Differentiation

The past couple of classes, we talked a lot about differentiation. What is differentiation?  More importantly, what does it mean to me as a future teacher?Differentiation is realizing there are many types of students one can have in a classroom, and it is a teacher's job to tailor instruction to meet the individualized needs of the students.  This can mean many things such as a student's way of learning, how they learn, and their abilities as far as the content goes.  There are many things that can be altered to help children learn to the best of their abilities.  Whether it's a change in the learning environment, the process, products, or the content, there are many factors that play into a child's education.

I have experienced differentiation in the classroom before.  It happened a lot in high school, where a teacher would tell us to get computers, and we would all work at our own pace.  It was great because each student could almost teach themselves the concepts, but also have the teacher close in case they had a question or needed help.  It taught us how to be independent.  A way to tailor instruction in the classroom for differentiation would be students working together in groups.  Each student can say their input and feed off of one another's ideas to create a learning environment that best suits all the students.  Another way teachers can incorporate differentiated lesson plans is by having one of the students teach the class a concept.  For example, if one student is a tactile learner (meaning he learns by writing down information and doing physical activity) and a teacher allows him to go up to the board to write and explain aloud his concept, then the visual and auditory learners in the class can learn from the student's demonstration.  The student is also learning because he is writing down and physically teaching the class.  It is a win-win situation for all the students; plus, it's fun for them, and it mixes it up.

I feel that technology would play a huge role in classroom differentiation.  As stated above, when my fellow classmates and I went on the computers, we could all work at our own pace.  Technology allows us to expand our knowledge how we need it done in the most personal and interesting way.  It makes learning more diversified.  Smart boards are a great way to help students learn differently.  Drawing on the board itself helps visual learners and incorporating movies and videos help auditory learners.  There are many things that different types of technology can do to help us prepare the future generation.