Reflecting on Differentiated Instruction

For the past 8 weeks I have been studying Differentiated Instruction (DI), Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and how technology can be a beneficial tool in both instructional practices. I have read a great deal of information by Carol Ann Tomlinson, and would advise anyone interested in DI to read anything she has written on the subject. Tomlinson premise is that DI is a philosophy of teaching. She suggests that teachers re-evaluate why they are teaching (Laureate, 2009), to dispense information or to help children gain knowledge and grow as human beings. She also suggests knowing students in a meaningful way so that they can be assisted in finding education success.

During the Past 8 weeks I have taken course 6714 Reaching and Engaging Learners Through Technology through Walden University. During that time I have taken part in a social networking program called Differentiation Station (DS). For the purpose of collaboration, I set up a Ning network at http://www.ning.com/networks called Teachers Utilizing Technology, and invited fellow classmates to join me in researching the implementation of DI, UDL through the integration of technology into our classrooms. During our time of sharing I acquired many useful sites to aid in carrying out the principals of DI and UDL, some of which are, “differentiating learning by readiness, interest, and learning profile” (Laurete, 2009). As I noted earlier Tomlinson suggests that knowing students in a meaningful way helps teachers find the best ways to help a student find success. Some technology tools that I gleaned and found the useful from the DS that help teachers get to know their students better are: http://daretodifferentiate.wikispaces.com/Knowing+the+Learner , this site has an extensive list of links to help in the development DI. It contains learning style inventories, leaning profile surveys, multiple intelligence surveys, and other resources for getting to know your learners. Survey Pirate http://www.surveypirate.com is another great site where you can build you own student surveys that reflect your personal content area.

Finally, as I begin to integrate more DI into my personal lesson plans I will take this thought from Tomlinson in to consideration, start slow, “It is better to do a few things well. Set goals for yourself, and stick with them, but make sure they are reasonable goals” (Tomlinson, 1999). Therefore, for the next school year I will set the goal to know my students better through a series of surveys, and using that information to direct my instructional practices to insure that every student is getting what they need to succeed in my classes, while carefully monitoring the stressfulness of the new classroom practices.

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Differentiating Instructional Elements. Baltimore: Author.

Tomlinson, C. (1999). Differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development.