differentiated and intensive support, especially when the differentiation was delivered in small. groups or with targeted instruction.” (McQuarrie) “Differentiated thinking empowers teachers to be responsive rather than reactive to the unique and individual personalities, backgrounds, and abilities found within students.” (Anderson). Works Cited Anderson, K. (2007).
For Doman 1, planning and preparation, I believe that I demonstrate adequate skills. I work hard to make connections to my content knowledge with other subject areas through discussions with general education teachers for social studies and science curriculums (Danielson, 1996). As a special education teacher, I must have a full understanding of my students (Danielson, 1996). I design lessons that are the instructional match for my students, modify grade level curriculum, and accommodate for different learning styles. I also try to choose books that would be interesting to my students and create math story problems around the activities that students participate in. Assessing student learning is critical to monitor instruction and to report student progress accurately (Danielson, 1996). The development of this component was a goal of mine during the first semester of this school year. I feel that now, I have acc...
Education is a profession which requires a teacher to be able to communicate with a multitude of students on a variety of levels. There is not a class, or student for that matter, that is identical. Therefore, teachers must be able to identify and help educate students from all different types of backgrounds and at different levels. Teaching a singular subject presents difficulties, but teaching students with disabilities should not be one. There are three main teaching areas that need to be focused on when teaching a student with a learning disability. Teachers need to focus on the strategies that will assist students with reading comprehension skills, writing skills, and maintaining appropriate behaviors in a classroom setting.
Curriculum differentiation is a way of thinking, and not a strategy. It is a philosophy of how to respond to student differences. According to Carol Ann Tomlinson, differentiated curriculum is a way of, “shaking up what goes on in the classroom so that students have multiple options for taking in information, making sense of ideas, and expressing what they learn” (Tomlinson, 2001, p. 1). Curriculum differentiation can occur in numerous ways. It begins with a pre-assessment which identifies the students learning style and prior knowledge. Respectful tasks, flexible grouping, and ongoing assessment all guide differentiation. Teachers can differentiate the content, the product, the process, and the