Unit 3- Managing Differentiated Environments
I believe that when differentiated instruction is properly planned and implemented, it can yield excellent and irrevocable academic success for students of all calibers. It can eliminate classroom disengagement and cause students to become active and enthusiastic learners. To support this belief, I offer the following example of an eighth grade math student, as illustrated by Hani (2014). The student was usually observed to be absent-minded and daydreaming in his math class whenever instruction was occurring. On the contrary, he did not have this problem in his other classes. When this situation was carefully examined, it was discovered that his math teacher did not instruct in a way that met this student’s learning style and his instruction was not differentiated in a way that took this student’s interests and needs into consideration (Hani, 2014).
This example demonstrates the frustration experienced by students and teachers alike when the method of instruction fails to consider what different students preferred learning styles and abilities may be. The student may resign to being unruly and inattentive during class while the teacher may become agitated by the student’s behavior. To eliminate this sort of disengagement, teachers should consider “multiple intelligence and the zone of proximal development” when planning a curriculum (Hani, 2014). When instructions involve a variety of intelligences, students will most likely be able to connect to their preferred intelligence and learn in a way that is comfortable enough for them. Vygotsky (1978), as cited by Hani (2014), defines “zone of proximal development as the level at which a student can perform a task with the guidance of an adult or a more capable peer”. If teachers plan instructions in a way that addresses all students at their appropriate developmental levels/academic capabilities, and offer assistance as needed, students will become more compelled to learn and engage during learning experiences.
Regarding Tomlinson’s idea to “time differentiated activities to support student success” (p. 33), I believe that this should be one of the important factors that every teacher considers when planning a curriculum. To support this belief, I offer the following example from my toddlers/twos classroom in my educational context,. When I first started sectioning my lesson plan to small groups, large groups, and individual learning experiences, I allocated the same amount of time to each area and all children were encouraged to stay in the area for that amount of time.
However, I started noticing that some students could persist for longer periods during particular tasks and others just lost interest and no amount of encouragement yielded any positive results. I talked to my supervisor about this and she suggested cutting down on the times for each area and taking into consideration the attention span and interest of each student at particular activities. When I did this and also allowed each student to do the activity of their choice as well as offered help and assistance as needed, students began to show a lot more interest and excitement at learning. I also saw great results in building their attention span because now students are beginning to delve out of their comfort zones and are demonstrating more sustenance in other areas than they did in the past.
References
Hani, M. (2014). Maximizing student success with differentiated learning. The Clearing House. 87(1), 34-38. doi: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1080/00098655.2013.832130
Tomlinson, C. A. (2001). How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms. Alexandria, Va: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Vygotsky, L. S. 1978. Mind in society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Aniekpeno Udofia- "thenewfaceofeducation" 