What About Differentiating Instruction

Everyday in the classroom students are met with the difficult challenge of learning new material in the best way.  It is the teachers responsibility to meet the needs of the students by differentiating instruction so that students will have best possibility of becoming successful in the classroom.  "Differentiation is a method of teaching that asks teachers to know their students so well that they can respond to individual needs and provide tasks and learning experiences that move each student forward" (Robb, L., 2013. p. 14). Students with disabilities have a wide array of needs.  Differentiating instruction can provide a flexible way of providing the same content with a different delivery.  The authors of the article Differentiating Instruction for Disabled Students in Inclusive Classrooms state that
"offering the same lesson to all makes no sense when every indication is that U.S. classrooms are inherently diverse. Teachers who use DI expect students to bring a variety of experiences, abilities, interests, and styles to their learning; they acknowledge
that these affect students’ performance in the classroom; and they address this natural diversity when planning and delivering rigorous and relevant, yet flexible and responsive, instruction" (Broderick, A., Mehta-Parekh, H., & Reid, D., 2005. p. 196).

The Florida Center For Reading Research states that We encourage all Reading First teachers to reflect carefully on the individual needs of students and to 

employ the particular type of lesson structure that will be most effective in meeting their needs for differentiated instruction.  Teachers do not need to set the lowest possible goals for their struggling readers. It is important that teachers are reflecting on this statement when they are evaluating their students.  "Educators often express the mistaken belief

that a student who has not mastered basic skills cannot engage in higher-order thinking. However, all students should be supported and encouraged to engage in critical thinking and problem solving. Instruction simply needs to meet struggling learners at the point of their current achievement and systematically escalate their learning" (Broderick, A., Mehta-Parekh, H., & Reid, D., p. 198).

Differentiated instruction is essential in today’s classroom. Inclusion is becoming a norm for all schools; the majority of teachers will have a mixture of general education students and students with disabilities. Diversity in the students in the classroom is constantly changing. Teachers need to be able to shape the curriculum to fit each of the students needs. The one size fits all method that has been used in the past does not reach all students now and therefore, it is not fair as some students will either be left behind or not pushed to reach their full academic potential. As Heacox (2002) noted, “Differentiated instruction means providing high levels of challenge and active engagement in rigorous, relevant, and significant learning (p. 17)”. If a student already knows the material and is forced to sit there while the rest of the class is re-mediating then they are not receiving significant learning. Differentiated instruction allows us to offer this student enrichment material that is not just “fluff” or busy work. This student will be allowed to get a more in depth look at the material that will allow him or her to develop their critical thinking skills. Students with disabilities can also benefit from differentiated instruction. This allows them to reach some subject material that they might not be able to reach if it was not modified to their learning styles and needs. When differentiated instruction is implemented correctly it is not only “fair” for all students but it is the most beneficial to them. Mary Anne Hess points out that, “Teachers tend to aim instruction toward the middle range of students. Then two-thirds of the kids aren’t getting anything.” This drives how the point that differentiated instruction is “fair” to all students. If you are a parent you do not want your child sitting in class and not receiving quality instruction either because they don’t understand the material or because they already know the material and are not being challenged.

Educators can: 

• Change the learning environment
• Apply assessment variations
• Modify content 
• Help with varying support

Changes in the learning environment can include making the material relateable to the student or by providing a classroom where  they can discuss subject matter with their peers, other students would rather learn alone.  Applying assessment variations can allow the student to select from several assessment options.  Some teachers create customized rubrics for each student at the beginning of a unit.  When an educator modifies content, they are offering options to students during lessons and by altering or tailoring the lessons based on the students skill level.  Some students may be able to progress independently through a lesson or unit, while others need additional support. Teachers can enhance student learning by offering support based on individual needs.

Key Points To Remeber: 

Knowing your students is key

Knowing where they come from (cultural up bringing) what extra curricular activities, past problems they have had with academics

Most enjoyable thing pertaining to academics.

Knowing your students creates better outcomes in your classroom

The ability to adapt a lesson/unit plan to fit the needs of all students is an essential part of being a teacher in today’s world of inclusion classrooms.

