Looper 1 Kassi Looper ELED 300 Professor Isbell November 7, 2013

Module 4 Writing
It is a fact that students diversity is in todays classrooms. In order of being an effective teacher, teachers must vary their instruction to meet the learning needs of all students. By exploring chapter 12 in the 6th edition of Learning and Teaching, I will be discussing the principles of differentiation. I will also be looking at how my mentor teacher uses differentiation in her classroom. Instruction in differentiated classrooms is proactive, student centered, assessment based, and a blend. Differentiation Principles The first principle of differentiation is proactive. This is the principle in which differentiation is incorporated into the beginning stages of planning. Instead of waiting for problems to surface, anticipating the learning needs of the students and responding accordingly with small-group and individual help is being proactive. The next principle of differentiation is student centered. This principle is revolved around the students needs and interests. Teachers must take extra measures to learn about their students individually and adjust their instruction accordingly. Just as adjusting their instruction, teachers must also base their teaching strategies on student needs and interests. Assessment based is used to provide teachers with information about what a student knows and what they can do. It also shows what the students will need to proceed to the next

Looper 2 level. There are three different forms of assessment which are pre-assessment, continual and ongoing assessment. Pre-assessment provides information before the instruction takes place. Continual assessment and ongoing assessment gives information to teachers by identifying the effectiveness of their teaching during the lesson. Assessments after the lesson give teachers the information to determine if a student is ready to can move to another lesson. The fourth component of the differentiation principles is a blend. A blend is a mixture of whole-class, group, and individual instruction that meets the needs of the students. For students to understand a topic, teachers can use whole-class instruction. When the student needs to interact with other students they must use teachers can use small groups. When only a few students need additional help, teachers should consider individual instruction. Mentor Differentiation I am currently observing a kindergarten class at Celina Elementary school. The teacher of this classroom is Mrs. Covington. She is really good at allowing differentiation if her classroom. The differentiation principle that I see Mrs. Covington use the most in her classroom is students centered. An example of student centered differentiation in her classroom is how she gives the students books in their book boxes. She puts books that she believes students will enjoy in their boxes based on their interests. When asking Mrs. Covington how she uses differentiation she agreed that she uses student centered but she feels that she also uses a blend. She tries to use peer tutoring as much as she can because she believes that children learn from one another. She also said that she uses technology in her classroom because she believes that is important for their future and everyone can relate to technology in their lives. The last thing she mentioned was she tries to work with

Looper 3 her students one on one during different times throughout the day to meet their individual and specific needs. My Future Use of Differentiation By observing differentiation in Mrs. Covingtons class, I believe that my classroom will be very similar to hers in terms of differentiation. One thing that I would do that Mrs. Covington does not use is using assessment for differentiation. I would use assessment because I feel like it is fundamental to know what the students already know and what you need to help them approve in. I like the idea of a pre-assessment as well because you know what you need to spend more time on with your students. My form of assessment will not be paper tests I plan on giving assessments in various forms. I think the most important principle of differentiation is student centered. I believe that students learn better when the information is something they are interested in. I will make sure I follow the set standards but find a way for the lesson to be student centered. Before reading this chapter I was unaware of how important differentiation in the classroom really is. As teachers, we must remember that differentiation must be workable for both the students and the teachers. I will make sure that my classroom follows the principles of differentiation so my students can have as much success in their education as possible.

Looper 4 References Kauchak, D., & Eggen, P. (2012). Learning and teaching: Research -based methods. (6th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education.