Differentiation in the Classroom

The use of technology in the classroom can unlock many opportunities for students to be successful. It is something that should feel like it flows within the classroom and lesson. It is not something that should be forced just for the sake of saying you used technology. In my three-day remedial plan for a small group of students in my classroom, I decided to use two pieces of technology in different ways: Clevertouch Board : using a smart board to display slides for a lesson is a great way to bring technology into the classroom. I am 100% a slides teacher and they help keep me on track for what I want to hit in each lesson I do as well as reminding me of the questions I thought out ahead of time to give students during the lesson. One of the best things about smart boards is the ability to write on them! I love having students come up to share their work on the board and become the teacher while they are sharing their work. You are able to have them manipulate the technology in real ti...

       To prepare for writing any lesson plan, I always look at what students are bringing into their classrooms with prior knowledge and/or what they might struggle with and need more support in during a lesson. I want to make students feel confident in their ability to solve problems and try their best at any given time. I also know that a lot of my students do not come into the grade knowing all prior skills needed to be successful with grade level content. In my lesson plan, I am using the lesson provided in my Illustrative Mathematics curriculum where students are solving multi-step metric conversion problems. One instructional strategy that is great to use in differentiating instruction for students is the think-pair-share strategy (Guido, 2021). This can be called many names but provides students an opportunity to think about something, share their thinking with a partner to agree/disagree, and then come back and share whole group. In an effort to engage all t...

       Educators have been diving into learning about how people learn best for many years. Understanding the 4 types of learning styles: visual, auditor y, read/write, kinesthetic can help teachers provide t op tier insteuction in their classrooms for all students to find a way of learning that best suits them (St aake, 2023). It is not reasonable to assume that all people learn the same information the same way. By providing differentiation to students based on their interests and preferences, we can help them to show their best learning selves! By digging into the results of a Learning Style Inventory I administered to a small group of 5 th grade students- Student A, Student B, and Student C- we gain valuable insights into how they learn, what mindsets they are bringing into the classroom, and potential barriers to their success.   Interconnection of Learning Styles and Development             Student A enjoys working wi...

 In our modern world, there are so many technology tools that teachers can use in their classroom to enhance student learning. Integrating technology into the classroom creates learners who are actively engaged with learning objectives as well as creating pathways to differentiate instruction to meet the unique needs of students (Drexel University School of Education, n.d.). We will explore three technology tools that can be used in the classroom to differentiate instruction:  1. Flip This site has been around for awhile but provides so many different opportunities for enhancement of learning experiences in the classroom! Students are able to record themselves (video and audio) and add their responses to a class grid where others can view the videos and comment on them. Educators are able to make the responses visible to only the teacher if needed (Eichholz, 2020).  - Ease of Use: this tool is very simple for teachers and students to use. It looks very similarly to differ...