Abstract: This chapter discusses the importance of incorporating differentiated instruction into the curriculum and how to be a successful teacher. There are two important concepts to being a successful teacher, curriculum and structure/instruction. These two aspects to teaching need to be uniquely balanced and mastered by the teacher to offer a plan for student success. Being able to have a powerful curriculum allows students to have a better chance of understanding the material. Most teachers would agree that differentiated instruction is the best way to create a responsive teaching/learning environment. Responsive teaching is when the teacher analyzes’ a student to be able to teach to a students strengths. Also the curriculum should focus on the important concepts of a unit and allow all students to become engaged with the material. The following are nine skills/attitudes that teachers should use to effectively teach:
- Have a clear curriculum
- Accept responsibility for the student success in school
- Create a respectful environment
- Talk and share with other about multiple intelligences
- Have well developed classroom management
- Help students
- Have flexibility
- Use a variety of instructional strategies (example; Jigsaw)
- Reflect on student progress
The chapter goes a step further in describing these skills/attitudes by offering examples of each in the classroom.
Class Reflection: There were many different views and concepts each student in the class discussed in their reflections. The following is a compilation that gives the general consensus of the class’ thoughts on this chapter. The main concepts in this chapter offer a way for teachers to effectively convey the material. Also the concepts of this chapter, mainly the nine skills/attributes closely parallel the MEL theory. The act of teaching is using concepts, like ones discussed in the chapter, and applying them to one’s teaching method/style and constantly refining and adapting to the effectiveness of the teaching. The two most popular concepts discussed are for a teacher to be flexible and establish goals with the students. These both allow students to be the focal point of a lesson opposed to the lesson plan, students come first.
5 comments:
Nick,
I really like that you included the link on MEL, you were able to give us new information on something that we could all relate to and knew a lot about.
really great entry and awesome links! i especially liked the strategies for differentiating learning. good job!
I really like the Jigsaw site. A lot of my teachers in high school and even my college instructors use this method and it always seems to work.
I love the site about differentiateed instruction. It seems like there is everything on that Web site!
I was really interested by the jigsaw link. I felt that there were so many rich sources on there that I could have spent an hour just learning about that topic! great resource for different learning techniques and strategies in the classroom.
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