Edutopia - October/November 2008 - (Page 14)

AskEllen Individualize Your Instruction Use research and ⇓exibility to reach every student in the classroom. Dear Ellen, Ellen Moir is a veteran bilingual teacher who focuses on the challenges new teachers face as well as on the needs of those with long careers in education. She is executive director of the New Teacher Center, at the University of California at Santa Cruz, a resource for educatorinduction research, policy, and practice. I am a ﬁfth-grade teacher, and my students perform at a wide variety of levels and abilities. I ﬁnd myself teaching to the middle and having a difﬁcult time engaging the lower- and higher-level students. What are some tools that will help me differentiate instruction so that the entire class is learning and performing at its highest ability? Linda Dear Linda, One of the most demanding aspects of working in today’s classrooms is accommodating the myriad academic and language levels of students as they enter school. Nevertheless, ⇒nding ways to engage students and ensure academic success for each and every one is one of the most critical aspects of teaching. In order to involve all students in meaningful learning, a variety of teaching strategies and methodologies must be used. But more than a strategy, differentiation is a philosophy. The commitment to adapt instruction to individual needs comes from a belief that students learn better with the use of many styles and methods. The ⇒rst step is to know your students. This means knowing their academic and language levels, their interests, abilities, and learning styles, and, ideally, even some aspects of their home lives and learning experiences. This information can be found through a variety of assessment tools—both teacher developed and commercial—and by reviewing records, surveying students, and working with families and former teachers. You also can conduct interest surveys to identify students’ likes and dislikes, such as who enjoys reading (and what they read) and what else they do in their spare time. Once you evaluate each student, there are four primary ways to adapt or differentiate student learning: through the curriculum content (what we teach), the learning process (how we teach), the end product (how students show what they have learned), and the environment (the physical space they learn in). Differentiating the content means assigning topics By offering students options for the ways in which they present information and the way the work is evaluated, you give all your students a chance to shine. based on interest or ability level. For example, students might write reports on a topic of interest to them. For a unit on American colonial history, one group might study famous people, while another group examines historical documents, and another investigates important places or events. Differentiating the process means scaffolding the depth and complexity of a lesson. Doing so allows students to understand and apply knowledge in ways that make sense to them. Some students may do better discussing or debating a book—using and/or developing their oral skills—while others may learn more easily from a visual presentation using posters or Microsoft PowerPoint. Others may need to manipulate objects or piece things together. It’s important to remember that this approach can be applied to all students at any grade level. In fact, many educators believe that most students learn best using some combination of these strategies. Varying the ways students show what they’ve learned is also important. By offering students options for how they present information and how the work is evaluated, you give all your students a chance to shine. Oral and written tests are not the only means for assessing student learning. You might use portfolios, rubrics, journals, reports, essays, projects, and other assignments and grading systems. The key is making sure that each student demonstrates understanding in the ways he or she does best. Finally, the classroom environment plays an important role. How you arrange your classroom—whether the desks are in rows or groups or learning centers— sets the tone for both teaching and learning. It is up to you to determine how best your students can learn. Developing appropriate activities to differentiate instruction in the classroom will help give you the tools you need to accomplish this goal. Best of luck, BEWITCHED? BOTHERED? BEWILDERED? Ellen Moir is here to help. Write her at askellen@edutopia.org, and please include your name, afﬁliation, and contact information. 14 EDUTOPIA OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 BART NAGEL

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Edutopia - October/November 2008

Edutopia - October/November 2008 Contents UpFront Feedback Dispatches Sage Advice Ask Ellen Head of Class Cool Schools Design: Lessons from the Mall The Bucks Start Here Go Global: Virgil Rocks Big Ideas: Powerful Learning Mapping Their Futures Heart & Soul Pop Quiz: Suze Orman

Edutopia - October/November 2008

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