Over the past two weeks I have been able to observe the students in my classroom and watch my CE as they communicate with each other. It has been a time of growth and has taught me a lot about my personality and relating to the students, such as how do I compliment, what do I compliment for and how often do I choose this tactic. Our classroom is full of students from every background, every personality, every learning level and style. In this classroom, we have reading levels from 1st grade to 6th grade. When the North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards requires that you teach to a diverse group of students, it wasn't joking. You need to be prepared for all things.
Differentiation in a classroom is always one of the biggest obstacles to face. If a teacher longs to be more than a "cookie cutter teacher," one must clearly and effectively demonstrate differentiation. This link leads you to a few methods of keeping this in the classroom. It shows what the pace should look like in the classroom to how assessments should be altered in able to be appropriate for the student. I once made the mistake of saying differentiating lessons for students is the same thing as "watering down" the lesson. This was a mistake I WILL NOT be making again. I had meant that watering down the lesson for this child was creating a different version for the student to better understand, but in the education world, this did not mean the same thing. Watering down a lesson in this world is something similar to saying you were talking down to the child. We are not talking down to anyone in this profession and we are not simply teaching to the middle. We are creating ways to better communicate with people and help prepare them for a world that is difficult and is very advanced. This includes preparing them for living in the 21st century.
Technology is a great way to create differentiated instruction and help familiarize the students with proper tools of this time. My CE is confident in using her smartboard and she uses it effectively. She creates many lessons that are fun and engaging. I plan on going into one of the classrooms here on campus and just practicing using these strategies. This site takes you to the smart board website where you are able to put in the standards you are looking for, the grade, and the subject. Then you find a great supply of lessons to teach and smart notebook to help you lead better in the classroom. My CE will be expecting that I know how to use these types of devices when I start officially student teaching, so might as well start now. I look forward to using these tools and I am excited to prepare lessons with these devices.
Until next time,
Brittany Kertesz
Brittany,
ReplyDeleteThanks for embedding the NCTCS and for sharing resources in the post. Teaching a diverse group of students is never easy - what concrete steps are you taking now in order to be fully prepared for this challenge in the spring? Have you thought about specific strategies, development of instruction, etc to help you eliminate gaps now?
I am glad you report that your CE uses her SMART board to supplement her instruction - not just as a fancy overhead. What, specifically, have you observed that you are going to transfer and replicate in your student teaching experience?
Brittany,
ReplyDeleteThat is great that your CE is using technology to teach your students. I think that this is a extremely important in today's classrooms. They are surrounded by technology so why not use it to their benefit?
Ashley Carmean