Differentiating instruction is something that teachers do every day throughout the district. One simple way to define differentiation is adjusting academic instruction based on the needs and learning styles of individual students. Whole group instruction is necessary at times but it should not be the only way we teach or meet the needs of our students.
Differentiating instruction is something that teachers do every day throughout the district. One simple way to define differentiation is adjusting academic instruction based on the needs and learning styles of individual students. Whole group instruction is necessary at times but it should not be the only way we teach or meet the needs of our students.
On any given day at at Donnelsville, you may see students working in small groups, individually, with a partner, one-on-one with a teacher, or in a whole group setting. Donnelsville staff are continually trying to become better as educators. Recently, 19 of the staff joined a book study of The Differentiated Classroom by Carol Ann Tomlinson. In the book study, teachers discuss ideas they can use in their classrooms to differentiate instruction for their students.
Recently, the group has discussed how to meet the varied learning styles of all students. Howard Gardner wrote about the eight multiple intelligences and the group discussed how to identify which intelligence fits each of their students. Maggie Longberry, the school psychologist at Donnelsville, researched and came up with several tools for surveying elementary students to find out what style of learner they are.
Parent Activity- One of the surveys that parents could give to their child to figure out what kind of learner they are is by Laura Candler. Parents can follow this link to find an informative article about multiple intelligences as well as a kid friendly survey that would help parents identify “what kind of smart” their kids are. Parents can find more information about this survey at
http://www.lauracandler.com/strategies/multipleintelligences.php.
Our hope through our book study as a staff is that we learn new and varied ways to reach our kids and to help them learn and grow as much as possible while in 2nd and 3rd grades!
Posted Tuesday, November 7, 2017