Student Needs as the Focus.

In chapter one, I had that A-HA moment with the "cogs of differentiation."

Chapter two dives into one of those cogs that is so important: 

Student needs.

It should be obviously to anyone, especially teachers, that recognizing and fulfilling students' needs
are a  huge part in the success of a classroom.

If that isn't obvious to you, then this chapter just lays it out on the line for you
and tells you the key elements that constitute student needs.

Affirmation. Contribution. Power. Purpose. Challenge.

five elements that can make or break a part of your classroom.

As I read through this chapter, it went a little more in depth about each of the elements.
Students have to feel accepted. They have to feel that they make a difference in the classroom.
They have to feel that their choices contribute to their success. They see a significance behind the
things that are being learned in the classroom. They also have to be challenged and help accountable.

It was another kind of A-HA moment for me. This doesn't just apply to children.

These are elements that they everyone wants to feel within their lives.

We all want to feel important, that our contributions matter, that we have power in scenarios, that we also have a purpose, and that we are constantly challenged to be better and grow.

These things make us feel better about ourselves. They make us feel that our contributions and our
presence is important to those that we are around.

We all have needs. Every single one of us, and many of our needs are similar to those around us.
No matter if they are our age or in an elementary classroom.

When I began thinking of it that way, it was just another A-HA to me.
This isn't hard. It's just a simple concept. Boy oh boy, though, does it make such a HUGE impact.

Our students can't succeed if they don't feel important.
Differentiate in ways to make sure that they are feeling challenged, are seeing purpose, and are succeeding.

Students needs are key.
Never forget it!

-Mallory

A Clockwork of Three Cogs.

I hope you're out enjoying your MLK day

because do you know what I am doing? 

Homework.

It's okay, though.

Because if I hadn't been doing homework,

I wouldn't have had the A-HA! moment that I just had.

Have you ever read something and it just clicked and that's how you'll always remember it?

That's how I was when I was reading chapter one in Fulfilling the Promise.

I got to this part about Cogs of Differentiation and it all just kinda made more sense to me.

So, I figured it might for y'all too.

(Note: Like how I assume that more than one person is reading my blog? HA. One can wish.)

(photo from page 11 in "Fulfilling the Promise of the Differentiated Classroom by Carol Ann Tomlinson)

There is this "clockwork" of clogs -

interdependent and interrelated

that represent the key elements in a classroom.

The students are the reason for even being in the classroom,
(cue clog one)

the teacher's role is a main aspect of the student's success,
(cue clog two)

the curriculum & instruction are the final bit.

(cue clog three)

As shown in the "student clog" there are things that the student seeks:
contribution, affirmation, power, purpose, and challenge.

This is a basic list of things that show the needs of these students.

How does that relate to differentiation?

Well, you can't successfully differentiate without knowing student's needs.
If we overlook these needs, we can't help them succeed.

In the "teacher cog" it shows the ways that the teacher responds to these student needs.

opportunities, investment, invitation, reflection, and persistance.

Understanding these elements can provide us with a compass for decision making as teachers.

Teacher plans should meet student needs.

Easy enough, right?

Lastly, we need the reason for school.

Curriculum.

The students are there to not just be loved and met personal needs,

but to learn and become knowledgable.

Therefore, "cog three" is to show how curriculum in a differentiated classroom should be.

Important, demanding, focused, engaging, and scaffolded.

An effective differentiated classroom is not one that just balances these three cogs.

It is a classroom that it is clear that unless the three elements remain carefully calibrated, it won't work.

This was such an A-HA! for me.

It's THAT simple.

These three aspects make the differentiated classroom.

It's neat how different metaphors can just make things come alive when learning.

Makes me that much more excited about the Hallmark metaphors.

Anywho,

Enjoy your day off, because it's back to the grind tomorrow.

- Mallory

Hallmarks overview.

The first thing that comes to mind when I see "Hallmark" is cards; however, that isn't what I am going to be talking about in this post. So, break the image you have in your head and prepare to get some essential factors of differentiation. 

