Differentiated Instruction
"Differentiated instruction has a powerful impact on achievement. Teachers typically direct most of their questions and reinforcement to the top third of the class. When teachers make successful attempts to direct instruction to all students, including the bottom third of the class, overall achievement improves" (Pearson Education, n.d., p. 21)
Inevitably, students in every classroom will be at different levels in every subject; thereby making it difficult as a teacher for a lesson to cater to all students' needs simultaneously. Differentiated instruction is the process of changing learning materials to suit each or groups of children based on their needs. Differentiated Instruction should not change what is being taught; but rather how it is being taught based on each student's social, cultural, familial and personal characteristics (Aldridge, 2010, p. 93). As the direction of Alberta's classrooms shifts more towards Inclusive Education, the need for Differentiated Instruction only gets more necessary.
Foundations for Literacy provides an excellent instructional video in their University Lab School Senior Kindergarten class whereby the students choose a book at their level to read-to-self. Upon completion, the students gather on the carpet with the teacher who then asks each student about the book they chose to read, asks specific questions about their book, guides their responses and allows for students to volunteer information about their chosen book. As a beginning teacher, I would use this resource because aside from providing essentially a read-to-self lesson where differentiated instruction is essentially embedded within the plan, it allows for students to showcase what they have learned and may spark another students interest to read that book if it sounds interesting to them.
Foundations for Literacy provides an excellent instructional video in their University Lab School Senior Kindergarten class whereby the students choose a book at their level to read-to-self. Upon completion, the students gather on the carpet with the teacher who then asks each student about the book they chose to read, asks specific questions about their book, guides their responses and allows for students to volunteer information about their chosen book. As a beginning teacher, I would use this resource because aside from providing essentially a read-to-self lesson where differentiated instruction is essentially embedded within the plan, it allows for students to showcase what they have learned and may spark another students interest to read that book if it sounds interesting to them.
Tomlinson's (2010) Differentiation Model
"This flow chart is a concept map of effective Differentiated Instruction. It 'unpacks' the concept of differentiation by showing the key elements in the concept and relationships among those elements. Someone who practices 'defensible differentiation' attends to all of the elements and understands the impact that one element has on all of the others. No one—no matter how good a teacher—can be perfect in all aspects of the model all of the time. The goal is not perfection, but rather to continue deepening one's understanding of the elements and to continue expanding one's capacity to plan and teach with the elements in mind" (Tomlinson, 2010).
References
Aldridge, J. (2010). Differentiated Instruction. Childhood Education, 86(3), 193-195.
Foundations for Literacy. (2014). University Lab School - Differentiated Instruction [Video file]. Retrieved from: http://foundationsforliteracy.cllrnet.ca/index.php/Video_23:_University_Lab_School_%E2%80%93_Differentiated_Instruction
Pearson Higher Education. (n.d.). Creating Literacy Instruction for All Students. Retrieved from: http://www.pearsonhighered.com/assets/hip/us/hip_us_pearsonhighered/samplechapter/0132685795.pdf
Tomlinson, C. (2010). Differentiation Model. Differentiation Central. Retrieved from: http://www.diffcentral.com/model.html
Foundations for Literacy. (2014). University Lab School - Differentiated Instruction [Video file]. Retrieved from: http://foundationsforliteracy.cllrnet.ca/index.php/Video_23:_University_Lab_School_%E2%80%93_Differentiated_Instruction
Pearson Higher Education. (n.d.). Creating Literacy Instruction for All Students. Retrieved from: http://www.pearsonhighered.com/assets/hip/us/hip_us_pearsonhighered/samplechapter/0132685795.pdf
Tomlinson, C. (2010). Differentiation Model. Differentiation Central. Retrieved from: http://www.diffcentral.com/model.html