Ms. H is the pseudonym for a first-year, special education high school teacher.
Last week, my 9th grade classroom broke out in a heated argument when my co-teacher and I asked who the greatest rapper of all time was. Opinions cut through the air: Jay-Z, Fifty-Cent, Tu Pac, Biggie.
The learning style of my Learning Disabled and Emotionally Disturbed classified students vary as much as do their opinions of music. As a collaborative team teacher in my first year of teaching, differentiation is a term I’ve heard a million times and a term I came to dread my first few months of teaching.
I teach English in a team teaching environment where I, the special education teacher, push in and co-teach in a classroom that consists of both special needs and general education high school students.
The complication of this model of teaching is that in my classroom, I have students that are reading at a 4th grade level and then, some general education students who have been tested to read at 10th and 11th grade level. Questions arise: Who do I teach to? What level?
That’s where the term differentiation makes her grand entrance, I’ve been consistently told. I by no means have the answer to how to successfully meet the needs of all students at all times in this model, but there is one thing I’ve incorporated into my teaching since September that has proved successful in helping me to meet the needs of all students.
I have concentrated great effort in differentiating my lessons in the styles in which I deliver instruction. At the beginning of the year, I would talk through a lesson, verbally relay directions to my students, and then stand back, bewildered as chaos ensued.
Things have changed since September….
I have found that by giving instruction and directions in a variety of different forms, students are more likely to grasp new concepts and be able to follow procedure.
For example, when teaching paragraph structure, I verbally outlined the structure, provided a handout with the same information, then constructed moveable laminated magnets with each paragraph part (ie: thesis, supporting detail 1, supporting detail 2, supporting detail 3, conclusion) for students to arrange on the board. Thus, my kinesthetic learners were able to manipulate the pieces into the right sequence on the board while my auditory learners heard the lesson and my visual learners had a handout to follow.
This technique can be used many times during a lesson. Since I have initiated differentiating in the styles I disseminate instruction, I have found myself hearing less of the following: “What are we doing?” “I forgot what I’m supposed to be doing.” “What are we doing next?” “I’m lost.”
The great thing is that it doesn’t only benefit my struggling students, but the class in its entirety. Regardless of whether they are on a 4th grade reading level or an 11th grade level, everyone learns differently and their learning is maximized when they are given information in the learning style they learn best in.
