DIFFERENTIATE
What this category means to me-
I could cut and paste the accepted pedagogical definition for what DI means, but I won't. To me, it's a basic precept. It is the job of a "good" teacher to recognize the strengths and struggles of EACH student, and to meet that student where he or she is in a purposeful, approachable way. Whatever DO strategies are used should not only encourages skill growth, but should be a vehicle that helps builds student confidence in regards to their abilities as a learner.
Why it's important to learning-
Differentiation is responsive teaching. It's that simple. It's important to learning, as without it, the learning is not authentic. And my students deserve to be in an authentic environment where they know that I am there to recognize their strengths and areas of struggle and to respond accordingly. This does NOT mean that I make assessments "easier"; it means that I develop formative assessments that allow students to PRACTICE and PRACTICE and PRACTICE some more until the student has either shown competency or, in some cases, this area of struggle becomes a strength by the end of the academic year.
Differentiation also means recognizing areas of student strength and utilizing that strength to show skill progression in other areas. For example, I had a student last year who really struggled with written expression, especially on assessments. However, when I asked him to TALK out his ideas as opposed to writing them down, it became clear that this content acquisition and skill set in regards to our Learning targets for Public Speaking were stellar. For this student, processing speed and physical limitations got in the way of his ability to communicate through writing. As such, we used the time together in class to work on associated skills with writing. I already knew based on formal and informal observation that the student was a competent speaker-- what he needed to work on was writing, so we spent more time on the writing targets than we did on the speaking targets.
Additionally, differentiating means challenging students to deepen their skill sets when applicable. For example, in situations where the students reading level is past that of a ninth grade text, I will provide extension activities or material that does not require MORE work, but simply ask the student to read a text that is the appropriate match for them in regards to reading level.
How what we know about the brain supports it.-
We know that, as referenced in the Jensen text Teaching with the brain in mind, that there IS PROVEN value in "trail and error" learning. I mean, how many times have we heard the phrase "practice makes perfect"? I know I heard it ALL the time growing up, but it only ever really applied to how fast I could run the mile, or how solid my throw was between right field and second base. Of course, the feedback I got whilst practicing in these contexts was either a slow pace or a bad throw and groans from my softball teammates. But I WANTED to get better. I WANTED to improve, and along the way I got constructive feedback from my coaches.
I like to believe that contrary to their body language or affect in my class on Monday mornings, that my students WANT to get "good" grades. But we have used a system where we hammer the entry-level neurons with a TON of info, then oftentimes, SKIP RIGHT PAST the middle level neurons which are responsible for processing input through their own sort of trial and error (Jensen 53). This step is KEY. Its how our brains work. When I started teaching 14 years ago, I fell prey to this style of teaching-- its how I was "taught" back in my high school and college days and I came out okay. I stayed with this So, if its not broke, don't fix it, right? Wrong. It was not until I volunteered to be part of a Collaborative Work Group on Differentiation that I began to see how how and why such a shift in pedagogy was necessary for me and my students. There is way too much research out there to ignore the fact that this "traditional style" of teaching is, indeed, BROKEN, and it MUST be fixed. Our students output-level neurons are begging for the chance to show understanding through writing, speaking and demonstrating proficiency. It is our job as their academic coaches to encourage much more trial and error in a safe, encouraging environment.
On the back of my son's Rec Soccer shirt is the quotation "We Honor the Game" as a means to promote positive interaction between coaches, players and parents. Similarly, I honor the "game" of teaching by differentiating, and this positively impacts my teaching practice, my students and their parents.
Summative Assessments
Fall 2014 Unit 1 Mini-summative (leads/evidence)
Fall 2014 Unit 2 Summative
Fall 2014 Unit 3 Summative
Fall 2014 Unit 1 Mini-summative (leads/evidence)
Fall 2014 Unit 2 Summative
Fall 2014 Unit 3 Summative