A review of my current differentiation practices

Differentiation!

Is there a bigger buzz word in education now? I think not. However, the thought remains valid. Different students have different needs and should be served differently. It is clear that when it comes to education one size does not in fact fit all.

Recently, I was challenged to examine my current differentiation practices in the classroom. While there are certainly areas for improvement, this activity has reassured me that my classroom practices are geared toward serving students rather than progressing through a curriculum blindly.

Teaching English lends itself to differentiation, as we are given the freedom of pacing instruction in order to achieve fluency in various skills, mostly reading comprehension and writing. Also, one of my colleagues once said, "Teaching writing is really all about teaching how to think logically, and then put those thoughts on paper." With that in mind really whatever we do, as long as it is promoting logical thinking, and getting that on paper, we are achieving our curricular goals. With this in mind I am always willing to diverge into areas of student interest so long as it promotes deeper critical thinking and sharing of those thoughts.

One area that I still see room for improvement would be that often when considering the concept of differentiation, particularly as I see it presented by other teachers, is that it sometimes looks to me, from an outsider's perspective, as a generalized "dumbing down" of the curriculum. I know that this sounds horrible, but there are certain requirements that must be met. We live in a time of standardized measurements of students. These measurements reflect not only on the students, but the teacher, and the department, and the school, and the county, and the state, and the country. If my kids are granted a constant ability to express themselves through an alternate medium, then how will they perform on the 10th Grade Writing Test?

Clearly, I have much to wrestle with over differentiation, but hopefully I will find a way to embrace its many benefits to my students, while maintaining a meaningful balance for skills needed to succeed beyond the classroom walls.

Creativity as I now know it

Throughout this semester in my graduate school work I have been tasked with the job of defining, or at least understanding, Creativity. It has certainly not been an easy task. While I feel that I have a better understanding of Creativity I am not sure that I can define it. I do, however, feel that I can point it out. I still like my implicit theory of creativity, which I defined as, "the intentional combination of the familiar into something unfamiliar yet recognizable."

As a teacher I believe that one thing that I will have to change in my own practice is to appreciate it both when it is used on and off task. While I will continue to point my students toward correct behaviors in the classroom I can certainly appreciate the effort that they are making to be creative, which can be more difficult for some students.

The most difficult task that I have had to approach with creativity in mind was coming into a classroom while their teacher was out on disability. I have had to win those students over and find assignments that will keep them on task, as well as not complaining and referring to it as "busywork." One thing that I have learned is that it does not matter as much if the students like you, but rather, you cannot afford to let them hate you. Once a student determines that they hate you, you have a long road ahead of you. I have been fortunate enough not to have encountered this. I still have problems occasionally with students, but mostly I have had great success with my situation.

A new perspective on “The Tortoise and the Hare”

This week, I was challenged to take another look at the classic fable “The Tortoise and the Hare.” Instead of accepting the outcome given in the fable I am to critically review the fable, asking questions based on the theory of the “6 thinking hats,” created by Dr. Edward de Bono.

Below are listed each of the 6 thinking hats, along with what manner of thought they represent. My mission is to ask the questions that each hat should lead me to, and reconsider this classic tale.

White Hat – Facts

Who won the race? The tortoise.

Why? He continued his steady pace, whereas the hare, who had an early lead decided to take a nap.

Red Hat – Feelings/Emotions

How do we feel about the tortoise winning? Happy, we tend to cheer for the underdog; in this case that would be he.

Do we feel bad for the hare? Not really, there seems to be a strong message of he got what he deserved instilled in this story.

Black Hat – Caution

What are the risks of teaching this story? Perhaps teaching this story could instill a lack of empathetic abilities in future generations.

Yellow Hat – Benefits

What are the benefits of teaching this story? I am sure that the thought behind teaching this story is that regardless of what talent a person may have, if they continue trying the best that they can, they can out perform someone who has talent, but does not try hard.