You may know this or not want to hear these, but I want to remember them, so you are out of luck..

or in luck, if you do want to know them and don't already!

There are 9 hallmarks that we discussed in class. 

These are distinguishing characteristics for effective differentiation. 

It's not a pick and choose kind of thing, you need them all in your class, often at the same time.

1. A strong link between assessment and instruction.

2. Absolute clarity about what the teacher wants the students to know, understand, and be able to do.

3. Shared responsibility for the classroom is between teacher and students, in the goal of making it work for everyone.

4. Individual growth is emphasized as central to classroom success.

5. A "way up," usually through multiple and varied pathways.

6. "Respectful" and engaging work for all students.

7. Proactive thinking and planning for different pathways.

8. Flexible grouping.

9. Flexible use of time space, and materials.

I just wanted to throw out the general list of them all; however, in a few weeks we have presentations on them and I will then go more in depth on them to really emphasize what each means.

Have a good weekend,

- Mallory

Airport hubs.

In class yesterday, a quote was given that I truly loved and didn't want to forget.

So, what better place to put it than on the differentiation blog for all of you to see and remember?

(source)

"Schools are like airport hubs, student passengers arrive from many different backgrounds for widely divergent destinations. Their particular takeoffs into adulthood will demand different flight plans."

(Levine, 2002, p. 336)


This quote put such a neat perspective in my mind about schools. Children truly are arriving from all different backgrounds. They each have different home lives, skills, interests, and most importantly; futures. Not all children are going to end up at the same destination; therefore, as a teacher, we cannot provide every student the same "flight plan." Every student needs an individualized plan that will help them to grow and succeed on their person destination. This quote will forever stick in my mind and be such a great reminder for me on why differentiation is important. Every student can have a wonderful future, regardless of where they come from, and it is my job as the teacher to help them get one step closer to reaching it.

Hope you enjoyed just as much as I did,
- Mallory

Different learners, Different lessons.

Do you know who likes reading blogs with mile long posts? No one.
Do you know who has turned into that blogger that writes long posts? Me.
Do you know who needs to tell me to get my act together and not be so lengthy? You.

Glad we discussed that, now I will work to not be such a rambler and make them shorter.
At least sometimes... Sometimes long posts are just needed, so you get all the good stuff.

To refrain from making this long and boring, I am going to give you a list of the most
awesome points from the reading, "Different Learners, Different Lessons," and let you know why they stood out and were so important to me.

- Teachers begin where students are, not at the front of a curriculum guide.

I think teachers often get caught up in the curriculum and standards that have to be met, which are important; however, it is essential to remember that not all students are on the same page. Therefore, you can't just start at one place in the curriculum for all students. If you do, then some students are going to be left behind from the start and others are going to be backtracking.


- A student competes against himself as he grows and develops, more than he competes against other students.

THIS. This is so important. When teaching a class, it's easy to try to keep everyone on the same track. However, this can turn into a competition on who is succeeding or not with the class. That is NOT what it is all about, at all. It is about the students, INDIVIDUALLY. The only person they are competing against is themselves. They are striving to be better than they were the day before. Not better than the child that sits next to him in class. He is going and developing at his own pace, which is more important than pushing him to compete with someone that is on another level.

- Teachers provide specific ways for each individual to learn as quickly and deeply as possible, without assuming one's road map is identical to another's.

This kind of tied in with the point above. Actually, it ties in with the entire class. This is what we need to understand. EVERY STUDENT NEEDS THEIR OWN ROAD MAP. Not a "one map leads to everyone's success" kind of thing. It doesn't work that way. It has to be specific for every individual in order for them to learn and grow.

- Don't force fit learners in a standard mold.

I learn differently than you, who learns differently from your best friend, who learns differently from their sibling. It could be one of those long chains of people, but what I am getting at is - EVERYONE learns differently. Every single student in your class learns a little bit differently. Some may be better with hands on activities; yet, they still have individual traits that make them learn more towards auditory or another way of learning. When we start to assume that this one cookie cutter mold can work for everyone is where we are hindering the students and wasting our own time. We can't force all the students to one way of learning. They won't learn. Time will be wasted, and I hate to say it, but It will be our own fault.

