Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Meeting diverse needs in the classroom
Meeting diverse needs in the classroom
Meeting diverse needs in the classroom
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Meeting diverse needs in the classroom
Introduction
As described by Hall, Strangman, & Meyer (2011), differentiated instruction [DI] allows teachers to build flexibility into their approach and understanding in adapting curriculum to the needs of the student, instead of requiring students to apply modifications they may be ill-equipped to complete (p. 2). In the alternative classroom, with a majority of students ELLs, teachers can adapt DI to set lesson and curriculum goals through a range of instructional and management strategies to engage students through curiosity, promote understanding, and clarify understanding to incorporate learning in the classroom (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010a; Laureate Education, Inc., 2010b). As a teacher become confident in lesson planning, extra flexibility is introduced with the addition of technology that will enhance the framework in which DI can drive instruction. The following resources will be able to enhance the learning environment for learners in my Media Literacy and English language arts classrooms.
Resources
Hall, Strangman, & Meyer (2011) stress developing knowledge of your students from the beginning allows you the freedom to help learners complete and fulfill their understanding of the learning process (p. 4). In order to accommodate readiness knowledge in the alternative English language arts classroom, I will assign reading tasks based upon software that determines student-reading abilities. This free website, Get a Lexile Text Measure, at http://www.lexile.com/analyzer/ measures the text readability for the reading assignments in your curriculum. I like this site because you can measure different types of text and match them for each student. The site is free to join (with registration) and free upgrades for educators...
... middle of paper ...
...dept curriculum planning and instruction.
Works Cited
Hall, T., Strangman, N., & Meyer, A. (2011). Differentiated instruction and implications for UDL implementation [Website]. Retrieved from http://aim.cast.org/learn/historyarchive/backgroundpapers/differentiated_instruction_udl
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010a). High quality curriculum [Video webcast]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010b). Introduction to differentiated instruction [Video webcast]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Sutherland, M. (2008). Appropriate structures for teachers to implement in the high school classroom for at risk students [Website media]. Retrieved from http://www.waier.org.au/forums/2008/sutherland2.html
Tomlinson, C. A. (2005). How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms. (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
With such high numbers of adolescents falling below basic in reading, illiteracy is a battle that must be fought head on. The largest dilemma with the struggle is the number of variations that cause adolescents to become reluctant, unmotivated or struggling readers. Fortunately, a large number of strategies exist to encourage and strengthen readers of all ages, proving that adolescence is not a time to give up on faltering students. Rather, it is a time to evaluate and intervene in an effort to turn a reluctant reader into an avid one (or near enough). Ultimately, educators must learn to properly assess a student’s strengths and weaknesses (Curtis, 2009) and pair them with the proper intervention techniques. If one method does not work, countless others exist to take its place.
While differentiating instruction and being able to design lessons geared towards the needs of diverse learners are currently highly prized skills for teachers, this has not always been the case. The history of education in the United States is a history of segregation. Even today, schools and curriculum are designed to meet the needs of a core group of students, which does not include students with disabilities (Hitchcock, Meyer, Rose, & Jackson, 2002). In the past, learners who were different, out of the mainstream, or did not fit into the mold to which teachers taught (were not part of the core) learned how or lost out on learning. This is not to say that teachers of the past did not care about their students, about being effective teachers, or about student learning. However, as schools are mirrors reflecting mainstream societal norms (Chartock, 2010; Delpit, 2006)—and, given that our society has not always valued diversity in people, be it due to disability, class, culture, or race—teachers in the past have largely focused their efforts where they could earn the largest return on their investment: the average student .
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
Informal reading inventories will be efficient for direct observing and recording aspects of students reading skills....
Assessments should guide instruction and material selection. Any likely manner, assessments should measure student progress, as well as help, identify deficiencies in reading (Afflerback, 2012). One important indicator of reading deficiencies is spelling. Morris (2014), advocated the importance of administering a spelling assessment in order to have a better understanding of a student’s reading abilities. My school uses the Words Their Way spelling inventory to assess students’ reading abilities at the beginning of the year and throughout the reading year.
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).
It targets all the students’ needs without leaving anyone out. Differentiated instruction allows educators to plan activities and lessons that provided a higher order of thinking to their students. This course has provided me with a wealth a knowledge that I can pass on to my co-worker by showing them first hand through learning activities how to differentiate content, process, and product. In the article Moving to Assessment-Guided Differentiated Instruction to Support Young Children 's Alphabet Knowledge by Shanye Piasta, provided a great reason why early childhood educators should differentiate instruction. Piasta,( 2014)
Diversity among students including differences in culture, language and socioeconomic stance is not a new trend. The difference, however, is that today, the school system realizes that all students, including those who differ in some way from the "average" student, or those “at-risk” must be provided with an equal, opportune education (Morris, 1991).
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...
Hall, T., Strangman, N., & Mayer, A. (2009, February 11). Differentiated Instruction and Implications for UDL Implementation. Retrieved March 20, 2010, from CAST: http://www.cast.org/publications/ncac/ncac_diffinstructudl.html
Mc Tighe, J., & Brown, J. L. (2005). Differentiated instruction and educational standards; Is detente possible? Theory into Practice, 44(3), 234-244.
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
In the content area in Language Arts, students will develop the reading skills necessary for word recognition, comprehension, interpretation, analysis, and evaluation of print and non-print text activating prior knowledge, processing and acquiring new vocabulary, organizing information, understanding visual representations, self-monitoring, and reflecting. This can be accomplished by implementing pre-reading, during-reading, and post-reading strategies into the lesson plan. Fifth grade students will read and write a variety of texts with greater scope and depth. In addition, they will analyze and evaluate information and ideas by revisiting and refining concepts about the language arts benchmark and will become more refined and independent learners.
Shore, Marietta Saravia. (2011). “Diverse Teaching Strategies for Diverse Learners” Chapter 2. Educating Everybody's Children: Diverse Teaching Strategies for Diverse Learners. http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/107003/chapters/Diverse-Teaching-Strategies-for-Diverse-Learners.aspx
A mixed classroom approach is a structure that involves putting children from different social classes and intelligence levels into one classroom. The mixed approach is preferred because it gives all students an equal opportunity that may or may not push them to make an attempt in school (Lee 2013). As many different students are placed into one classroom, it is up to the teacher to create a classroom environment suitable for all students because of the many students from different backgrounds (Smith, 2005, p. 98-99). Therefore, a heterogeneous approach is better