Green Hat – Creativity

In what ways could we modernize this story? Well, I have seen modernized versions of this story featuring updated cartoon characters, such as Bugs Bunny. But, to truly put this story into today’s students hands, I suppose they could create a video game where you are the tortoise and you have to defeat the hare. Making it interactive could possibly make the moral become not only understood but applied in their lives.

Blue Hat – Metacognition

Why do we instinctively relate to the tortoise rather than the hare?

As I touched on earlier, I think it is the idea that the underdog can win that appeals to us.

This new look at an ancient story has certainly shed some light on things that I obviously have opinions on. These opinions appear to be strong, even though I had never really thought about them before.

How can I improve my wallet?

This week I was challenged to come up with ways to improve something that I am familiar with. As I have been considering purchasing a new wallet, I think now would be a great time to reconsider what I should expect out of such an apparatus. In order to do this I am looking over Osborn's 73 idea spurring questions list.

Adapt?

-Unfortunately, I suppose I have to consider the fact that another option would be to switch entirely out of the wallet realm, this takes me into the realm of man purses and fanny packs. These are both good places to keep personal effects; however, I do not see myself as adequately prepared for either option.

Modify?

-My current wallet has the NC State Block S on the front, there are many other ways that I could show my personality, these include stitching on various wallets, knit wallets with designs... I certainly like the idea of some sort of statement being made by my wallet, but perhaps simply a stylish statement would be appropriate.

Magnify?

-It would be ideal if there was more room for cards (credit, gift, ID, store...)

Minify?

-My current wallet is a tri-fold, which makes it rather bulky at time. Perhaps I should go for a bi-fold wallet.

Reverse?

-Typically I put things inside my wallet, I have seen many money clips that have room for cards an anything else that I would put in it typically.

I certainly have plenty of options in the world of wallets. I will have to consider long and hard which direction I care to travel in. This will not be a decision that I will make lightly.

Expressive Readings

In my classroom this week I am starting my 9th graders into reading The Odyssey. So far, we have gone through the background of Greek Culture, and The Trojan War. In an effort to involve more of my students I had them read, in parts, expressively, the myth "The Labors of Hercules." As we are preparing to read The Odyssey, I was explaining the concept of minstrels, traveling poet/singers/story tellers.

I assigned several students, both higher and lower-level readers, to each read one of the labors of Hercules. I made sure to stack the higher-level readers toward the beginning of the readings. I told them to read for "more than the words." They needed to read with emotion, and amazingly they did.

This assignment not only kept the attention of their classmates, but it also allowed students who typically acted out (often at inappropriate times) focussed on what they were about to read. Then when it was their turn they were more emotional, in their readings, than their higher-level reading classmates. I highly recommend this strategy.

Is creativity "too difficult" to measure?

This week I was challenged to think about whether or not creativity is "too difficult" to measure. I think that the deeper issue remains a lacking cohesive definition of what exactly creativity is. If you cannot define something how can you be expected to measure it?

Another problem with this is the subjective nature of creativity, particularly in its evaluation. Something that may be highly creative could easily be overlooked depending on its obscurity and the judge's value placed on such a creation.

The next difficulty that would be faced is developing a strategy for measuring it, likely some form of test. There is always an issue of eliminating bias from testing and this case would prove to be particularly difficult.

Perhaps until we develop a catch-all definition of Creativity we cannot accurately measure. I would suggest that it is "too difficult" to accurately measure creativity.

Success

The other day I was sitting in a high school classroom staring at the, seemingly endless, motivational posters on the wall. I found myself especially entranced by one that read: "Success is impossible for those who fail to try." After I got beyond how awkward the wording is, I began to think about it. After thinking on it for a while I decided that I would rather have a poster that read, "Those who are always successful have failed to try the impossible." I realize that there seems to be some sort of dark commentary there, but I think that teachers need to be there to teach their students that failure is hardly the worst thing in life. I believe there is a much more valuable lesson in my proposed poster than the fluff displayed on hers.

Of course, that is just my opinion.