•How can one teacher possibly manage a classroom and meet individual student needs?
It is a challenge for one teacher to manage a classroom and meet individual student’s needs; however, there are ways it could be done. Using the methods we learned about differentiating instruction, there can be several stations going on at a time in a classroom. The teacher can be walking around the room actively monitoring all the stations, or the stations can be work that students are able to do on their own (or with help of peers) while the teacher is teaching another small group of students at a time.
There are several methods/techniques we learned about that allow a classroom to be differentiated and run efficiently. Stations, small groups, anchor activities, independent work, or a “flipped classroom” all help differentiate a classroom.
I still think, even when using these methods, that it is a huge challenge to run all these stations being one person. While a teacher is teaching a small group, someone doing group work may have a question- what happens then?. I think these methods would be more effective with a co-teacher or assistant teacher helping in the classroom. It is especially challenging making sure young students stay on task in their different groups without having another teacher (or even two depending on the size class) around.
•How can a teacher maximize his/her role during whole class instruction, independent, and/or group work time?
While there are several groups working at one time, the teacher needs to be walking around the room and available to the students to guide them and answer questions. The desks need to be placed effectively for this purpose.
A great way for the teacher to maximize their role in the classroom is to rotate groups for frontal instruction and independent/group work-meaning, the teacher can teach smaller groups of kids who are more on the same level, while other students have a chance to attempt independent work after the instruction. Of course, this works more effectively with an assistant/co-teacher who could attend/guide the group of independent workers while there is a group being instructed by the teacher. Or, the work that the students are given can be work that they for sure will know how to tackle themselves, and the teacher can go over it with the full classroom afterwards.
•How can the use of differentiated instruction improve student performance?
The use of differentiated instruction can improve student performance, since students will be learning more at their level at a regular basis. In a regular classroom ,the teacher ends up mostly teaching to the middle, making two thirds of the class either bored or confused at a given time. This method of differentiating the instruction allows students to feel better about their learning, since they are learning at a level that is fit for them. Hopefully, if there are less frustrated students, classroom management will be easier since (hopefully) less students will be acting up.
•How can we best differentiate instruction?
We can best differentiate instruction by making different group activities, stations, teir and anchor activities, as well as independent work that students can do. We need to make the groups carefully and make sure each student is working at a level that is fitting for them- both challenging and doable. As teachers, we need to be able to guide our students properly with their learning.
An interesting idea that we learned about was the “flipped classroom”. That allows students to learn at their own pace at home, and then have help and guidance from the teacher in the classroom as they actively tackle the work. It is a very interesting idea. I don’t know if I would use it for every class but I would be open to trying it out occasionally.
•How will we know our work has been successful for our learners?
We know our work has been successful for our learner when the student shows he/she understands the concepts taught and can perform tasks taught on their own. Tests and or activities that are designed properly can determine this. We can also see that our work has been successful for learners based on the attitude of the students- if the students are generally happy or not with their work and the classroom environment. If students are not successful, or if the method of work is not working out for the specific student, the students most likely will not be happy with the class and will not be motivated to learn further.