100 word response 1 reference
David
We can start off answering this this week’s forum with two questions: what is traditional teaching and what is differential teaching? Well from this week’s readings I pulled a great example of when I was back in school “The days of pulling the old lesson plans from the file cabinet year after year and teaching the same old things in the same old ways have no place in a classroom that should cater to a broad spectrum of learners. (Second paragraph)”.
Wonderfully enough, it also answers what differential learner are “a broad spectrum of learners.” That is to say a large number of students who all learn different ways and get engaged in different ways Sharon A. Lynch et al (2008). So, that leaves us with what is differential teaching, it is simply catering to those broad-spectrum of learners; once again a quote from our readings “Differentiated instruction calls for reflection about the students and their varying needs as well as responsive teaching in order to provide optimum opportunity for all students to succeed”. As research in the field of education grows and expands, we discover new ways of teaching and learning every day. It is those new ways we must learn to incorporate into our differential instruction and planning.
So, we have covered traditional, everyone learns the same way, style teaching and touched the tip of the iceberg of differential instruction. Here is where we can all help each other out and pick apart the compare and contrast piece of this assignment. I want to look at content “the knowledge, skills, and attitudes we want the students to learn”, Process “the learning activities or strategies that allow students to explore the essential understandings and key concepts and principles”, and environment “the diverse physical locations, contexts, and cultures” edglossary.org (n.d.).
Content, in traditional classrooms one might, stress on might, find a single style of teaching and learning being used. Whichever style of learning being used may only be good content for those students who learn in that manner. With differential learning you are taking into consideration how challenged, gifted, and everyday learners would need to process information in order to succeed. So, you would differentiate your content to match the needs.
Process, this is my favorite part of a lessons. I love teaching the same thing 20 different ways; visual aids, reading prompts, outside the box ideas, TPR (total physical response) the list goes on. If you can listen to a lecturer drone on and get all you need, great, that’s not me. If I have to sit through a class like that, I have my coffee, my snacks, my notebook, and different color pens to keep the lecture fun for me. So, I would never expect my students to learn that way. I know I mentioned that I teach ESL, so I am lucky in that I have so many resources at my disposal to reach every student. Because so much of learning and using a language is engaging with the content and using it in so many different ways.
Environment, unless you are in a college, can be enhanced and altered by the teacher. What I notice a lot of teachers forget is how warm or cold a classroom can be; I do not mean the temperature, but how loving you can make a room. If your room is not inviting, your students will not feel invited. Giving your room character with student products to help them make it their community is literally creating a differential classroom. How often have you walked into a classroom and said, yup that is my work; I cannot recall a single memory outside art class. Through this environment you can enhance learning by enhancing your student’s school-home. It is an environment made up of the different styles your students have, and together you create a place they want to be in.

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