Differentiation: To me this means, Equal education is not all students getting the same, but all students gettting what they need. I think it is imporatant for students to be getting the education they need so they can move onto the next level and be ready. It saves students the discouragement and saves the teachers time so they do not have to go back and reteach the information the student should have already been taught and mastered. Moving grade levels is not about just teaching the information and moving the students on, it is about teaching the students the material so they understand it and can comfortably move on with a proper understanding of what they have been taught.
I experienced differentiation in fifth grade and I remember it specifically. In fifth grade our middle school had a program where the really gifted students, students that were at a much higher level than the rest of us would go to "Speech". In this speech class, they would be taken out of class two times a week and they would do other activities with another teacher and other higher level studentes from other classrooms. To me at the time, I thought I should have been in the class but I did not qualify to go into Speech, which discouraged me a little bit. I always was on the honor roll, and recieved good grades, so when I did not get invited to the Speech program, I was a little upset. Kids that didn't go to this program felt left out, or not special, and the ones that did acted like they were better than the rest of the "normal,average" kid. Another time where I experienced differentiation was when I was shadowing a Kindergarten teacher for three weeks my senior year of high school. There was a girl named Ava in the class who really had a hard time speaking clearly and struggled on her numbers. Mrs. Cotner would send her with a tutor every so often during the week when the tutor was not busy
with other kids, but sometimes Mrs. Cotner would eat lunch and then work on Ava's numbers with her during recess. This Kindergarten class would meet every Tuesday and Thursday one week, and the next week switch to Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Ava was so far behind she came everyday. So while the class did a project that she had already done the day before, I would work with her and go over her numbers with her. She benefited from one on one tutoring, and there are many other benefits from one on one tutoring. For more
benefits, check out this article.
Technology can play a role in differentiated classrooms in a good way. A child can adapt to computer programs that work with spelling or numbers. There are lots of education based computer programs out there that are classroom appropriate. During free time the computer can be an option for students
to get on and work on their math skills. Also, one of the techniques I have seen a teacher use is stations. During activity time each group of students are at a station, and each day they switch stations, but the activites at each station are the same until each student has been to each station. Computers can be a station option depending on the available use of computers. They can focus on any subject or program during that time. I think technology should be introduced young, especially since technology is a big part of the 21st century. On the other hand, teachers have to be careful how they use technology in the classroom and how/why it is incorperated. In the
article, the author talks about how technology could be a good thing, but also the downfalls it has.
