How do I implement differentiated instruction in my classroom?
Richards High School is one of the most culturally diverse schools in the South Suburbs of Chicago. One important aspect about our school is that like any school we have and intellectual diversity. Working in this community for almost five years, I have seen a unique variety of people with different learning styles. Starting off my career in ELL Education and then moving into an environment of “at-risk” learners three years later, I have had my fair share of challenges to reach my students instructionally and emotionally. Because of this, I have spent the last two years of my career planning inquiry based instruction to understand which type differentiation works best for my students.
What I have learned in the last five years is that my classroom is not a “Hershey Kiss Factory” meaning that I cannot mold each student into the same shape and give them the same wrapper and cute little tag. My students cannot tailor themselves to my instruction. I have to adjust the instruction. In his book Differentiation, Rick Wormelli states that “We have accumulated a critical mass of new and compelling research about how the human brain learns and can use this information to transform our instruction and assessment methods- ignoring this is a form of educational malpractice.” Therefore, as teachers it is our responsibility not to assume that we can create a “Hershey Kiss Factory” out of population- instead we’re more of Fannie Mae box of assorted chocolates.
With this in mind, as a Literacy Workshop teacher, I have to understand that every student will not respond to a text similarly. As I studied the course Literacy Workshop over the summer, I took a long look at our curriculum binder. Understanding that these students are students who do not just struggle with literacy and illiteracy but also alliteracy, it is difficult for me to understand how these students can all read the same novel. Therefore, for my professional growth plan I decided to initiate a classroom inquiry with two of my literacy workshop classes.
The book that was suggested in the binder was Esperansa Rising. I felt this novel was not a good fit for my students because they really could not relate to the character. Then, I searched the book room in our LRC to find a book that was more relevant to my students. My sixth period class was given the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. The whole class had to read that novel, and complete the same assignments for that novel. We can call this group the “control group”. My eight period class was given a list of novels that we have multiple copies of in the LRC. They chose which novel suited their taste best in groups of three to five. The novels they selected were The Blindside, Feed, Touching Spirit Bear, Can True Love Survive High School?, and Speak.
To execute my plan properly, it is important to think about The “Vytgotsky space” and allow students discussion time and the use of their language and their peers to interpret the meaning of text. In regards to that “space” what I mean is this, students need a public space in order to understand different concepts and ideas. They can then later internalize the thoughts until the ideas become their own. As Taffy Raphael and Jim Gavelek suggest in the article “Changing Talk about Text: New Roles for Teachers and Students”, my role in this will be to scaffold, facilitate in, and participate in student conversations. It is not my role to completely direct the class. Eventually, my classroom will have to shift from teacher centered to student centered.
Summary of Completed Plan:
Overall, my eighth period students used their right to choice in my classroom and chose a book they wanted to read. My sixth period read Speak. All in all, most of my students read what they had to read and most of them did their class assignments. When it came to enthusiasm, my eighth period was much more enthusiastic about their assignment than my sixth period. I had a higher turn in rate for assignments in eighth period than sixth period.
I think this inquiry changed the climate of my eight period classroom. The students saw me as less demanding and more of a facilitator. Discussions with my students changed from them asking me “How long should this be? When do you need this assignment turn in?” to “Can I tell you about what I read last night?”
I even saw a change in the way that my students connected to the texts that they were reading. Their journals and GISTS went from simple summaries to very analytical conceptualization. They really utilized their discussion time from “what did you do this weekend?” to “ what do you really think was on the main character’s mind?” As Raphael and Gavelek found in their study of fifth graders in “book clubs” was that “Public language about text does not simply create an authentic audience or purpose for text production and comprehension, nor does it simply motivate students. Rather, these social settings are the very means by which students come to acquire and construct new knowledge, meanings, and new interpretations of text through interactive use of language.” I saw much more development in my eighth period of these ideas than I saw in my sixth period.
This was definitely true of the group that read The Blindside. These boys did minimal work throughout the semester. It was like pulling teeth to get them to think about anything in class. When they chose to read the book they chose, my own thought was that they pick that book because they were going to see the movie and saw it as an easy “A”. However, their discussions about the plight of this homeless character really proved to me that they really read this book in a lot of depth. One day as I walked past them I heard one of them say, “If I saw this guy walking down the street, I would want to take him in too. I care about him.” In five years of teaching high school English and Reading classes, I never thought I would hear a fifteen year old boy say that.
It wasn’t just the discussion that I found moving, it was the third stage of the Vytgotsy space that I really found moving. This is what Rom Harre calls the “Publication phase”. In order to have this stage you first need the appropriation and transformation of the text and content. Once a person publicizes the information it becomes conventional to them. In other words, I had my students write connections on the last page of the portfolio. In these connections that they wrote to me, they publicized their interpretations of the text. Not only could I tell that they transformed the idea of text interpretation and analysis, but they also were able to make the ideas their own.
What I learned from this was that social constructionism has a crucial role in literacy development. In our classrooms, we face the challenges of low levels of literacy and “alliteracy”. I think these are challenges that were not faced eight years ago when I graduated from high school. Having students engage in whole class discussions, groups discussions, and private dialogue journaling as they read alone is imperative to fight these challenges. If the students can use “self-talk” and “group talk” to develop all blocks of literacy they will not only meet NCLB bench marks, but they will really have a chance at thinking critically and caring out their roles in society.
Goals/Competencies Accomplished:
- Better and more thorough lesson planning
- Classroom became more student centered and less teacher centered.
- Students understood content clearly.
- Students had better text analysis skills.
- Classroom discussions were more organized and managed.
Self – Assessment:
It is important for teachers to step back and allow student engagement, but still offer challenging assignments that will motivate students. I think that I not only engaged my students, but I also motivated them to want to read more. I was able to set high expectation for my students. I was able to observe, coach, and monitor student participation in collaborative discussions. My students were engaged in pairs or small groups engaging or talking about text. My students learned to monitor their own understanding of a text.
As a teacher I was able to provide an environment in which students can freely expression their opinions “tastefully.” I tried to be an effective listener who instills in students respect for the opinions of others. I provided multiple and varied opportunities for students to engage in discussion around the text. I did my best to clarify, reflect feelings, resolve different points of view, interpose summaries, and pose provoking questions to my students. Overall, I think this inquiry was enriching and it provided my students with opportunities to build reading skills as well as gain an aesthetic value for a text.