DI Ch. 8-10

To me, all three of these chapters go back to what we have been taught from the beginning of the cohort experience. As a teacher, it is imperative to get to know your students as individuals. What they like, what they don't like, the way they learn, their home life, extracurricular activities, etc. When we know these details of our students and they become people rather than just faces, we open up a whole new level of learning for them. Just by simply KNOWING them, we can enhance their learning experience to a level higher than if we simply planned out a school year with no regard to the students or their needs and wants. Especially in younger grades, interest is everything. A students may not be able to tell you anything they learned in a week at school, but you better believe they can tell you anything and everything Hannah Montana has ever done. By incorporating interest, the students grasp on to school and learning. I loved the picture of "The Equalizer" in the book for differentiated lessons. I love it because it is 100% true, its like each student has their own switch board with its special little settings, and everything won't work quite right if those levels aren't matched up to the classroom. I think in life it is so important to get to know the people around you, so why wouldn't it be so important to get to know your students?? We spend more time in the day with them than our families most of the time, so why not make it count and make it the best experience for everyone involved?