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Thesis On Differentiated Instruction
How Differentiated Instruction Can Work and Fail in the Article Mapping a Route Toward Differentiated Instruction by Carol Ann Tomlinson
How Differentiated Instruction Can Work and Fail in the Article Mapping a Route Toward Differentiated Instruction by Carol Ann Tomlinson
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Recommended: Thesis On Differentiated Instruction
Introduction
With global diversity the modern day classroom sees so many changes as opposed to those even from a couple of decades ago. The inclusion of students from diverse cultural backgrounds, students where English as a second language (ESL) and students with disabilities are compelling educators to take a look at current teaching practices. As a result, the common practices of the past are not necessarily relevant today and require a change. This paper will attempt to introduce some of the characteristics and benefits of differentiated instruction.
Differentiated Instruction Defined
Tomlinson (2005), a leading expert in this field, defines differentiated instruction as a philosophyof teaching that is based on the principle that students
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That is not to say that the required state or district standard curriculum is not met, but rather include creative approaches to teaching and learning of thosestandards.Some characteristics as defined by the California Department of Education (2001) are that teachers spend quality time with their students learning about their level of self-esteem and academic readiness. Furthermore, the classrooms become student centered through differentiated instruction where no student is singled out for their learning aptitude. Teachers design in class instruction and homework assignments with the student learning style, aptitude, and needs in mind while still ensuring that the learning outcomes set forth by the standard curriculum of the district are met. In addition, assessment tests are offered to students by various options such as oral, real-life problems to be solved, portfolios and standard tests. Finally, there is a constant dialogue between the student and teacher to assess performance. Any student not meeting the standards is then provided the additional necessary …show more content…
Standard curriculum is what is to be taught but differentiation is how it is taught and how various avenues can be presented for a variety of teaching and learning. Furthermore, Tomlinson goes on to suggest that any standard can be selected and by differentiating the materials provided to students, they can be challenged to meet the needs of the standards at varied levels of difficulty. Teachers can create lessons to appeal to multiple student interests to promote interest in the
Hall, T., Strangman, N., & Meyer, A. (2003). Differentiated instruction and implications for UDL implementation. National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum. Retrieved March 22, 2012, from www.k8accesscenter.org/training_resources/udl/diffinstruction.asp
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
This essay will discuss the terms differentiated learnnig and personalised learning as well as highlight how these two forms of learning can be implemented in the classroom. Differentiated learning can be defined as an instruction that is an individualised process of teaching and learning that is based on the learners’ prior knowledge, abilities, development readiness, interests and learning styles (Grierson & Woloshyn, 2012). On the other hand personalised learning involves creating an individual learning plan to meet the needs of a particular student. In addition personalised learning does not mean teaching each child individually but trying to cater in several ways for the variety of children you have in the class (Dean, 2006).
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.
Contemplating on the idea of differentiated classroom, it can be seen that it involves the collaborative attempt of both the teacher and students to create a classroom environment that embraces diversity and differences. With these differences, it helps create the realization towards finding new ways to improve the level of appreciation and learning of content. With these, it helps the educator determine the patterns or methods of instruction that can best apply and supplement the needs of students in the classroom. From this perspective, I do believe that this serves as an important foundation for shaping a differentiated classroom.
1. Differentiated instruction- Is personalized and customized learning, and it is one of the concepts in education that many people hear about, but do not understand clearly.
Differentiated instruction adapts learning to the students’ unique differences. It is a must for teachers to learn as much about each student as possible. Understanding students helps guide teachers’ decisions to match appropriate materials and strategies to each learner’s needs. The strategies and activities are student-centered, based on readiness, planned with flexible grouping designs, and changed as needed to meet the needs of all learners. These personalized experiences give students access to all of the information and skills they can assimilate in their learning journeys (Chapman & King, 2005). This approach meets the academic and related needs of a wide array of diverse learners in schools (Edwards, Carr, & Siegel 2006).
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
In the past, assessments were popularly conducted for the purpose of accreditation, but with the growing change in the quality of education, it has become evident that assessments aren’t just products to qualification but as Sieborger (1998) identifies, is that assessment is the process of gathering and interpreting knowledge to make valid and justifiable judgements about the learners performance and the assessors ability to transfer and establish knowledge to the learners. What is pivotal in assessment is that it enhances teaching and learning; it is also the crucial link between learning outcomes, the content that is taught and learning activities. Furthermore, Sieborger (1998) states that assessment is a reciprocal process; as it is used by both learners and teachers to decide where the learners are at in their learning and where they need to go and how best to get there. The characteristics that Sieborger identifies to be contained in assessment are made up of: tasks, exercises, tests and exams, which are set and assessed by educators. There are different methods and uses of assessment that are used in the Education system, the reason for this, is that not all assessments serve the same purpose for its methodologies, the feedback that learners receive needs to correspond with the purpose of the assessment.
When teachers differentiate their lesson, the students are more engaged to learn. Students have some choice in their learning activities, which motivates students to want to learn and also puts more learning responsibility on the students. Some students may prefer to work alone or in groups and some students like to be hands-on. By differentiating the lesson, all students’ needs are being met. “Differentiated Instruction gives students a range of ways to access curriculum, instruction and assessment. DI engages students to interact and participate in the classroom in a richer way. It is based on the assumption that all students differ in their learning styles, strengths, needs and abilities and that classroom activities should be adapted to meet these differences
Lawerence-Brown, D. (2004). Differentiated instruction: inclusive stragies for standards-based learning that benefit the whole class. American Secondary Education , 34-62.
This article is written by a teacher and describes ways in which differentiated instruction can be implemented.
This standard requires a teacher to really understand his/her students especially through the ways they grow and develop. It is important for them to understand that every student is different and therefore, will learn in their own ways. The teacher then learns to meet the needs of all students specifically by creating learning experiences for all to comprehend. Differentiated instruction would be helpful in a classroom in order for the teacher to meet the needs of students who have differences when it comes to interests, readiness and learning needs.
Through assessment students and teachers are able to determine the level of mastery a student has achieved with standards taught. Both formative and summative assessment should be purposeful and targeted to gain the most accurate data to drive further instruction (Ainsworth, 2010). While this syllabus does a good job of identifying the need for both formal and informal assessments, the way in which this is communicated does not provide enough detail for understanding. Simply listing assessment types does not give any insight into how these assessments fit in the learning process of this course. While some of the assessments mentioned could be common assessments chosen by the school or district to gain insight into the effectiveness of instruction, the inclusion of authentic assessments is most beneficial to students and demonstrates learning in a context closer to that of a work environment (Rovai, 2004). Unfortunately, this particular course, according to this syllabus, relies heavily on quizzes and traditional tests and essays to form the bulk of assessment opportunities. While other activities, such as formative assessments, journaling and discussions are mentioned as possible avenues for scoring, they are given a very low percentage of the overall grade. This shows that they are not valued for their ability to show progression and mastery. If this is indeed the case, this puts the students as a
As individuals, do we learn using one method? Does one method fit all? 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).