Introduction
Differentiation is a teaching method where a teacher takes into consideration that students are different in their personality, social lives, and in their religious beliefs. This calls for a differentiated approach when the teacher is giving instruction this model requires that teachers give different content to students as per their ability and the available resources, and help them fit into their learning environment to meet each student’s different learning needs and achieve success. (“What Is DI” 1)
Carol Tomlinson
Carol Tomlinson first undertakes how to start differentiation when there is a lot to be a consideration. She advises teachers to start on the differentiation approach be it small or big and build it into a successful differentiation program over time. She notes that the results of a differentiation program cannot be achieved instantly, so it has to be built over some time. She states that the best way to start is by studying your students first and learning about their needs or starting with a reassessment program for different units. This will enable you to know how to start by looking at their reactions and feedback. The problem of it being time-consuming can be solved by building taking short periods to discuss with students regularly and use then using the short discussions to build the final diff program.. (“DifferentiationCentralReach Every Learner Every Day Through Differentiated Instruction” 1)
The best way to start is by using low preparation strategies at the start of the semester and developing them into high preparation strategies at the end of the semester. And by the end of the year, you will have several low and high preparation strategies which will enable you to build a good repertoire over some time. She concludes by saying that the best way to build differentiation strategies is by being positive about the idea of building a differentiation model and start working on it other than looking at the amount of work you have to do and the probability of failure. ( “DifferentiationCentralReach Every Learner Every Day Through Differentiated Instruction.” 1)
Mr. Optiz
Mr. Optiz believes in having cooperative class sessions. He has come up procedure of going about a cooperative class session. First, they come up with a set of working agreements, Secondly, you explain the business of the class, tell the students what you expect to happen during the cooperative class session. Thirdly have students work individually or in pairs to solve the problem. The fourth step is respecting all ideas; this enables the students to freely share their ideas with others without the fear of negative criticism. The fifth step is discussion solutions in a fishbowl where all the students are involved; this enables students to gain interactions techniques useful when teaching several students. If they are all free to express and listen to other people’s ideas, this creates an environment where all the students are free to learn. The sixth step is to Model the challenges of learning and make them adjust to them. The seventh step is to debrief fishbowl feedback to let the students be able to explain how they think. Lastly, close with reflection/journeying by taking time to model this routine by helping them develop their social and interaction skills helps make a class a better learning place for students with differentiated needs. ( “How to Teach Math as a Social Activity” 1)
An example of a cooperative task is Brainstorming, an interactive class session in which, students come up with ideas on how to solve problems that the students choose. This will enable students to use their social skills to communicate and interact and show their thinking and ability to solve problems.
Works cited
“How to Teach Math as a Social Activity.” Edutopia. Web. 2012. Web.
“DifferentiationCentralReach Every Learner Every Day Through Differentiated Instruction.” Video Archive. Web. 2012.
“DifferentiationCentralReach Every Learner Every Day Through Differentiated Instruction.” What Is DI? Web. 2012.