The most useful things I have learned from Differentiation

This next week will be the last week of my differentiation class. I feel I have learned so much about differentiation and why we differentiate in our classroom. In class this semester I have learned about morning meetings, dimensions of differentiation, contracts, cubing/think dice, think-tac-toe, learning menus, etc. All of these tool boxes go hand in hand especially with instruction. I want to incorporate so many things into my instruction to differentiate my classroom. Although differentiation can seem daunting and overwhelming, I have learned it is vital to differentiate if you want your students to succeed. I think about my elementary experiences and why I struggled learning concepts and I feel if my teachers would have differentiated I would've enjoyed school more. I want to be a teacher where learning can occur because I differentiated to meet the needs of my students.

Morning Meetings with Gentry

This week we had the chance to have a teacher come to our class and teach us about Morning Meetings. We have been taught a lot about morning meetings throughout the semester and how they help students learn and succeed. Gentry has been a teacher here in Utah for 3 years and it was incredible to hear how successful morning meetings were for him. One thing I learned from him is to make morning meetings fun and engaging for the students. He said to not always do the same thing because it causes the students to be bored. I feel it is vital to change things up because not only does it keep instruction active and engaging but it allows you to differentiate to meet the needs of your students. Gentry said the most important thing in morning meetings is the share. When I first learned about morning meetings I felt the activity would be the most important, my thinking change.  I have learned that the share is the most important part of morning meetings because it allows students to talk. It helps students feel comfortable talking and sharing their opinion on things happening in their lives. I feel the share in morning meetings will help you build a classroom community of love and respect... this is why your students will succeed; they have support from people around them.

Classroom Community

How do you as a teacher build a classroom community?  

When I first heard the term “classroom community” I thought about all the things you do as a teacher to create a positive atmosphere within your classroom. While this is true to an extent, I feel you have to do more than create a positive environment. In classroom management we talked about how to create this community for our students but I was still lost on how to effectively do it within my own classroom. After taking this class, I feel I learned the things I want to do in my classroom to create community. The three things I want to incorporate in my classroom are safety for students, respect for students, and understand what my students are capable of by differentiate my instruction to teach to their needs.

To create a safe place for my students to learn, I need to be someone they can talk to about their concerns.  After being in the classroom for three semesters now I can understand why people say what they do about school being the safest place for a child to be. I feel as I create this safe environment in my classroom the students will be able to feel they can open up to me and other students in the class. One thing I really like and want to incorporate in my classroom are morning meetings. I feel as I incorporate these into my classroom our classroom community will grow because students will be able help one another overcome the challenges they have.

In order to create classroom community I feel it is vital to respect one another. One thing I really liked from field this semester was how my teacher expected her students to respect one another. She taught at the beginning of the semester the importance of listening when others are speaking. I felt because she had established clear expectations for her students, her students were able to respect each other’s ideas and opinions. I felt because of her expectations she was able to have a classroom community of respect. After seeing this example, I want to share with my students the importance of respecting each other because it helps create community in the classroom.

The third thing I feel will help build classroom community is to understand what my students are capable of achieving by differentiating my instruction. I feel some teachers think a student can’t achieve greatness because they never have or they are compared to another family member who didn’t do well in their classroom. I feel it is important for teachers to get rid of these judgments and think about the best way to help their students reach their full potential regardless of the student’s past. I feel morning meetings are one way to understand what our students’ are capable of achieving. In morning meetings you create an environment for learning to occur and for students to share what they know. After learning about the hallmarks I want to teach using these because I feel as I incorporate them into my instruction I will be able to teach to the needs of my student by placing them in groups, giving clear directions, etc.
For me to become a good teacher I feel it starts by creating a safe community within my classroom. It seems simple to create this classroom community but I feel a lot of teachers struggle to have a community within their class where the students feel safe, secure, and can share their opinion. I thought about what I was going to do to ensure my students felt safe in my classroom. The things I want to do in my classroom to create community include the three things already addressed: safety for my students, respect for my students, and understand what my students are capable of by differentiate my instruction to teach to their needs. Not only will this kind of teaching help differentiate my instruction it will be a safe and fun environment for learning. 

Why I want to be a Teacher!!!

Being in field was great and it helped me realize, I love teaching. I knew when I was younger I wanted to be a teacher because I loved working with kids. As I got older I changed my major to nursing because I was interested in medicine. After returning from my LDS mission,  I realized I didn't want to be a nurse but I wanted to become a teacher. I feel one thing that helped me in my decision of becoming a teacher was serving a mission because not only was I able to serve others, I was able to teach them. Another thing that guided my decision in becoming a teacher was my dad's example. My dad has been a teacher my whole life and I wanted to follow his example. The last reason and most important reason why I wanted to become a teacher was because I wanted to change students' lives. Getting an education is so important and so if I can help in the process I will. I want each child to know they are smart and special even if no one ever tells them they are.

Last day of Field :(

Today was my last day with my second graders. :( I was so sad because I feel I was just getting to know them and their learning styles. There were so many kids I was able to meet and each one of them learned in a different way. I had a student who had ADHD and so if you wanted him to work you had to give simple directions and then keep on asking him how the work was coming. Another student who was my favorite has Autism. He is such a smart kid. From these experiences I learned that even if a student has a disability they can still succeed. I feel so many people think that if a student has a learning disability they are dumb; THIS IS NOT THE CASE!!!! Those students who have learning disabilities can achieve greatness if people are willing to teach to their needs. I want to be a teacher who teaches to each students' learning needs, I will DIFFERENTIATE!!

5 DiMenSioNs of dIFFeRenTiaTioN

Above are the 5 dimensions to consider when trying to differentiate in your classroom. As you can see YOU as the teacher are the one who determines how much differentiation will take place. Will you differentiate your classroom to meet the learning needs of your students? Differentiating your classroom is a great way to set you apart from other teachers and create an environment for learning. As you differentiate the content you are able to teach to the learning needs of each student and help them learn and retain  information. The content and instructional strategies go hand in hand because as you differentiate the how you teach the content you will also be changing the way you instruct your students. I think about my teachers growing up and how they differentiated their instruction; honestly I think they should've been told more about the importance of differentiating in the classroom. How YOU differentiate in your classroom will help you receive a finished product. How well do you want your students to do by the end of the school year? If you want them to succeed and enjoy learning I have learned YOU have to differentiate!!!! 

How do you differentiate in a class of 25?

When I first got into the class I would be in for my 3 weeks of field, I was overwhelmed with how to differentiate for 25 very unique students. I wanted to meet their learning needs individually but that seemed like a daunting task. I was very lucky and was placed with a teacher who is great at differentiating and meeting the needs of each individual student. At the beginning of the day Mrs. T has a student who is the "head farmer" which means they get to lead the morning work. After all the morning work is done, she goes over it with her students to make sure they understand what is being taught. She meets so many students' needs by teaching this way. One thing I loved that Mrs. T did was she allowed her students to read each day in front of the other students if they wanted to. This allowed the students to chose when they wanted to read aloud and not be forced to do something they were uncomfortable with. What a great way to DIFFERENTIATE!!!!