When differentiating instruction, teachers must realize that there is not only one way to reach that final goal

There is always going to be multiple paths to get to the final goal, just find the best way to present it to your students to fit their needs

References:

Robb, L. (2013). New Angles on Differentiating Reading Instruction: Five Best Practices That Deserve a New Chapter in the Common Core Era. New England Reading Association Journal, 49(1), 13-21.

Watts-Taffe, S. (2012). Differentiated Instruction: Making Informed Teacher Decisions. Reading Teacher, 66(4), 303-314.

Broderick, A., Mehta-Parekh, H., & Reid, D. (2005). Differentiating Instruction for Disabled Students in Inclusive Classrooms. Theory Into Practice, 44(3), 194-202. doi:10.1207/s15430421tip4403_3

Heacox, D. (2002). Differentiating instruction in the regular classroom: How to reach and teach all learners, grades 3-12. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit

Hess, M. (1999). Although some voice doubts, advocates say differentiated instruction can raise the bar for all learners. Retrieved from http://www.liu.edu/CWIS/CWP/library/workshop/citapa.htm

Applying What We Know & How We Can Utilize What We Know

There are many different ways that students can interact with new literacies. Online text contains multimedia supports that aids struggling readers. An example below is of an interactive website that can help a reader who is struggling and also uses visual supports to help in successful reading comprehension. The attachments below "All Children Learn" is an instructional packet that can give students and teachers different methods of differentiating instruction for the classroom.

 The website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/famouspeople/christopher_columbus/ is an interactive website that can let students learn about Christopher Columbus.  Students can utilize the different links to learn about the early days, the travels, how he changed history as well as other important information.

The website above "Knowing Poe" is an interactive website that students can read works of Edgar Allen Poe, learn about the author, listen (differentiating instruction), as well as utilizing timelines and other technological works.  

References: 

http://knowingpoe.thinkport.org/library/theraven_astin.asp

Strategies Revolving Around Trends

Below are a couple of examples of how we can take different reading and writing strategies and utilize them through new literacies and differentiation.  RAFT:  is a writing strategy that helps students understand their role as a writer, the audience they will address, the varied formats for writing, and the topic they'll be writing about. By using this strategy, teachers encourage students to write creatively, to consider a topic from a different perspective, and to gain practice writing for different audiences.

You will see this is an interactive website that allow student to digitally complete RAFT using the internet and modern technology.  

The second attachment is from http://www.vocabulary.co.il/ which lets students interactively play games, complete task, and utilize the website by learning different reading and vocabulary strategies. Teachers or students are able to pick the grade level and various activities in which can be completed in or out of the classroom setting.  

When teachers vary instructional strategies and activities, more students learn content and information, and they develop the necessary skills. "Differentiated instruction allows all students to access the same classroom curriculum by providing entry points, learning tasks, and outcomes tailored to students’ learning needs"(Watts-Taffe, S., 2012. p. 304). Studies within the research by Watts-Taffe showed that "students greater gains in word reading and reading comprehension when their teachers differentiated instruction, using small, flexible learning groups during a center or station time, than did students whose" (Watts-Taffe., p. 305).  The article by Watts-Taffe carries out different instructional strategies for reading and writing in the classroom. The author also notes on e-books which is also a new literacies interactive ways for students to interact with the text in the most effective ways. 

References

Robb, L. (2013). New Angles on Differentiating Reading Instruction: Five Best Practices That Deserve a New Chapter in the Common Core Era. New England Reading Association Journal, 49(1), 13-21.

Watts-Taffe, S. (2012). Differentiated Instruction: Making Informed Teacher Decisions. Reading 

Teacher, 66(4), 303-314.

Lessons to incorporate in the classroom

Above are the lessons that I implemented in the classroom setting for this assignment.

Pros & Cons To New Literacies

Pros To New Literacies: 

• Innovative thinking can occur through the use of technology 
• Inclusion for all students in the classroom 
• Higher student engagement 
• Technology integration
• Easily transferred to home life or other social networks of friends 
• Community connections
• Meaning making 
• Students reading more frequently 
• Students reading for longer periods of time 
• Development of critical thinking 
• Increase in fluency 
• Development of vocabulary 
• Broadening a students schema 
• Collaboration through literacy instruction 

Cons To New Literacies: 

