I'm going to just dive right into chapter six of "Fulfilling the Promise."
"All children can learn"
does not mean
"All children are the same"
If we are going to take teaching seriously, we need to realize that students are not just different on the outside (like their appearance) yet they are different on the inside as well. Just like at school in almost all of our classes we have been taught that FAIR IS NOT EQUAL...this is something BIG to remember when differentiating.
In Fulfilling the Promise it talks about how a teacher always functions with the students in mind. A teacher creating ties in the classroom builds student confidence through both an escalating sense of personal worth and realization of personal power.
The teacher says to the students because you matter, I'll do my best to:
1. Make sure I teach and you learn what is genuinely of value in a subject.
2. Pique your curiosity about what we explore, capture your interest, and help you see daily that learning is inherently satisfying.
3. Call on you consistently to help you become more than you thought you could become through dedicated work.
4. Be your partner, coach, mentor and taskmaster all alone your learning journey in this class.
I think that all 4 of those things are REALLY important for both the teacher to do and for the student to understand that the teacher is doing them. Learning is important and the KEY to teaching. If students aren't learning, then what is the point? right? .....So be sure that you teach what is important for them to know and understand and make sure that you are letting them explore and you are teaching ways that will help engage your students so they will be excited to learn. Also, hold students accountable while you are teaching and be sure you are coaching them and mentoring them while they learn. I believe that if you do ALL of these things, you students will definitely gain TRUST in you and your classroom with run smoothly.
I thought this was so appropriate for this post and for differentiation. Seriously....if a child isn't learning how you are teaching, you need to make some adjustments and teach the way they learn so learning is actually possible for them.
Just something to think about...
Until next time!!! :) BYE!
I love that green sign... I think I'd like to create a poster of it... for myself! This is really important stuff, Brina!
ReplyDeleteYes Brina I totally agree with you! Most often when students aren't getting it, it's our fault. We've got to figure out how they learn and what makes them tick! To do that we have morning meetings! An awesome pre-assessment in the low key style ;) also we have lots of different lesson models we can try!
ReplyDelete