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!!!!

Differentiate to meet Students' Needs

Why do we differentiate? From field I have began to see more of the importance of differentiating and teaching to my students' needs. This is one of my favorite posters...

I feel as I take the time to differentiate and teach to my students' needs I will be a successful teacher. I think about the teacher I am working with in field and how much she teaches to the needs of her students. She will use visuals, give simple directions, shorten work, use music in her teaching, repeat things over and over again. She is such a great example of a teacher who differentiates students according to their readiness. I hope I will be able to be a teacher that influences my students educational experience as I differentiate in my classroom. 

Field...So much FuN!!!

It has been my first week in field and I have loved every moment!!! My teacher is incredible and teaches to many learning needs based on students' readiness. Some students in Mrs. T's class really struggled when working alone on an assignment. To meet the needs of her students Mrs. T has her students who struggle work in groups. This allows her students to improve their readiness and improve in their overall learning experience. 

This week has helped me understand the importance of differentiating to meet the needs of my students. I realized that differentiating isn't hard to do especially in your own classroom. I am the one who determines what my students learn and the best way for them to learn. I am going to be a teacher who meets the needs of my students by differentiating.

Cogs In Differentiation

        To help differentiate in a school classroom some helpful tools to consider are the cogs of differentiation. The cogs of differentiation include: the student seeks, the teacher responds, and the curriculum and instruction are the guidance. As all three of these cogs work together you as a teacher will be differentiating to the students needs.
        The teacher response helps when the student seeks for guidance and in turn it helps guide instruction. I really believe that when all three of these aren't working together your classroom environment suffers. After learning about differentiation I have realized it is vital to differentiate and teach to your students' needs. This is how your students succeed; helping them the way they learn best.

Time for Field!!!!

Tomorrow is my first day of field work which means going into the schools and working with a second grade class for 3 weeks!!!!! I am so excited especially to be able to incorporate differentiation into my instruction. I think one of the biggest things I am going to try to do is teach to the needs of my students. How am I going to do that in such a short amount of time you might ask... I feel it is simple, get to know what your students' like and dislike. Learn their strengths and weaknesses and seek to help them overcome their weaknesses by gaining more confidence in their abilities. I feel in order to be a good teacher I will need to meet the needs of my students to the best of my abilities. I am excited for this adventure I am going to be on for the next 3 weeks. Yahooooooo!!!!!!!!

Sing, Sing, Sing...

Class was great today because we were able to sing and be really involved in the lesson. I am someone who loves to sing and be creative.  Today we were able to do the things I love, maybe Nancy differentiated just for me. :) Music can be such a great tool to help your students learn content material. I feel the biggest "take away" I got from class today is how to incorporate music into your teaching. This is not only helpful for english speaking students but also ESL students. When I was in elementary school I remember we sang songs all the time. We had a state competition where we would memorize composers based on the music the composed. Although I was only in 2nd grade I was able to memorize these composers because of their music I heard. I feel this is the same way for students to retain information, hear it over and over again. What a great way to differentiate in your classroom!!!