Reading Response Chapters 1-7 DI

I enjoyed reading these chapters. I am really interested in inclusion and part of inclusion is differentiating instruction. The things that I have learned in the past about differentiated instruction were things that the book said should not necessarily be done. In the meeting I went to about differentiated instruction they said to do things like reducing spelling lists and reducing the number of questions on a test. The book said that "reducing the quantity is not as effective as changing the nature of the assignment to match the students needs."
I really like that in differentiated instruction the teacher acts as a facilitator. The teacher requires the students to be active participants in their learning. In differentiated instruction the teacher does not simply lecture to the students. In the differentiated instruction approach the teacher offers many different ways to reach the same learning goal and splits the students up in different size groups for instruction.
I learned how differentiated instruction is very student centered. The teacher needs to get to know their students and how they learn best. The teacher needs to plan instruction that would be most appropriate to meet the needs of the students in his or her classroom. I learned that differentiation applies to gifted students as well as inclusion students. Gifted students need to be challenged in their learning environments. Gifted students do not need to be required to do the same work as the other students in the classroom.
The teacher of the classroom needs to have mastery of the content he/she is teaching and be ready to approach it from multiple directions. The teacher needs to address questions as they arise and use them for learning opportunities. The students will have relevant, meaningful, learning experiences if their curiosity is peaked their questions are answered through their own learning and discovery.
Reading about DI is very important to me. The placement I am about to go into is going to be an inclusion classroom. When I do my full time teaching I will need to know effective strategies to differentiate instruction. My teacher and I have already discussed small groups and different activities for different ability levels in the classroom. I will try to do my best at matching the lessons and the differentiation to meet the students needs.

CH 1-7 Differentiated Instruction

Throughout reading the chapters I concluded that “Differentiated Instruction” is pretty much everything we have learned over the past year tied all together. The classroom is to be student centered, and a warm welcoming environment where the kids feel safe and confident. The activities and learning experiences being taught should get the students actively involved in their learning. They also should build on students’ prior knowledge to make comprehension easier. Teachers need to be sure to observe and include students’ interests in the lessons to make connections more valuable and meaningful. Teachers need to identify how students learn and their needs prior to planning. We must remember that students are on all levels of learning, and best achieve learning in many different ways (multiple intelligences). All of these different learning styles should be incorporated in the learning experiences. This helps both students, advanced and struggling, learn easier. The activities need to challenging for the students, and able to push them a little beyond their level. This is when I began to tie in the Zone of Proximal development and scaffolding. Each one of these points is connecting with all of the Educational Theorists. It was really neat to be reading and making connections to my prior knowledge of what we learned last year, but now it makes a lot more sense. I enjoyed feeling that sense of a better understanding when it comes to the components of a good classroom and good strategies of teaching.

Ch.1-7 DI

Differentiating instruction does not just boil down to the "high" and "low" students of a classroom. While this can sometimes be a basis, there is also the plain fact that different individuals learn in different ways. Differentiation is more about "building bridges between the learner and learning". As teachers, we want all of our students to fall in love with learning, to seek knowledge, and to feel safe and involved inside our classroom. By differentiating our instruction, we supply the materials needed to build that bridge. Every student in the class is not going to take away the same thing from every lesson, the important thing is that they do take something meaningful away from their lessons. Our entire class will never learn in the same way or in the same amount of time. Learning to appreciate these differences in our students and using those differences as a vehicle for learning will truly enhance the learning experience for everyone involved in the classroom. This too is a huge reason that the learning process is far more important than the grade stamped on a child's report card at the end of the year.

As a teacher in the differentiated classroom it is so important to set the right atmosphere, attitude, tone, and expectations for the school year. For success, a student MUST feel safe and secure in a classroom and know that there are expectations from him or her. Students need to know that their teacher believes in them and expects them to do their best and grow throughout the entire school year. In that school year, teachers are a students biggest advocate, cheerleader, coach, and inspiration for growing to their full potential.

Differentiated Instruction Ch. 1-7

To me differentiated instruction seems like such a given. As teachers, we receive a classroom of new students each year all of which are completely different from each other. They act, learn, and process things differently. So why should our instruction of them be the same? Some learn better visually while others like to have a more hands-on approach. Through differentiated instruction we can tailor more to the students learning needs and wants rather than what seems simply easier to us. I would rather make a million lessons where my students felt that they really learned something rather than make a million lessons that were easy for me but completely disregarded the needs of my students.


One of the main ideas I loved about the differentiated instruction is the role of the teacher. This book states that the teacher is an organizer of learning opportunities. Thus, allowing the classroom to be more student-centered as they are in charge of creating their own learning experience. With this idea, how can differentiated instruction really be difficult? Plus learning is only enhanced because students learn in a way that best suites them i.e. multiple intelligences.

The classroom should be a place where students feel like they have a say in their learning experiences rather than the passive model of "I teach, You listen" that leaves children uninterested and bored. We are to inspire students to become life-long learners and by allowing them to have a handle on their own learning, they only want to learn more.

Reading Responce- Kayleigh Lemaster

After reading chapters three through five the main thing that stood out to me was the concept of backwards design. I believe that this process would be beneficial for students because it does not just focus on the standards. Instead the process of backwards design focuses on what the teacher wants the students to know and be able to do in the end. I think that this is so important to remember when planning lessons because so many teachers today center their teaching around standardized test, and students often do not really learn the information. Instead they just memorize the material for the test.

A quote that stuck out to me in the reading was, “the goal of teaching is for students to understand what is most important and to able to do.” I think this quote stands out to me because I believe that a lesson is successful when the students are able apply what they have learned. Although many teachers do not use backwards design in their planning process, I believe that this is something that I would like to use in my own classroom one day.

Chapters 3-5

It is important for a teacher to plan her lessons effectively and look at a multitude of things so that her students get the most out of the lesson and learn what they need to know. However, it all boils down to three things: what does the teacher want the students to know, what does the teacher want the students to do and what does the teacher want the student to be. I never realized how important it was to look at the last question a teacher must ask herself/himself. What do we want our students to be? As teacher's we all hope that our students become good productive members of society doing whatever makes them happy and that fits with their talents. However, I do not think that many people actually give thought as how to do this in their own classrooms and schools. How to we make a students "be" who we want them to be and is it really us that need to decide who that student should be?

I never really gave it any thought to plan my assessments first but after reading and giving it more thought I realized that if you know where you are headed and know what the final goal is then you, as a teacher, can better plan an effective unit. Backwards design might feel really odd to me at first but I think that it will be best for my students to help them get what the need. I also like the varied list of different ways to assess the learner on page 78. It has many good ideas that allow for teachers to vary their assessments. I do think that teachers are sometimes stuck in the here are the test questions and now give me the answers kind of assessment; however, that is not necessarily the best way to handle this type of integrated unit. Using projects, performances, reports among other ways are also effective means of the students displaying the information that he or she learned. I think that it is important for the students to have some choice in the assessment as well. This will help reach all different learning styles but in a way where the teacher can still get the information and knowledge that the student understands and comprehends the material that was covered.

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