Is asking teachers to make different lessons, different versions of lessons, and different methods of teaching those lessons all for one class period too much? Probably. Will the world differentiate anything for our students? No. Is it necessary to ensure that all our kids are successful in school? Yes; however, that's a bigger question that goes beyond the classroom to standardized testing and learning as a whole. This blogger says differentiated instruction (DI) is critical, but if you believe in DI, you CAN'T believe in standardized testing as well. More after the jump.
Teaching is insanely time consuming. Time after school is spent lesson planning, going to games, sponsoring activities, and very rarely, having some personal time if you're lucky.
Our students all learn differently. Some are visual, some are audio, some are kinesthetic (tactile). With standardized tests requiring our students learn the same material and represent that knowledge in the SAME way, many teachers are trying to find the best way to teach sometimes +3 different ways in the same class. This requires EVEN MORE time outside of class to prepare for all the variables in learning.
This differentiation is critical to ensuring our students all learn the same material, but is it fair to ask teachers, who already sacrifcie so much, to sacrifice even more? No. I would argue that a better focus (a bit pie in the sky, I know) would be to allow for differentiation in assessments.
Teachers are stressed because they have to get everyone to the same place even though students begin at very different starting points. If we're unwilling to group students based on their particular learning needs and have a teacher dedicated to that style (not a bad idea), then we need to have more flexible assessments.
We need to be less focused on WHAT they learned and more thankful THAT they learned. Everyone wants to champion growth, differentiation, and individuality until test time comes around and you want to hold teachers accountable.
I'm #teamdifferentiation, but that means I believe in differentiation at all levels. That is what consistency looks like Ed Reformers. It's like being Pro-life and Anti-death penalty. Consistent. That's what education needs. More on that later.
Our students all learn differently. Some are visual, some are audio, some are kinesthetic (tactile). With standardized tests requiring our students learn the same material and represent that knowledge in the SAME way, many teachers are trying to find the best way to teach sometimes +3 different ways in the same class. This requires EVEN MORE time outside of class to prepare for all the variables in learning.
This differentiation is critical to ensuring our students all learn the same material, but is it fair to ask teachers, who already sacrifcie so much, to sacrifice even more? No. I would argue that a better focus (a bit pie in the sky, I know) would be to allow for differentiation in assessments.
Teachers are stressed because they have to get everyone to the same place even though students begin at very different starting points. If we're unwilling to group students based on their particular learning needs and have a teacher dedicated to that style (not a bad idea), then we need to have more flexible assessments.
We need to be less focused on WHAT they learned and more thankful THAT they learned. Everyone wants to champion growth, differentiation, and individuality until test time comes around and you want to hold teachers accountable.
I'm #teamdifferentiation, but that means I believe in differentiation at all levels. That is what consistency looks like Ed Reformers. It's like being Pro-life and Anti-death penalty. Consistent. That's what education needs. More on that later.
RSS Feed