Week Six:
In Tomlinson, it focused on three student traits and how to differentiate instruction in the classroom: readiness, interest and learning profile (45). The whole point is to push the "student a little beyond his or her comfort zone and then provides support in bridging the gap between the known or unknown" (Tomlinson 45). Another important aspect mentioned in Tomlinson is the foundational to transformational aspect which means that when a teacher introduces a new idea to a student that the student needs time to " practice applying the idea in a straightforward way" and "they need to stretch and bend the idea and see how it interacts with other ideas to create a new thought" (46). The second aspect is concrete to abstract which means that the "key information or material" will have to "open a door for meaningful abstraction" by the teacher giving the "readiness or timing" a student needs (Tomlinson 46). Simple to complex id just the big picture that each teacher needs to look at. The fact that "some students may need to work more simply with one abstraction at a time; others may be able to handle the complexity of multiple abstractions" (Tomlinson 46). I believe these are the basics needed to start with but Tomlinson does also mention "single facet to multiple facets" meaning projects, problem solving, and few steps to multiple solutions when making lesson plans (Tomlinson 48). She also mentions "structured to open-ended", "dependent to independent" and "slow to fast" all of these aspects will help in skill building, pacing, and demonstrating principles to your students (48). The entire point that Tomlinson stresses is that teachers have to differentiate content, process, and product in order to reach their students and getting them to aim higher than their comfort zones (51).
Upon reading this I thought back to last weeks lesson plans for my 7th and 6th graders. I wrote the lessons plans the week before to have the students each do a poster on a famous Canadian. As the week progressed and we spoke in class discussion about project details; the kids asked if they could do food or bring in an animal. So I changed the project details and got their parents and myself to sign off on what they were doing. But the exciting thing was to see them interested and wanting to research Canada more. I learned to be flexible so the students can learn. Tomlinson is absolutely correct, you cannot do one way for everyone because you will lose some students along the way. I also saw when I switched how my 7th graders took notes, it really pushed them to think higher. They were doing pictorial notes but by having them do notes where they have to put into their own words what I want them to know- really opened up my eyes to what they do know and to what I was missing in my lectures.
Work Consulted
Jones, F. (2007). Tools for teaching. (2nd ed.). Santa Cruz, CA: Fred H. Jones & Associates, Inc.,
Tomlinson, C. A. (2005). How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms. (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson.
Wong, H. K., & Wong, R. T. (2009). The First Days of School. (4th ed.). Mountain View, CA: Harry K. Wong Publications, Inc.
In Tomlinson, it focused on three student traits and how to differentiate instruction in the classroom: readiness, interest and learning profile (45). The whole point is to push the "student a little beyond his or her comfort zone and then provides support in bridging the gap between the known or unknown" (Tomlinson 45). Another important aspect mentioned in Tomlinson is the foundational to transformational aspect which means that when a teacher introduces a new idea to a student that the student needs time to " practice applying the idea in a straightforward way" and "they need to stretch and bend the idea and see how it interacts with other ideas to create a new thought" (46). The second aspect is concrete to abstract which means that the "key information or material" will have to "open a door for meaningful abstraction" by the teacher giving the "readiness or timing" a student needs (Tomlinson 46). Simple to complex id just the big picture that each teacher needs to look at. The fact that "some students may need to work more simply with one abstraction at a time; others may be able to handle the complexity of multiple abstractions" (Tomlinson 46). I believe these are the basics needed to start with but Tomlinson does also mention "single facet to multiple facets" meaning projects, problem solving, and few steps to multiple solutions when making lesson plans (Tomlinson 48). She also mentions "structured to open-ended", "dependent to independent" and "slow to fast" all of these aspects will help in skill building, pacing, and demonstrating principles to your students (48). The entire point that Tomlinson stresses is that teachers have to differentiate content, process, and product in order to reach their students and getting them to aim higher than their comfort zones (51).
Upon reading this I thought back to last weeks lesson plans for my 7th and 6th graders. I wrote the lessons plans the week before to have the students each do a poster on a famous Canadian. As the week progressed and we spoke in class discussion about project details; the kids asked if they could do food or bring in an animal. So I changed the project details and got their parents and myself to sign off on what they were doing. But the exciting thing was to see them interested and wanting to research Canada more. I learned to be flexible so the students can learn. Tomlinson is absolutely correct, you cannot do one way for everyone because you will lose some students along the way. I also saw when I switched how my 7th graders took notes, it really pushed them to think higher. They were doing pictorial notes but by having them do notes where they have to put into their own words what I want them to know- really opened up my eyes to what they do know and to what I was missing in my lectures.
Work Consulted
Jones, F. (2007). Tools for teaching. (2nd ed.). Santa Cruz, CA: Fred H. Jones & Associates, Inc.,
Tomlinson, C. A. (2005). How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms. (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson.
Wong, H. K., & Wong, R. T. (2009). The First Days of School. (4th ed.). Mountain View, CA: Harry K. Wong Publications, Inc.