In Chapter 2 McTighe
and Tomlinson discuss what they feel really matters in teaching. They believe
that teaching responsively is very important and affects the way in which we shape our students.
They believe that “responsive and differentiated teaching means (that) a
teacher is as attuned to students’ varied learning needs as to the requirements
of a thoughtful and well-articulated curriculum.” Do you agree with this statement? Is it an easy goal to reach?
What are some of the strategies that you apply in order to make sure that you are making the
proper modifications for your students ? How are you approaching your curriculum so that you support each learner’s success in the
classroom? Do you find this
to be an overwhelming task?
I would like your input on
one or two of the questions posed. Thank-you.
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ReplyDeleteTomlinson and McTighe state that “Responsive and differentiated teaching means a teacher is an attuned to students’ varied learning needs as to the requirements of a thoughtful and well-articulated curriculum” (p. 18). I agree with this statement, but, it certainly is not an easy goal to reach when you are faced with so many diverse learners in your classroom. Tomlinson and McTighe portray an accurate picture of how today’s classrooms look like through one of the scenarios about Mr. Axelt, a history teacher. On page 4, it says, “In Mr. Axelt’s class of 32, he has three students with significant learning disabilities affecting their reading and writing. He has four students with a very advanced knowledge of U.S. history. He has several students who have great difficulty staying on task, some with identified learning problems and some who have no formal label. He has two English language learners.”
ReplyDeleteDespite so many challenging factors, teachers are expected to meet the needs of every student, every single day. Many districts offer professional development sessions in an attempt to train their teachers to put the theory of “differentiated instruction” into action. Unfortunately, teachers end up feeling overwhelmed by unrealistic expectations of differentiated instruction. Tomlinson and McTighe address this issue on page 19 by suggesting that teachers implement certain patterns of instruction that are likely to benefit and serve multiple needs rather than feeling overwhelmed to fulfill the needs of every single student. For instance, the pattern of teaching in multiple ways, allowing students to work alone or with peers, and offering ways to explore and express learning through varied performances, are some of which I agree with and can relate to when it comes to differentiating instruction. I think it is important to understand that it is not necessary to focus on how many of these patterns we can achieve in order to become a more responsive teacher. What is important is that we strive to use these patterns to develop varied pathways of teaching and learning so that the potentials of many different learners can be realized (Tomlinson & McTighe, p. 22).
In order to apply the proper modifications for my students, I often collaborate with those who also work with my students. My district is extremely diverse in a sense that we have about 65 different languages spoken at home. Every year, I have at least 5-6 ELL students whose proficiency levels vary from very beginning to very advanced. I find it extremely helpful to talk with their ELL teachers as often as possible in order to get a bigger picture about the students’ needs. We also have many resource students, and because my school houses the main Spec. Ed. Program in the district, I can always expect to have just as many resource students as ELL students. It has always been beneficial to talk not only with the resource teacher but with counselors, case managers, and other teachers who can offer different insights about the students.
As for the curriculum, I try my best to make use of the differentiated materials that are provided in the teacher’s manuals for each subject. This can mean giving differentiated assignments, homework, or projects. Sometimes, a lot of time gets invested in helping those students who struggle. In order to reach my advanced group, I started using after school hours to reach those students. I create my high level groups using the previous year’s NJ ASK scores, and I designate one day a week teaching these students using more challenging assignments about the topics covered in class or giving them above grade level work to challenging them even further. It is not realistically possible to differentiate instruction for every single student in a given class time, but I think it is extremely important to try our best to reach as many as possible. All in all, students should always be in the forefront of our thinking as we make, implement, and reflect on our professional plans (Tomlinson & McTighe, p. 13).
“Crafting circumstances that lead to success rather than letting circumstances take its course(p18) is in the forefront of my mind after meetings swarms of new 5th graders at today’s open house. The idea of crafting lessons/approaches to reach all these new faces and different learners seems to be a mountain of a task at the moment.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tomlinson and McTighe in that being attuned to the various needs of the learners in addition to incorporating varied lessons and approaches is a successful means to reaching my students. I am fortunate to work closely with other teachers in my subject area to brainstorm, incorporate, and execute a variety of approaches to lessons. In addition to our creativity we are also lucky to be working with a curriculum which lends itself to a variety of approaches. While collaborating on lesson and ways to best reach our students, my colleagues and I also dialogue a lot about meeting the needs of our students. We share challenges in reaching particular students and brainstorm approaches to ensure the learning in each classroom. Luckily we have time built into our schedule in the way of various team meetings and department meetings each week. This is the first year I will have some special need students in my classroom and will also be collaborating with my school counselor and CST to ensure the success of all my IEP students.
In addition to solid colleague collaboration and planning, I agree with Tomlinson and McTighe that learning about student interests and activities to incorporate into lessons and the classroom is a huge motivator, “Interest ignites motivation to learn(19)” proves true in my classroom. In addition to dialogue and discussion I use a lot of small group teaching in my classroom which helps me to learn more about activities, interests, clubs in which my students are involved. I am also sure to participate in school wide 5K and walks along with my students, showing an interest in activities they enjoy.
To begin, yes, I agree with what M&T say when they state that being a responsive and differentiated teacher certainly does mean acknowledging, and even more so, physically responding to the needs of diverse learners in your classroom. While this may not have been a topic of great debate decades ago, it certainly is now and not just in special education classrooms. As a teacher of any grade level, you can expect students to work behind the norm, ahead of it, and somewhere in between. We also sometimes lose sight of the notion that a "differentiated" student does not necessarily mean they LACK the skills to keep up with the class; it could be someone AHEAD of the class. I think anyone that claims truly teaching in a DI setting is very easy is not being truthful with themselves or their peers. It does take effort, and as a private school teacher I believe I come from a genuinely unique perspective here. While I love my place of work, it does sometimes become frustrating if I stop by guidance and voice a concern about a struggling student and I hear "well they should be somewhere where there's a resource room" or "tell them to get a tutor". Likewise if I have a student miles ahead of everyone I'll usually get "we'll move them to Honors next year, don't worry". But that's not enough. Just because a student is pulling C's and D's doesn't necessarily mean they don't "belong" in a college preparatory school. I had a student two and three years ago that will most likely not get accepted to any four-year colleges and was mostly a C student (sometimes worse) in my class. But, her family could afford to send her to our school, she has a plan for the future, and she's a delightful young lady who wanted to come to this school since third grade. So, why not? I refused to just let her bumble her way through high school, as did her other teachers refuse also. So, we devised ways to allow her extra time for exams and most times, she took tests/exams in a quiet, closed setting with no pressure of watching her classmates finishing around her thinking she needed to rush. I also have modified assignments in the way in which I word questions and sometimes alter my expectations of responses. Did she include every detail? often becomes does she understand the main point? With some learners, this is what you can expect and so we modify our teaching to that. If I have a student who is exceedingly ahead of the class, I may give her extra critical thinking work or extra readings not necessarily for a grade but to prepare her for Honors or AP work which she will undoubtedly qualify for in the next year or two. This past year, I held a "period 9" (we have eight periods) session almost every Wednesday for 9th graders after school struggling in my history class. Out of the seven regulars, all but one passed my course for the year. This was a way of promoting extra beneficial readings, documents, and discussion of new methods of study that seemingly helped those who showed up religiously. Sorry for droning on forever but this is a good question and topic that requires careful examination of all of us!
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