- Teachers are dogged learners who come to school every day with the conviction that today will reveal a better way of doing things - even if yesterday's lesson was dynamite.

This is something that should be put on a post it note and taped to my desk when I am a teacher. No matter how wonderful of a lesson was given or how perfect a day goes. When the bell rings, that day is over. When the students come back the next day, it's a new start. A new day. Strive to make that day just as wonderful as the day before. Always strive to find better ways of teaching concepts and helping students really retain the information presented. This is an every day challenge, not a once a week kind of thing. Those students deserve every day to be dynamite!


I said I wasn't going to ramble, but I still did. Sorry about that! I just really wanted you to understand why all of these really sunk in with me when I read them. These are essential things to remember when preparing to have my own classroom. A differentiated classroom.

Hope you enjoyed,
- Mallory

Plan for differentiation.

Now we understand why we differentiation.
Yet, there is still one thing that I was still a little confused on.

How does a teacher really plan for differentiated instruction?

The Differentiation in Practice reading helped to gain an understanding of this.

There are three components that help the teacher to get the students engaged in the material and help them to better understand.

Student Characteristics, Curricular Elements, and Instructional Strategies

When discussing student characteristics, there are three we need to be aware of.
1. Readiness
2. Interest
3. Learning profile

Readiness discusses how prepared a student is to work with a given set of knowledge or skills.
Two things that stood out to me in this reading were that,
"If the student can complete a task effortlessly, he or she may make a good grade, but will not learn."
and
"If the work is well out of reach of the student's current proficiency, the student has no way to accomplish the task - and frustration, not learning, is the result."

That is so essential for the teacher to remember, because we need to make sure we are providing tasks that are a little too difficult for current level of knowledge, but are possible for them to achieve with scaffolding.

Interest is the motivating factor for learning.
As mentioned in the previous post, no two students are the same. Their interests are often very different.
A wise teacher links required content to student interests in order to hook the learner. You want the students to be interested every day in your lessons. If they aren't interested, they aren't paying attention. If they aren't paying attention, they aren't learning.

Lastly, Learning profile refers to the way that the student learns best.
As the teacher it is important for us to know how each student learns best, because sometimes we may be teaching in a way that can impede the student's progress rather than aid. Our goal is to have each child succeed. Therefore, we have to ensure that we are knowledgeable on how we can help each and every child succeed.

There are three curricular elements that teachers can adapt in response to students' readiness, interest, and learning profile.

These three elements are:
1. Content
2. Process
3. Products

Content refers to what the student will learn and the way that the teacher can modify how the student will gain understanding of the content. Typically, all students content is the same with varied ways of allowing the students to reach the content. However, in some situations, the teacher has to vary what the students are learning to best meet their individual needs.

Process pretty much means activities.
Obviously we want our activities to be fun for the students. Yet that isn't the important part. The most important part is that the activities help the students to make connections to the knowledge.
So, yes, it's important to have something fun for the students that keeps them occupied, so you can let out a few tears from being stressed that day. Yet, the part that matters is that the students are internalizing what they're learning.

Lastly, products provide evidence of what a student has come to learn and understand.

Instructional strategies is the last component to get students engaged in the learning.
This is where the teacher is able to group the students into small groups or individually, so that the information can be directed to them individually. There are so many ways to differentiate when splitting them into groups or individually. By doing this, I, as the teacher, can really meet the needs of every student.

Can I just stomp these things into my brain, your brain, every teachers' brains?
This is how we differentiate. This is how we make an impact on students. This is how they learn.

The reading concluded with the story/metaphor of a baseball camp and a classroom.
Reading this put a grin on my face.
My comparison to a sports team didn't seem so silly after all.
If anything, it made me feel like a GENIUS.
Why didn't I write this book?
Oh, yeah. Because I am just learning about differentiation, not a pro.
Be humble, Mallory.
However, I can say, I will shamelessly use sports team references now, because they do make sense.

