What does differentiated instructions mean to you? - differentiated instructions to me it means to provide different methods of learning to students on how they aquire, process or construct ideas
What strategies have you used / or witnessed in the classes you have been in? -using prior knowledge to think about a topic -predictions about the meaning of the text -hands-on experiments What are some possible challenges in implementing such strategies? -
What do you wonder about and still want to know about differentiating instructions? Reflection on video Dr. Marian Small puts all the theories and strategies that we are taught into words and examples that can be easily used for teaching math. She brings up two concepts that are barriers and it was interesting to hear her point of view. First, the speed theory. I can relate to the issue of giving a question in math and calling on the first student that answer and making the assumption that the rest of the class is following and then being surprised when homework is not completed by everyone. Remembering to give questions that can not be answered quickly is a great strategy to use when teaching and ensuring that the entire class is on task. Next is the issue of conformity. It is easy to have questions prepared in the beginning of class with possible answers and when the questions are asked, you are continually calling on many students until your answer is satisfied. So hearing Dr.Small talk about actually listening to the answer giving that may be different and trying to see the value in the difference in the answer, and then summarize it, so that the other students who may be struggling, get a different point of view which may be more similar to the way they think. Last, the issue of perserverance. I can relate to the situation of someone giving you a task and perhaps not understanding it immediately. It is easy to understand why a student may not want to make the effort of completing the task if the instructions are not understood. Dr.Small suggests that all tasks may require some thought, so that all the strong students who usually complete task quickly, will now have to make the effort and therefore the struggling students are encouraged to put forth an effort. The other concepts that were interesting in the video were Differentiating instruction. First with the issue of allowing all examples and questions be related to a variety of cultures, in order to achieve maximum interest and participation. I agree with the fact that sometime we are too quick to move on to other mathematical concepts before we allow the student to think about the shrinking patterns or big ideas that Dr.Small talks about. Again this relates to conformity, but also to the issue of celebrating small successes. If a students answers a question correctly,but not how the rest of the class may understand it, it should be recognized to encourage that student to continue to think in more abstract ways. I agree that it is important to use manipulatives whenever possible and to allow the choice between written and verbal processess to get to the correct answer, and lastly the concept of inclusive and parallel was most intriguing. Parallel learning for math, really made sense to me once she compared it to Literacy. It makes so much sense to split the class on different but, similar tasks in order to get to the same answers, and then bring the class back together and have a discussion about the different ways they went about to get the answer. The big picture is the big concept of open ended questions. Finally Differentiated Instruction is allowing students to think in the way they are best at learning, interpretating the information the way that makes the most sense to them and delivering the correct answer and most importantly, if they do not get the correct answer, having them understand why it is wrong.
- differentiated instructions to me it means to provide different methods of learning to students on how they aquire, process or construct ideas
What strategies have you used / or witnessed in the classes you have been in?
-using prior knowledge to think about a topic
-predictions about the meaning of the text
-hands-on experiments
What are some possible challenges in implementing such strategies?
-
What do you wonder about and still want to know about differentiating instructions?
Reflection on video
Dr. Marian Small puts all the theories and strategies that we are taught into words and examples that can be easily used for teaching math. She brings up two concepts that are barriers and it was interesting to hear her point of view. First, the speed theory. I can relate to the issue of giving a question in math and calling on the first student that answer and making the assumption that the rest of the class is following and then being surprised when homework is not completed by everyone. Remembering to give questions that can not be answered quickly is a great strategy to use when teaching and ensuring that the entire class is on task. Next is the issue of conformity. It is easy to have questions prepared in the beginning of class with possible answers and when the questions are asked, you are continually calling on many students until your answer is satisfied. So hearing Dr.Small talk about actually listening to the answer giving that may be different and trying to see the value in the difference in the answer, and then summarize it, so that the other students who may be struggling, get a different point of view which may be more similar to the way they think. Last, the issue of perserverance. I can relate to the situation of someone giving you a task and perhaps not understanding it immediately. It is easy to understand why a student may not want to make the effort of completing the task if the instructions are not understood. Dr.Small suggests that all tasks may require some thought, so that all the strong students who usually complete task quickly, will now have to make the effort and therefore the struggling students are encouraged to put forth an effort.
The other concepts that were interesting in the video were Differentiating instruction. First with the issue of allowing all examples and questions be related to a variety of cultures, in order to achieve maximum interest and participation. I agree with the fact that sometime we are too quick to move on to other mathematical concepts before we allow the student to think about the shrinking patterns or big ideas that Dr.Small talks about. Again this relates to conformity, but also to the issue of celebrating small successes. If a students answers a question correctly,but not how the rest of the class may understand it, it should be recognized to encourage that student to continue to think in more abstract ways. I agree that it is important to use manipulatives whenever possible and to allow the choice between written and verbal processess to get to the correct answer, and lastly the concept of inclusive and parallel was most intriguing. Parallel learning for math, really made sense to me once she compared it to Literacy. It makes so much sense to split the class on different but, similar tasks in order to get to the same answers, and then bring the class back together and have a discussion about the different ways they went about to get the answer. The big picture is the big concept of open ended questions. Finally Differentiated Instruction is allowing students to think in the way they are best at learning, interpretating the information the way that makes the most sense to them and delivering the correct answer and most importantly, if they do not get the correct answer, having them understand why it is wrong.