Standard #2 – Learning Differences
The teacher candidate uses understanding of individual differences and diverse cultures and communities to ensure inclusive learning environments that enable each learner to meet high standards.
Summer 2015: Although I have always known of different learning styles and paces of development, the EDMUL course has brought to my attention various cultural frames of reference that impact learning expectations. My goal as a future educator is to reach each of my students where they are at, and help them achieve their greatest potential, all the while being mindful of their own goals and life expectations. This is no slight task, along with mastering my content area and managing a classroom. Students will come to me from all walks of life, and I will embrace where they come from because they are the faces of our future.
Autumn 2015: We always endeavor to meet our students where they are, socially and academically. Our general chemistry I students come to our room with various degrees of mathematical abilities and confidence. This was easily demonstrated when we are using and manipulating algebraic equations. Some students immediately understood variables: substituting for them and rearranging to solve for an unknown. Other students were unsure about one or more of these concepts. By asking specific questions, redefining the variables for them, asking them to substitute what was known for these variables and then solving for the unknown, we were able to determine which part of the process a deficit lies, and work to address it for each student who needed additional support. Most recently our equations involved Greek letters and scientific constants, including the speed of light and Planck’s constant, both of which were new ideas for our students. As a result, there was some additional confusion for some of our students and we had to redouble our efforts as outlined above to ensure that we were able to clarify and continue to meet the needs of all of our students while reaching the required academic standards.
Spring 2016: Differentiation of instruction has become one of my favorite things to do. The origin of my first attempt at differentiation was used in effort to quell behavior issues that had arisen in a class. When I realized that the behavior being displayed was a result of boredom, I knew I had to take action to set those students on a task while I continued to teach the students who needed support to master the concepts. This revolutionized my teaching. Students came to expect multiple assignment options based upon their comfort level of working with the concepts, and understood that this was equitable. It lowered the student to teacher ratio to provide for more individualized instruction for all students. Front loading differentiation takes twice as long to plan for, but its rewards far outweigh the time.