Module 2 - Learning Summary

Goal for Differentiated Instruction Video:

Differentiated instruction is a strategy of teaching and learning that is used to meet the needs of every student in the classroom.  Differentiating instruction is essential in every classroom and in every grade.  There is no student that learns in an identical way as another student.  Each child in our classrooms should be given opportunities to learn in ways that are interesting to them and in ways that they can learn best.   

The Story of Differentiation Video:

I enjoyed listening to Carol Tomlinson share her experience with beginning differentiation in her classroom.  As a first year teacher, it has been very shocking to me to see the large variation of ability levels within my classroom.  I don’t believe I would be able to meet each of their needs if I didn’t differentiate in some way.  I really liked at the end of the video that she focused on seeing the big picture of all students in the classroom.  She talked about not just focusing on the students that need the most intensive help and not just focusing on the high achieving students, but focusing on the class as a group with varying needs.  She made a wonderful point that differentiation isn’t the focus on just one group, such as struggling students, but that it’s meeting the needs of every student in the classroom.  

Planning Strategic Reading Lessons:

The first thing that made me excited to learn about strategic reading was reading about how it helps students.  Many students that may be behind grade level in reading have negative attitudes towards reading.  An example I see frequently with my students is Accelerated Reader.   Students that don’t get many AR points have poor attitudes about reading and about the program in general.  I would love to see strategic reading lessons begin to foster a great love of reading in those reluctant readers.  Before beginning planning lessons, I do think it’s important that teachers determine the objective of the lesson and the child’s purpose for reading.  I also think it’s important that before teaching the lesson, teachers should make both of those points clear to the students.  

Literacy Practice: Promoting Content Area Reading:

Scaffolding is extremely important in helping students read.  Students need assistance when tackling reading that would generally be considered too advanced for them.  Scaffolding makes it possible for students to accomplish reading more difficult texts while receiving assistance from teachers.  The teacher preparation slide is a main step in scaffolding.  Teachers must know the readability of texts before reading them with students, especially if the text being read is a textbook.  Teachers can better scaffold if they are aware of areas that may be difficult prior to looking at the text with the students.  Teacher previewing allows time to reflect on what steps are necessary before introducing the text to students. 

Verb Wheel Bloom’s Taxonomy:

This is an awesome reference!  I love how simple this wheel is, and it applies to all subjects.  This is a great way to think about the products that students are creating and which domain they address.  I plan to print out this document and keep it posted in my room.  I see this being very helpful in planning lessons and thinking about differentiation for my students.