I am a teacher candidate in the elementary program at the University of British Columbia, class of 2016. In the Personalized Learning and Technology cohort, I have been exposed to several techniques, applications, and ideas to integrate technology into a classroom to create an engaging lesson! Furthermore, through the theme of my cohort, I have learned how to meet the needs of diverse learners by differentiating instruction!
This blog will share my inquiry journey of differentiated instruction, its key features, and its strategies on how to implement it in a classroom! I believe that it is crucial for teachers to differentiate their instruction because we as teachers have diverse learners in our classrooms! Take me for example, I struggled with math throughout my primary years, yet, I received no differentiated instruction. I received the exact same assignments and quizzes as my peers, and, as a result, got average grades and an “S” for satisfactory on my report card. At an early age, I was unable to reach my true potential because one size did not fit me. I am now in a position in which I will help students reach their true potential by providing them with differentiated instruction.
I will also help students in becoming successful by incorporating my teaching philosophy in my practice. My teaching philosophy is based on meeting the needs of all learners, creating an engaging learning environment, and inspiring students to make connections to the real world. To meet the needs of diverse learners, I will incorporate differentiation strategies. To do this, it is crucial for me to understand my students, learn their interests, likes, and dislikes. By doing so, I believe I will be able to create a safe and engaging learning environment, in which students feel comfortable and confident in sharing their opinions, feelings, emotions, and questions. Finally, I hope to create lessons in which students are able to make connections to the real world, and find the relevance of subject content that is taught in schools. These elements of my teaching philosophy will help my students in becoming successful students – academically and socially.