Hot Topics

To participate in this discussion area simply send an email to rtdc@umf.maine.edu with the subject header: Subscribe Hot Topics and you will be added to our listserve that will allow you to post your thoughts and alert you to every new post made by members of the discussion group. We’re looking forward to some stimulating conversations on different monthly topics and are planning some type of “reward” for the school that has the greatest number of participants each month.

Article headline—This month’s topic is: Differentiated Instruction

A single seventh grade heterogeneous language arts class is likely to include students who can read and comprehend as well as most college learners; students who can barely decode words, comprehend meaning, or apply basic information; and students who fall somewhere between these extremes. There are students whose primary interests lie in science, sports, music, or a dozen other fields. There are students who learn best by working alone and those who are most successful working in groups. Further, the learning profiles of young adolescents often change rapidly as they develop. There simply is no single learning template for the general middle school class. If middle school students differ in readiness, interest, and learning profiles, and if a good middle school attempts to meet each student where he or she is and foster continual growth, a one-size-fits-all model of instruction makes little sense. Rather differentiated instruction seems a better solution for meeting the academic diversity that typifies the middle school years. (Tomlinson, 1995)

Howard Gardner’s research on multiple intelligence paved the way for recognition of different learning styles. It is common knowledge today that no two people learn in exactly the same manner, yet how often have we experienced a classroom where the lecture is aimed at the “average” learner? Lecture? Average?
Visuals: desks in orderly rows, teacher at the board, students taking notes (students sleeping, students starring out the window, students passing notes, students talking, students finishing a science assignment), students ALL expected to meet standard…
Questions for our reading audience of master teachers: What tips can you offer the novice teachers, or each other, to break out of this mold? Don’t we HAVE to facilitate learning in numerous ways to give our learners the best possible path to meeting and exceeding standard? DO we have to meet each and every learner where they are at this point in time and guide them to a higher point, a deeper knowledge? HOW can we engage each and every learner in every core content area to become interested enough to reach their individual potential?
Questions for our novice teachers: What tips can you offer the veteran teachers, or each other, to break out of this mold? Is classroom management a concern for you? Could it be related to learner engagement? Could it be related to the format of instruction? Or is instruction driven by the classroom environment? If the class is “good” does your teaching style become more learner-centered than teacher-centered?
What is differentiated instruction? To everyone reading this, please post YOUR definition of that term. We’ll post one researchers’ stance and definition next month to further this discussion.

Anita & Sandy will be checking posts on a regular basis and we’re working on a plan to reward the school with the highest participation rate. This is a corner where we can all share our knowledge to assist each others’ professional growth.