SIXTH READING

This week we had a reading called 'What is differentiated instruction?', by Carol Ann Tomlinson.

5 words

- Tailoring instruction

- Ongoing assessment

- Flexible grouping

- Master content

- Product assignment

3 main ideas

- Differentiate instruction is adapting to the differences that learners of a classroom can present  in regard to their readiness, interest, or learning profile.

- If a teacher varies his or her way of teaching so that all the pupils, no matter their differences, can learn as positively as possible, that teacher will be differentiating instruction.

- There are at least four classroom elements that can be differentiated: content, process, products and learning environment.

      

Have I seen differentiated instruction during the Practicum?

Yes, I have. In this school many projects are done, in which students can always make their own creations as long as they follow some guidelines. For instance, during the Practicum pupils of 3rd grade had to create a monster to practise the parts of the body. They could do it as they preferred, but they had to describe it as it was created. Therefore, the final products were very different.

Have I seen some critical event this week?

This week there has been the last English lesson for the students of 6th grade before going to the high school. Therefore, the teacher was really interested in knowing how they had felt during the year and if they thought that they had improved their English. She wanted them to express their opinions and feelings but, curiously enough, nobody spoke. She tried and encouraged them to participate, but none of them wanted to say anything. Finally, she told them that if they didn't want to say anything, they could go back to classroom, but the teacher felt sorry for that because she knew that it was their last time together and was very interested in the thoughts of her pupils.