Establish ties with each child....

it seemed to me that the lesson we were suppose to take away from our reading this week had to do with recognizing each child as an individual. not every child can be expected to learn the same way, or to respond to our teaching in the same way. i deeply believe and agree that we need to connect with each child. not connect with the class as a whole, but to each child. we can't walk into the classroom with one set way of teaching and expect every child to grasp the idea we are teaching. sometimes you need to approach things in many different ways.

at the same time i really liked the story of the prince and the fox. i've never read the actual story, as i've heard from some people in class, that it is an actual story. but i agree. as a student i know that i never trusted in my teachers or wanted to try new things, unless i knew that they trusted and believed in me, as a student.

sometimes all kids need is a little encouragement. it may be taxing, and our efforts may get rejected sometimes. but i strongly believe that if we try that little bit harder to get to know our students, and to let them know that were trying to get to know them, and show that we care- it will pay off in the end. it may not for us as teachers, but we might make that one difference in that students life, and be the only person that has ever cared about them.

what i want out of differentiation

one of the lines that stuck out to me the most this week from our readings was, differentiated teaching is responsive teaching. when considering how i want to include differentiation into my own classroom in the future i most definitely need to include the: who, what, where, how. who i'm teaching, what i'm teaching, where i'm teaching and how i'm teaching.there were a couple different ideas for this kind of teaching that i would like to adapt for my own classroom.

• i really liked the idea of multiple assessment formats. this would be me recognizing that not all students test the same. i myself hate essay tests, but do like multiple choice tests because i feel that sometimes i will see an answer that will jog my memory. i have friends however that hate multiple choice and would rather an essay questions. to each his own, we're all different and should be treated so.
• involve students in the understanding of the nature of the classroom. i remember that on the first day i was always told the teacher's rules. having the students as a class make their rules gives them choice in the decision and also helps them become more aware of what they are committing to and what is to be expected of them, because they came up with their rules!
• use specialtists. just because i play the piano and can read music doesn't mean that i would teach somebody how to play the guitar because of my musical knowledge. i think the exact same with school. specialtists have done advanced studies into things that we as teachers weren't taught in school. if we can further a child's education and understanding of something- why wouldn't we use a specialtist?
• "respectful" work- as i stated above we are all different. one child may enter 3rd grade reading at an 8th grade level while another may enter 3rd grade barely able to speak english and struggling with reading words. we can't expect these two kids to complete the same work. we need to assign them work that is going to be helpful for them. not to easy, and not too hard. respectful.
• teacher expects no less from herself than she does of her students. we are always pushing our students to do and learn more. we should take our own advice. i want to always be challenging myself that i can provide more for the students in my classroom, and that my effort is nothing short of my best.

These are just a few things that stuck out to me from our readings. in creating a differentiated classroom we always need to consider 2 factors: the requirements of the curriculum and the needs of the student. you can't do one with out the other and expect the students to succeed.