Differentiation

When I first started teaching, it was all I could do to figure out what systems I wanted to use. Was I going to give homework every night or give one large packet on Monday and have it due Friday? How would we figure out who would get to take out the two playground balls each recess? How would I communicate with parents in my class, many of whom didn’t speak English?

I was overwhelmed with the possibilities and drove my students a bit batty with my constantly changing systems. I had been trained to look at each child as an individual and meet his/her specific needs. Yeah, it all sounded good but in the moment I was not thinking about how to meet the needs of each child in my classroom. A colleague told me it takes three years to get settled and I found that to be just about right.

By the end of my first three years, I was feeling settled within my classroom. I had systems that worked for my students, their parents and me. I was feeling confident and I was repeating some lessons, doing them better each time. It was then that I began to think about differentiation and how to meet the multiple and varied needs of all those little people sitting in front of me.

Whenever you feel ready to start differentiating in your classroom, I highly recommend reading, Strategies for Differentiating Instruction by Julia L. Roberts and Tracy F. Inman.

The first few chapters of this book provide a great explanation for why teachers should differentiate. The authors draw examples from every day life and make a compelling case for changing our teaching to meet each child’s needs.

The authors then offer some practical ways to differentiate. I particularly enjoyed their chapter on Venn Diagrams. This is a tool that most teachers already use. A little bit of tweaking can make it a tool that can challenge higher level thinkers while still including students who are at the beginning stages of learning a concept. All students can be involved in studying the same subject, but in a different way. Students can then learn from each other as they share their work. All students will be engaged in the work they are doing yet all will still feel part of the larger lesson.

I was also very glad to see their chapter on Bloom’s Taxonomy. Since national testing currently focuses on the first few levels of the taxonomy, teachers are often unfamiliar with how to design experiences that address the higher levels. Roberts and Inman offer many examples that will help teachers become more familiar with this tool.

Using Venn Diagrams is another way to engage all students in the same topic yet provide more depth and complexity for those who are ready for it. While employing differentiation, I have always worked to keep my students engaged in the same topics at the same time. I think it builds community because students have common ground to share. I recently visited a Montessori classroom and I asked about this sense of community. Since the model of Montessori is that all students work at their own pace, often on different topics, I wondered how the teachers built community. The teacher I spoke with said that even in their classrooms, the students come together a few times a day to engage in a group activity or experience. This builds community, trust, and energy in the classroom.

Of course, when one has different students engaging in different activities, the real question is assessment. How does one compare apples to oranges? Roberts and Inman see rubrics as the solution and they provide many samples in their book for teachers to use. One school I was at used narrative reports in place of report cards. This allowed the teacher to write about each child’s work, their strengths, and their challenges without needing to compare apples to apples. It is time consuming but maybe if we are differentiating to the fullest, then the students’ report cards should be differentiated as well.

Throughout the book the Roberts and Inman repeat that a teacher’s expectations should be continuous progress for all students. I would add “in all areas” to that as well. As a teacher I have always felt that “continuous progress” is a goal for me too. This book provides many ideas that will help teachers in their journey to continually improve their practice.

Searching for Mentors

Recently I have been feeling let down by the Baby Boomer Generation.  They were there to help me learn to tie my shoes, write an essay in French, manage my checkbook, and apply for a job.  Teachers, parents, my friend’s parents.  It felt as if there were a net of adults helping me along my way.  But as I near forty, it seems as if all that guidance has fallen by the wayside. 

PROFESSIONAL

I recently finished Carol Dweck’s Mindset.   Wow.  She describes some bosses and managers who are so inspirational.  They surround themselves with the best talent they can find and hope that they, along with the employees will all learn in this type of environment.  They understand that mistakes are part of the learning process and encourage innovation.  She describes managers with a fixed mindset on the other hand, who surround themselves with incompetent people and squeeze out those who really know their stuff.   The focus of those with a fixed mindset is on preserving their own superiority.  This is often accomplished by putting others down. 

A person in a management position has such potential to be a positive influence in people’s lives.  They can encourage, inspire, and promote and atmosphere of learning.  They mentor others and help them reach their professional goals.  I want to work for someone who encourages me to do my best and appreciates my efforts to extend myself in new ways.  It saddens me that I haven’t yet had the opportunity to work for someone like this.

I do have one professional mentor who has been a guide for many years.  She shows me possible next steps, shares her wisdom and experiences.  She has been a guide from my early years in my career through to present day where I am now looking to change directions and move onto a different arena in the field of education.  I am grateful to her guidance.  She never was my manager but is a more experienced teacher who has been willing to share her experiences with me.

PARENTING

Another area where I would like some guidance is in the arena of parenting.  I would love to hear from some old hands about their parenting experiences.  My parents are strangely silent on the issue.  I think they don’t want to influence me but truly, I’d rather hear 100 stories and draw ideas from them, than none.  Most people I know are in the throes of parenting young children but it would be great to hear from those with more perspective.  We have the close-up right now and I’m sure there are pieces we cannot see because we are so close to it.

MARRIAGE

How about the issue of marriage?  As I look around I only find one Baby Boomer I know who is still married.  A little guidance here, please.  Modeling?  Some advice?  None.

Most people I know of my generation are married.  I think getting married was a leap of faith on our parts.  We have a desire to not end up divorced like our parents.  But it will be challenging to maintain strong relationships without models of how to do so.  I have learned a great deal about the emotional path of families involved in divorce.  I’d rather be learning about the path of families that stay together.

LOOKING AROUND FOR MENTORS

How about some guides from the public sphere?  The Obamas hold promise. Michelle is well educated, raising young children, and reaching out to others.   But I keep waiting for the other shoe fall for some reason.  I hope it doesn’t.  Hillary Clinton?  I heard her speak in college and she moved me to tears.  She was such an inspiration but then I disagreed with some of her positions that would affect mothers and families.   Who else?  My mother in law suggested that perhaps we cannot look to public figures as mentors.  She suggested I look to people who are less well known and are perhaps humming along in their own quiet way following their values and inspiring those around them.  My next step is the biography section of the library.  Perhaps I can find a bit of guidance there. 

Part of me wonders if this is just what happens at midlife, that one’s relationship to other adults shifts.  One realizes that all adults are flawed and one starts to find guidance from within.  But then I think it just cannot be true.  There have to be elders to look up to and admire throughout life.  There will always be those who are older and could share a nugget of wisdom or two.

I was recently asked, “Who are your mentors?” and “To whom are you a mentor?”  As a teacher I have thought that I was doing my job but also doing community service at the same time.  I don’t have time or energy to do more with kids outside of school.  But now I am thinking that there is even more I could do in the classroom.  I have been teaching kids how to spell and borrow and carry but have I been doing enough to model for them what it means to be a person of integrity?  To carry oneself in a respectful manner?  To make hard decisions, which are sometimes unpopular?  To be a good friend?  These are the pieces that are harder to teach.  Students won’t pick these up playing an educational game in their free time at home.   Perhaps they are more important to teach than the next lesson on fractions.

So, with the new year upon us, I ask you, “Who are you mentors?” and “To whom are you a mentor?”  What can you do to share your life knowledge with others?  We will build stronger connections, communities, and people if we start to think about these questions.  I have made a new year’s resolution to find some mentors for myself and to reach out to some who need mentoring.