See ya later,
- Mallory

Who, What, Where, How.

In order to be able to understand and incorporate differentiated instruction in a classroom, you have to have a firm foundation of what needs to be happening.

How do you get that firm foundation?
Focus on these four elements.
Why?
Because if any one of these elements is diminished, learning is diminished as well.

1. WHO we teach
2. WHAT we teach
3. WHERE we teach
4. HOW we teach

Those are the four elements that are essential. The way that these really click for me is with my reference to sports' teams. Hopefully my reflection/references help to make a connection for you too.


WHO do we teach? 
We teach children, obviously.
Yet, we have to realize that no two of these children are the same.
Every single one of them has home lives, different strengths, weaknesses, interests, etc.

Cue the sports' team reference.

Imagine you coach a soccer team.
You aren't coaching a team of clone players.  No two of those players are the same.
Each of the players has different home lives, some of their parents are more supportive than others; some of the players are good at kicking, others are better at passing the ball, while some may struggle with running constantly.
As the coach, it is essential to know all you can about each of these players. Because then you know WHAT to teach them to help make them their best at playing, which helps the team win as a whole.

Back to the classroom. This same concept applies.
It's your role as the teacher to get to know each student, so that you are best prepared to help them individually.


WHAT do we teach?

Obviously you have to teach the curriculum.
However, once you know the students individually, you know what you need to teach more in depth or in different ways to students to ensure they all get an understanding of the curriculum.

With a soccer team, you have to teach them the basics.
However, each player will have different things they need to specifically know for their positions and to ensure that they are successful.

Help your students to reach that same type of individual success. Realize what the students need to succeed and that is what you teach them. 


WHERE do we teach?

We teach in our classroom, yet we need to ensure that we have created a positive and encouraging environment.

Students need to feel comfortable enough to take risks and make mistakes. This is essential for them to get the most of their instruction. Everyone stumbles and falls, especially when learning something new. Students have to know that it is okay and feel comfortable enough to go through this learning process.


HOW do we teach?

The "how we teach" is the element that we call differentiated instruction.

The soccer coach will assign specific drills, have groups working on passing, others on kicking; every player constantly being taught new things and working to perfect these skills.

The same goes for a class. Whether the students are working together as a class, in small groups, or on their own. We are individualizing the instruction to them or adjusting the way that the information is presented, because we are teaching to help them personally grow and learn the information.

These elements seem obvious. At least they did to me.
Every student is different. Every student needs different instruction. Every student can succeed.

Until next time,
- Mallory

You can't win without differentiation.

You can't win without differentiation. 

One simple statement that sums up all aspects of life.

In your family, on a soccer team, at your job; a one size fits all approach doesn't work for everyone.
So, who came up with the brilliant idea that it would work in a classroom of children coming from different backgrounds with different strengths and weaknesses? No clue, but it doesn't work! 

Okay, that was easy enough.
Now you understand differentiation is important, blog done.

haha. KIDDING!

But really, hopefully that opened up your eyes a little if you were still in the darkness on the whole "one way works for all" approach that so many educators have adopted in their classroom. Not to throw anyone under the bus, because a lot of amazing teachers follow that approach. Yet, I think differentiation is so essential and hopefully after reading my blog, you'll be on board too.

I am going to forewarn you before we go any further. A sports team is going to be my go-to reference with this blog. Why? Because I don't have the personal experience in teaching my own classroom yet, but I do with being on teams my whole life. So, just go with it and act like my connections make sense.

We want to win in all aspects of life.
Yet, we all know you can't win on a sports team without differentiation in instruction depending on the people on the team.
Nor can you in a classroom.
In order to win, differentiation must be made depending on the students in the class.
Makes sense, right?

Okay, so now that I have brought up such a valid point that has your wheels turning, I will go and let you think about it all and decide where you stand on this differentiation & "one size fits all" battle. That way you can either agree with or hate my posts from here on out.

Until next time,
- Mallory