The common theme in all of our readings this week was real-world examples of what it means to differentiate. I'm tempted to stop there...In the beginning, I kept thinking DI was this huge thing I'd have to prep for way in advance, a complicated thing that only really good or long-experienced teachers could do. Then, when Tomlinson said teachers "simply do what seems right for their students" (pg 1036 on my Kindle version), I thought "That's just it! There is no secret ingredient for teaching differentiatedly (is that a word?)." It's something a teacher learns, practices and then just has a knack for. This particular insight helped me to overcome that hump of fear I had about practicing DI.
Tomlinson's explanation in the article For integration...of fusing concepts rather that facts was exactly the information I needed to see how to use interdisciplinary teaching as the way to get concepts across to students. The analogy of the tiles in a bin (pg 6) to memorization made me realize how unconnected facts can't be retained. Seeing how the tiles (facts) make up a whole can do wonders for connecting those facts (loose tiles) to a whole concept (pool). My favorite line is that learning should be the human pursuit of self-understanding (pg 6) - There is no secret ingredient!
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| Choose Roman Pool |
Bellamy's article mentions that students are being "stretched". For me, it connects to Tomlinson's equalizer (no, not the 80s show with Edward Woodward). This visual showed me that the entire thing (lesson, concept, end-product) does not have to be changed in order to differentiate, that pieces of a student's learning can be tailored to his specific needs, as well as the needs of other students without changing the entire lesson for everyone. In this way, while the end results are similar, a student can demonstrate his strengths as well as stretch his abilities.
Questions I have this week:
Tomlinson mentions (in her book) study buddies, reading partners, audio and video recorders and peer and adult mentors. Are these learning profiles, differentiation or multiple intelligences?Can graphic organizers be used only in literacy or other subjects as well?
If a student's abilities are continually stretched, will this help her in the long-term or will it become tiresome, always reaching without a break and give up?
I'm working on testing the graphic organizers theory right now by creating three graphic organizers based on my upcoming lesson on Native American culture in the Pacific Northwest. I'm going to differentiate the organizers based upon calling on my students to focus on different aspects of native American culture, and I will assign them by student interest. I don't know if it will work and I will reread the article to make sure I am thinking through it correctly but I had the same question as you, so I thought I would try it in a subject other than literacy. (I would love assistance in brainstorming ways to differentiate along readiness lines!)
ReplyDeleteOn the third question, I think reading Just Right books and SSR books kind of feed into that idea. I think just right books aren't necessarily super challenging or stretching but are comfortable. My thought is that no matter what we do to avoid this scenario, many of our students will encounter that brain break that you I think you are talking about.
All--
ReplyDeleteI want to first chime in on what Eric said. Yes, we should stretch our students, but they should also have some time to work on things that are not so hard. Some schools call their "Just Right" books "slipper books" meaning they are comfortable and easy to digest. Also, if we are thinking about how each student has strengths in different areas, then some subjects will probably just be easier to them. The easier subjects may give them the break they need. That is a great question, Deb.
Second, I think the graphic organizers would be especially powerful in Science--where they can literally map the CONCEPT that they are studying, and then maybe they could return to it throughout the year as they build on the concept.
I love your Kung Fu Panda references. I think I need the equalizer representation explained to me I think because it seems overwhelming with so many facets. We should discuss it in class.
ReplyDeleteHi Debbie
ReplyDeleteI wanted to talk more about your comment of "tailoring" as DI. I can't remember if we said this in class or if we read it, but there is something about tailoring things to kids not being considered DI. I have found conflicting information on this and I would love to talk about it. My mind tells me that tailoring assignments for kids would be DI, but I would agrue against myself be saying that it is not DI because I have not made a change to the content, prodcut, or process with the hopes of the same end result. I have only modified the outfit. Did we read this somewhere?? I will go and find it and come to class tonight with something to talk about.
I definitly think we need to talk about graphic organziers tonight and their connection to DI. I personally did not find this article convincing (which is huge for me as I am not all that critical of anything). I do believe graphic organizers can be a way to facilitate DI, and I highlighted student choice of the level in that article, but I hope we talk about the article and the connections between graphic organizers and DI.
See you soon