Differentiation

Students create their own learning paths and encounter assessments embedded into their activities so they can revise and correct misconceptions. Teachers differentiate instruction by modifying the depth or complexity of content, the processes by which students learn, the content itself, and the products students are expected to create based on considerations of learning styles, interests, and skill levels. A teacher who incorporates technology greatly expands the pool of resources, means of instructional presentation and support, and modes of product creation available to students, and is thus better equipped to meet varying student needs. Authors of Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works As teachers, we are diligent in our efforts to differentiate the curriculum. Offering choices is an effective strategy to ensure that kids have opportunities to learn and express themselves. To the same end, the best learning tools have student choice built in, resulting in customizations that support access and engagement. Pasted from <[]> instead of trying to adapt our lessons to meet each student’s need, we. . . create lessons that students can customize themselves? Pasted from <[]> If getting a job is the basis for education, learning may stop when a person is hired. If we teach Ppl how to learn a job will surely follow Judy Willis is both a neurologist and a classroom teacher. Her book, Ignite Student Learning, provides simple strategies that teachers can start using today. The book also includes the brain research, in simple, easy-to-understand language, to support the strategies she suggests. from page 4: "In the classroom, the more ways the material to be learned is introduced to the brain and reviewed, the more dendritic pathways of access will be created. There will be more synaptic, cell-to-cell bridges, and these pathways will be used more often, become stronger, and remain safe from pruning. For example, offering the information visually will set up a connection with the occipital lobes (the posterior lobes of the brain that process optical input). Subsequently or simultaneously having students hear the information will hook up a dendritic circuit with the temporal lobes (the lobed on the sides of the brain that process auditory input and play an important role in the regulation of emotion and memory processing). The duplication results in greater opportunity for future cues to prompt the brain access to this stored information.  Multiple stimulations mean better memory. The more regions of the brain that store data about a subject, the more interconnection there is. This redundancy means students will have more opportunities to pull up all those related bits of data from their multiple storage areas in response to a single cue. This cross-referencing of data strengthens the data into something we've learned rather than just memorized." Teachers have long recognized the heart of the message. Many years ago when I was student teaching in Iowa, the science teachers had student volunteers to read the science texts into a tape recorder so students with poor reading skills could listen to the tape. They recognized that some students needed to hear the material repeatedly as well as listen and watch the teacher present the material in class. They also recognized that the students reading the text into the tape benefited from the reading.  How much easier it is today with DVDs and websites supporting classroom references and with online games and simulations, podcasts, videos, etc. presenting information in various forms to stimulate different areas of the brain.  To teach without technology is to ignore the research on how students learn. It should be the goal of every school to ensure teachers have the training and equipment to teach so every student in the classroom can learn. Pasted from <[]> What, I wondered, can we do to make sure that we awaken and affirm the abilities of all kids? Pasted from <[]> "Learning can no longer be confined to the years we spend in school or the hours we spend in the classroom; It must be life-long, life-wide, and available on demand." NETP Individualization refers to instruction that is paced to the learning needs of different learners. Learning goals are the same for all students, but students can progress through the material at different speeds according to their learning needs. For example, students might take longer to progress through a given topic, skip topics that cover information they already know, or repeat topics they need more help on. Differentiation refers to instruction that is tailored to the learning preferences of different learners. Learning goals are the same for all students, but the method or approach of instruction varies according to the preferences of each student or what research has found works best for students like them. Personalization refers to instruction that is paced to learning needs, tailored to learning preferences, and tailored to the specific interests of different learners. In an environment that is fully personalized, the learning objectives and content as well as the method and pace may all vary (so personalization encompasses differentiation and individualization). The huge advantage of technology is not educating the whole class but in individualizing instruction for each learner. "Temple Grandin," 'Some people are different, not less.' How awesome would it be if everyone really understood that?