May 4, 2016

During my extended practicum, I have had the opportunity to put theory into practice in my classroom. Everything I had learned in my courses as well as my research on my inquiry question (differentiated instruction) has been very invaluable. Before this practicum I was well aware of the diverse needs in my class. In addition, it was very important to me that I would respond to each of my students equitably.

I have used differentiated instruction in almost every one of my lessons, assignments, and projects. The biggest differentiating I have been using was time. Allowing students more time to complete work is crucial in my classroom. While there are many students who finish work either very quickly or at the time I expected, there were still many students who struggling to get half their work done in the expected time. Instead of moving on or taking the work in for marks right away, giving more time allowed these students to obviously finish their work but also gave them equal opportunity to understand the content.

The more differentiation I use in my lessons, I have noticed more engagement. Giving students choice in how they want to hand in assignments/projects (either through artwork, stories, orally etc.) gives them more freedom as well as accountability to complete their work to the best of their ability.