Week 8 Differentiation Practices in the Classroom
Name: Sydney Bauman
Date of field experiences reported: 10/31-11/4
Time spent: 8:22-9:57 A.M.
Sequence of Events.
This was my first week back for the second rotation. On Monday, my mentor teacher was sick and unable to come to class. There was a substitute teacher, so the classes consisted of the students quietly working on worksheets. Tuesday was an e-learning day for parent teacher conferences. The rest of the week, the teacher was there, and class resumed as normal. I was able to teach a little because my teacher was still recovering from being sick over the weekend and on Monday.
Elaboration of One or Two Significant Episodes.
11/3/22
On Thursday, during period two of analytical algebra II class, the teacher started the lesson with guided notes. Once the teacher reached a point that she wanted to stop at, she gave students extra time to work on the assignments they had previously gotten. This then allowed her to have one-on-one time with those students who needed it. If the students needed help, they could raise their hands, and the teacher was there to help them with the questions they had. The one-on-one time differentiated from the whole-class discussion that was taking place at the beginning of the class.
11/4/22
Friday I was able to work one-on-one with a student on their assignment that the teacher handed out at the beginning of class. One way that the classroom is differentiated is that if they need a calculator for their assignments, they are able to use one. While I was working with the student, he needed help with multiplication. I then told him to use his calculator. When he used his calculator, he was able to get the answer to the question.
Analysis of Episode(s).
11/3/22
Every student has a preferred method of learning. Typically, in the classroom that I am in, the teacher lectures from the front of the room. The lecture consists of going over a topic by working through problems and allowing the students to work through problems. Although this works for some students, it does not work for all students. When my teacher allows her and I to give the students one-on-one instruction, those students who are nervous to ask questions in front of the whole class are able to do so during the one-on-one instruction. Differentiating this instruction in such a simple way gives more students equal opportunity in their education. I see this as a positive opportunity for students, and I believe my mentor teacher should include it in her classroom more often as long as she has other means of differentiating.
11/4/22
Differentiating the classroom by giving the students different tools to complete their homework to the best of their ability allows for them to be successful in the classroom. Allowing the use of calculators is just one way to do this. I believe my mentor teacher does a great job of giving the students permission to use their calculators on their assignments. Although this is the case, I believe there needs to be more in the classroom. I see the students struggling with basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. One way to help with this is to allow them to use a calculator, but this will not help them improve these skills. These students need more focus on the basics in their daily lessons.
Week Overview
This week was a little bit all over the place. My mentor teacher has been sick throughout the entire week, which has meant that there has been little to no instruction. In addition to this, there is little to no differentiation in the classroom. The classroom is set up traditionally, where plug-and-chug is the main method that is used. Therefore, it was difficult for me to find ways in which the classroom was differentiated. On the bright side, I was able to get acclimated in the classroom for the second rotation and help those students who needed it and asked for it.
Comments
Post a Comment