Differentiation October 20

There were some great handouts and ideas within these few pages of the book. I honestly believe I will use these in my own classroom because they give students a variety of ways to learn and comprehend the material. I know from personal experience that I have so many different ways of retaining knowledge, and these ways of learning can help me in my own educational career as well as my students! I loved the graphic organizer and the way it was set up. It's great to show students how two objects are similar and different and put it in a way that helps them actually visualize it. For me, the way of showing the information was really creative, and it just clicked. My favorite concept in the book was Learning Menus! How cute is that! I loved how the main course had more requirements than both the side dishes and the dessert. But as a teacher, I am someone who loves color and visual aides, and for me, this concept jumped out at me. I could laminate different food items, and write the requirements on the food itself. The students could choose the type of main course, side dish, or dessert they wanted to accomplish that day. I know this isn't technically something that will make a huge difference in each students' life, but I think that small things like this show how much you care. It just makes learning more fun!

October 13, 2008 Reading

I understand that tiering involves helping all students learn at their own level while still providing all the students opportunities to improve. We have discussed that every student that enters your classroom should gain one full year of growth regardless of the level that they come to you. It seems that tiering really tries to accomplish that. It takes every student, puts them into groups at their own level, and helps them to understand and comprehend the information at a speed which is comfortable to them. I do think it's important, however, to switch the groups around so the lower students don't always believe they are the ones struggling. If we really differentiate our classroom, we will be able to look at every student and find their strengths. By allowing students opportunities to prove they are good at something, it will motivate them to work harder in different subjects as well.
I enjoy the idea of Think-Tac-Toe, but I'm not sure if that is a perfect example of tiering. It allows students to be creative in discussing what they learned about their novel. However, they aren't placed in groups based on skill, understanding, or learning types. They choose the activities they want. In tiering, though, they are given questions or tasks based on their skill level. To make this a tiered activity, I would pre-assess the students and find out how they learn best. I would then place them in groups depending on those with similar learning styles. Then, as groups, they could present what they learned to each other.
I really liked the Ticket Time ideas. I think it's such a great idea because every student has different tasks, and the thing I like so much about it is that only the individual student knows the tasks he or she needs to accomplish for the week. You can differentiate without even having to divide the students into different groups. The students then need to be responsible to finish their Ticket Time ideas. I really like how there are guidelines in the Ticket Time folder so the students are aware of the things they are responsible for.
I also really like the Think Dots. I think it's a really great idea because it allows students to move at their own pace. It gives them questions and helps them to build upon the knowledge they have. I also like the questions on the Think Dots slowly gets more and more complex.