Curriculum That Is Important

Every year we are expected to teach more and more, and cover more and more criteria.  Carol Ann Tomlinson likens it to the feeling of being a hamster on a wheel.  Th faster we move, it seems, the greater the expanse of information, which in turn creates a greater expectation for us to be able to make the wheel turn even faster.  We need to be more worried about the students learning than we are about just "covering" the material.  I will admit, when I think about my year at a glance, I sometimes thing about certain topics as just "something to check off." I just need to teach it so that I can say that, "we covered it." This isn't the point of teaching.  We need to make sure that we are doing more than just covering the material.  After all, we are there for our students to learn from us, right? We need to teach curriculum that is important.  We need to teach what is essential, and that will build understanding.  We need our curriculum to be focused and engaging.

Classroom Routines

Having routines in your classroom is of the utmost importance! When students are aware of what is going on in the classroom, and what will happen next, they are able to learn better.  I know that I like to know the schedule. I like to know what happens next, so that I can concentrate on the task at hand instead of what is going to happen next.  When you have established routines in your classroom, you foster an environment of productivity rather than chaos.  In order for routines to work, you have to train your students on all procedures until the students know exactly what they are supposed to be doing.  This creates a high level of successful autonomy.  You can't be available to all of your students all the time, so that is why this is so important.  Autonomy is a great skill for everyone to learn, and if students can create autonomy for their learning then they will be much more successful.  I know that I want to create routines in my classroom, so that I am free to do my guided reading and other small group activities.  I want to create leaders in my classroom!

Communication in the Classroom

In order to create a good and inviting classroom environment where everyone feels safe and wants to participate, we need to make sure that we are fostering an environment of good communication between everyone.  You need to build a group identity, and ensure that the teacher has ways of getting to know their students better.

Some ways to foster positive communication in the classroom is to hold Goal-Setting Conferences. What are those you say? Well I will tell you... They are basically a one-on-one meeting with each of your students.  You get to have a conversation with them about progress they are making in a certain area, and you get to set some new goals with them as well.  This helps the student take some ownership in their learning, and also gives them some time to "talk to teacher," which let's face it... if we don't schedule something like this, we may never get to have some one-on-one time with some of our students that are more quiet and reserved.  It is true that the squeaky wheel gets the grease, but we want to make sure that we are making time for all of our students. Even the ones who may never ask for anything. When students are able to feel safe talking to us, then we can branch that out to small groups.  Get the conversation going with in your guided reading groups, that is a good place to start, and then eventually (and hopefully) all of our students will feel safe talking in front of the whole class at any time.  Communication is key to any good relationship, and we can definitely have good relationships in our classrooms.

The Teacher Responds

This is the second "bigger cog" of differentiation.  Like I mentioned in my last blog post, there are the 3 main cogs to differentiation, but there are lots cog little cogs with in the 3 main ones, like the inner workings of a clock, and this one is no different.
Once again, there are 5 elements, or smaller cogs, to "The Teacher Responds." They are: 1.) Invitation 2.) Persistence 3.) Opportunity 4.) Investment 5.) Reflection
My favorite element is, Response to Invitation.  This element says that you as the teacher, respect who your student is and who they will become. It also says that you want to know them, that they are unique and valuable, you believe in them, you have time for them, and that you need them there in your classroom.  HOW AWESOME IS THAT?! I think it is so important to make all of our students feel loved and wanted. School may very well be the only place they feel that way, so I want to make sure that there is no doubt that my students feel that from me! I do think that it is a teachers responsibility to make a child feel important, and BONUS, when a child feels needed and important, they are way more likely to participate in class! I think that from my reading of chapter 3 in Carol Tomlinson's book, this was my very most important take away!! I feel inspired!

The Student Seeks

As you can remember, "The Student Seeks" is one of our cogs to differentiation. Let's dive a little deeper into this topic, shall we? Yes. We as humans, have many basic needs.  Everyone needs to fell wanted, needed, loved, and cared for.  Students are no different.  When a student doesn't feel safe, or they feel threatened, then their brain shuts off.  This is why it is so important for us teachers to make our classrooms an inviting community where all of our students feel safe, and actually want to be there.  There are 5 elements to the cog, "The Student Seeks." They are: 1.) Affirmation 2.) Contribution 3.) Purpose 4.) Power and 5.) Challenge. 

I like to think of these 5 elements as little tiny cogs within this bigger cog. A students needs all of these elements to be present on order to feel fulfilled in the classroom.  Basically what I am trying to say, is that yes, all of our students are different and are going to bring different experiences to our classrooms. But, they all have the same basic needs, and we need to make sure that we are fostering an opportunity and and environment that makes it possible for every student to get what they individually need. 

Fellow Blogger

I just read one of my fellow classmates blog tonight, and it was a really good reminder for me. She blogged about how there are a lot of things we have to remember to do when differentiating, but there are also things we should not be doing.

 

My favorite one: Differentiation is not individualized instruction. LOVE THIS! I am still learning about differentiation, so I forget that I won't have to make an individualized version of my lesson for each student (even though it feels that way sometimes, I am sure). We have the same end goal in mind for all of our students, we may just have to take a different "path" to get there with some of our students, and that is OK!
 Sometimes, as a new teacher, I feel overwhelmed with what I think my lesson plans "should look like." I feel pressure to make every single lesson original and amazing. Talk about never having time for anything else.... Never going to happen in real life! I know that I can be an amazing teacher as long as I am making a conscious effort to differentiate, and help all of my students be successful. Even if I am no where close to perfect! :)

Guest Speaker ~ Sylvia Allan

We had a guest speaker in our Differentiation class on Monday, January 27.
I have to say that I wasn't all that pumped on it beforehand. I honestly thought that it was just going to be like any other lecture. I was wrong. It was so awesome. I left there feeling like I could have listened to her for another 2 hours.  Sylvia Allen was our guest, and she talked about the importance of having a morning meeting in your classroom each day.  She covered a lot of different benefits you receive from doing morning meetings, and a lot of different things you need to make sure to include in order for them to be efficient.  My favorite take away for the day was how she reiterated  so many times the importance of the kids having time to "share." Each student needs a chance to talk during the day, and morning meeting is a safe place for that to happen, because everyone is successful in morning meeting, and everyone says something.  For some students, this may be the only time they ever share during the day, and so it is very important. My very favorite was that she was constantly making connections for the kids. If two kids happened to mention that they like ice cream, she would make that connection for them, and point out that they now had something in common, and they could possibly talk about that at recess, and play together. AWESOME. I know that kids have trouble "fitting in", or finding "connections" on their own, so how genius is that to just take a second and point that out for them. So awesome. I have to say that I loved the whole lecture, and i feel empowered to incorporate a meaningful morning meeting into my daily schedule.