• Sufficient funds for schools to purchase materials and equipment needed 
• Does the reader maintain full engagement while being involved in the text
• Lack of preparation from the educator to utilize technology properly 
• Consistency in authentic and appropriate text for students 
• Ensuring the safety of your students through the use of the internet 
• That the technology is not equipped to meet the Common Core Standards requested by the state. 
• Little consistency in multimedia formatting of information 
• Little in the way of quality control of information that is constructed and communicated 
• Amount of information [“info-garbage”] can be overwhelming
• Many resources are out of date or have not been updated for years
• Digital manipulation is a popular form of deception
• Information for kids is intertwined with hidden social, economic and political agendas

References: 

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBMBLhqMGjecUL0b1amqeSw

http://www.lite.iwarp.com/compint.html

What About New Literacies

"At the current rate of growth, more than one-half of the world’s population will be online in five to seven years and most of the world will be online in 10 to 15 years" (Leu, D. J et al,. p. 5).  Students will be able to deliver information more clearly, transfer knowledge to other individuals faster, come to solutions more quickly, and evaluate information more effectively through the utilization of new literacies.  

To be literate today often means being able to use some combination of blogs, wikis, texting, search engines, Facebook, foursquare, Google Docs, Skype, Chrome, iMovie, Contribute, Basecamp, or many other relatively new technologies, including thousands of mobile applications, or “apps”(Leu, D. J et al,. p. 6).  How will this play a role in our students learning? Reading online can be a collarbortive process for all of your students in the classroom. It can be a time where students can take a topic or research and work together to find multiple solutions or key findings within that research.  

Because networked information technologies invite more and diverse people to exchange information, the new literacies require us to read more critically and they enable us to develop new insights about far more cultural traditions and ways of knowing than we have ever experienced.  Being sensitive to this diversity and developing more critical reading skills within networked ICT will be an important aspect of the new literacies. 

 Courtesy of: http://www.sp.uconn.edu/~djleu/newlit.html

According to the International Reading Association,  to become fully literate in today's society students need to become proficient in the technologies of the 21st century.  With this evaluation, it is important that educators effectively integrate these technologies in the the learning environment.   One quote that I found within researching new literacies stuck out over the majority.  "As readers actively read for the purpose of comprehension, they think of many things and apply various strategies. For example, they activate prior knowledge; create mental images; examine the text’s structure and organization; and notice symbols, images, and other literary devices. These activities can be categorized as reader factors and text factors"(Larson, L. p. 281). "Technology is argued as a solution that will close the gap between teachers, and the traditional method of teaching, and students of the new generation. E-books provide an opportunity for teachers and children to connect and share knowledge, build relationships through literacy developing activities, and enhance stimulation in literacy enriched environments (Strickland & Morrow, 1989). Larson (2008) argues that altering traditional reading workshops to electronic reading workshops is crucial, as well as, educating teachers on how to implement technology and effectively use e-books within an elementary classroom" (Wright, S., Fugett, A., & Caputa, F., 2013. p. 368). 
I did not  realize when activating a students schema that not only do previous literary works play a role in their prior knowledge but technology and experiences surrounding technology.  

References: 

Leu, D. J., McVerry, J., O'Byrne, W., Kiili, C., Zawilinski, L., Everett-Cacopardo, H., & ... Forzani, E. (2011). The New Literacies of Online Reading Comprehension: Expanding the Literacy and Learning Curriculum. Journal Of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 55(1), 5-14

Larson, L. (2012). It's Time to Turn the Digital Page: Preservice Teachers Explore E-Book Reading. Journal Of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 56(4), 280-290 (new literacies) 

Wright, S., Fugett, A., & Caputa, F. (2013). Using E-readers and Internet Resources to Support Comprehension. Journal Of Educational Technology & Society, 16(1), 367-379.

Why Should This Be Important To Me As A Future Educator?

The one thing that comes to mind when I think of teaching students that are have a learning disability is "how can I reach them to teach them?" It is something that makes me start thinking of the possibilities out there for not only students with disabilities but general education students.  

New Literacies is making its mark on the forefront and paving the way for new learning in classrooms. Not only does it provide multiple outlooks for students but also gives educators a different way to approach a lesson or topic. 
I believe that differentiated instruction  & applying new literacies can coincide with one another. Differentiated instruction is the option where educators can structure learning environments that address the variety of learning styles, interests, and abilities found within a classroom. When reaching those different learning styles, new literacies can take place in helping those teachers differentiate to meet the needs of that child.