Differentiation has become a theory that has been put into practice more and more as research about its benefits continues to be published. Carol Ann Tomlinson and Robyn R. Jackson said it best when they described differentiation as personalized instruction or starting where your students are at, "If I can figure out how to make learning work for one student, I'm better prepared to understand and address the needs of all the students who come my way" (Tomlinson). Trying to explain the notions of literary analysis when that student does not know how to read is a task doomed to fail, even more so if the teacher recognizes the limitation and decides to proceed anyway. Differentiation and personalized instruction goes beyond "getting to know you games" and focuses more on helping students realize the best way for them to learn.
Jackson explains further that the teacher-student dynamic can be comparable to the concept of currency exchange. Any behavior that students use to acquire the knowledge and skills important to one's class functions as currency. For instance, if a teacher values student engagement, time is taken to make lessons more interesting to students. In exchange, students give us their attention, curiosity and participation (hopefully). Sometimes students come to school with currencies we might find detrimental. They might use sarcasm or other defiant methods as a way to earn respect from their peers. Because most of the time we do not acknowledge these as acceptable currencies, they shut down and feel that our class is not the place for them. "What's worse, sometimes students do carry our preferred currency but resist spending it because they resent the fact that it is the only currency we accept" (Jackson). Most conflicts in the classroom are the result of a breakdown in the currency exchange.
These concepts are clearly present in my student-teaching placement. In one classroom I have ELLs (English Language Learners), students with autism (2) on different spectrum ranges, IEP (Individualized Education Plan) students, GATE (gifted) identified kids. All these require me and my cooperating teacher to by no means hold all the students to the same uniform standards. This causes some resentment in the classroom. Complaints such as, "Why does she get more time on the test?" "It's not fair that they get to use the book" are ever present, so much so that we had to dedicate a day to sensitivity training with the experienced academic coaches (special-ed teachers).
Encompassing the aforementioned authors' thought is Dr. Mel Levine. In his book A Mind at a Time Dr. Levine highlights that the most basic instrument for learning is neurodevelopmental function. Our mind makes use of different clusters of neurodevelopmental functions to learn specific skills. Examples of these nuero dysfunctions happen when students have difficulty writing even though they have lots to say, and vice versa."All too often a neurodevelopmental dysfunction goes undetected-- much like an unsolved crime" (Levine). For example, a student who daydreams and fidgets in class is labeled an un-engaged student. S/He comes to believe that they are bad students. No one seems to realize that their fragile concentration is not a behavioral problem but a neurodevelopmental dysfunction. In addition to this Attention Control System, Levine identifies seven other neurodevelopmental systems: Memory System, Language System, Spatial Ordering System, Sequential Ordering System, Motor System, Higher-Thinking System, and the Social Thinking System. "As with the systems that operate in our bodies, the neurodevelopmental systems are dependent on one another. They have to work together if learning is to occur, just as the cardiovascular system has to team up with the pulmonary system to promote the delivery of oxygen to various parts of our bodies" (Levine).
Jackson explains further that the teacher-student dynamic can be comparable to the concept of currency exchange. Any behavior that students use to acquire the knowledge and skills important to one's class functions as currency. For instance, if a teacher values student engagement, time is taken to make lessons more interesting to students. In exchange, students give us their attention, curiosity and participation (hopefully). Sometimes students come to school with currencies we might find detrimental. They might use sarcasm or other defiant methods as a way to earn respect from their peers. Because most of the time we do not acknowledge these as acceptable currencies, they shut down and feel that our class is not the place for them. "What's worse, sometimes students do carry our preferred currency but resist spending it because they resent the fact that it is the only currency we accept" (Jackson). Most conflicts in the classroom are the result of a breakdown in the currency exchange.
These concepts are clearly present in my student-teaching placement. In one classroom I have ELLs (English Language Learners), students with autism (2) on different spectrum ranges, IEP (Individualized Education Plan) students, GATE (gifted) identified kids. All these require me and my cooperating teacher to by no means hold all the students to the same uniform standards. This causes some resentment in the classroom. Complaints such as, "Why does she get more time on the test?" "It's not fair that they get to use the book" are ever present, so much so that we had to dedicate a day to sensitivity training with the experienced academic coaches (special-ed teachers).
Encompassing the aforementioned authors' thought is Dr. Mel Levine. In his book A Mind at a Time Dr. Levine highlights that the most basic instrument for learning is neurodevelopmental function. Our mind makes use of different clusters of neurodevelopmental functions to learn specific skills. Examples of these nuero dysfunctions happen when students have difficulty writing even though they have lots to say, and vice versa."All too often a neurodevelopmental dysfunction goes undetected-- much like an unsolved crime" (Levine). For example, a student who daydreams and fidgets in class is labeled an un-engaged student. S/He comes to believe that they are bad students. No one seems to realize that their fragile concentration is not a behavioral problem but a neurodevelopmental dysfunction. In addition to this Attention Control System, Levine identifies seven other neurodevelopmental systems: Memory System, Language System, Spatial Ordering System, Sequential Ordering System, Motor System, Higher-Thinking System, and the Social Thinking System. "As with the systems that operate in our bodies, the neurodevelopmental systems are dependent on one another. They have to work together if learning is to occur, just as the cardiovascular system has to team up with the pulmonary system to promote the delivery of oxygen to various parts of our bodies" (Levine).