Every student is unique. Treating the class as a single system without variance neglects the individual students and their abilities, strengths, learning profiles, interests and personalities. This course will show a teacher how to teach students in ways that takes their readiness, interest and learning profiles into account.
Thank you for embarking on this journey. This course falls under the category Classroom Instruction. Various studies have found that both aspiring and in-service teachers view differences between students’ abilities as problematic as opposed to as an inevitable phenomenon that offers positive possibilities for teachers and students. Furthermore, when teachers see differences between students as deficits, it may lead them to relinquish responsibility for the academic success of the learner. Studies have also shown that when teachers try to tap into student interest, very often, student interests take a backseat to teacher interest. Differentiation is not a strategy or a set of strategies. It is a mode of thinking that a teacher uses to ensure that they can cater to the learning of every student in their classroom. Differentiation II is a level two course. Through this course, we will understand why we need to cater to the needs of ALL children in our classroom. We will learn about 3 ways we can differentiate our lessons and specific strategies to differentiate in our classrooms.
Standards
This course meets the following standards:
- Teaching As Leadership Standards
P-4 Differentiate plans for individual students based on their unique learning profiles (including ongoing performance data) so that all students are engaged and challenge
CENTA Standards:
a. CD.3.3a: Ability to create/modify a given lesson plan for different groups of students according to their needs.
b. CD.4.2b: Ability to involve all students, addressing diversity in learning needs and including those who are disengaged.