"Trust begins when students believe that the teacher is on their side... (and) believes in their capacity to succeed..."
"Fit suggests that we ask students to do only what they are ready to do." Challenging them just enough, so that they strive and succeed. "Fit also requires that what we ask students to learn connects with what they care about." It's relevant to their lives today.
Voice is evident when we ask students to assess us as teachers. When...student feedback was sought, shared, and acted on, it was clear that students understood the power of their voice." Another way that teachers encourage students' voice is through giving students the opportunity to choose.
When "students ...(become) metacognitively aware... They understand how to capitalize on their learning strengths and how to compensate for their weaknesses. (They) reflect on their work... Academic awareness builds academic success."
"Differentiated instruction is...concerned with developing ... student efficacy and ownership of learning. (Helping students to) identify their own identity as learners."
This was a great article. In my work with middle school students who need extra support with math, I strive to do all of this. I have a sign in my classroom. The words "I Can't" with a line drawn through them. I don't allow my students to say that they can't do something. Saying "I can't closes a door. Saying I need help with... opens the door and allows the possibility that they can.
It has been proven that positive thinking strengthens. Athletes don't say i can't before the big game or event. They visualize themselves succeeding, winning, and then they do it.
I believe in my students. I've come to believe that everyone can learn math. Some need longer, different strategies, materials, and supports, but everyone can succeed. Not only can they do as well as the other students, when they're with me, they can do anything. I often ask more of them than their teachers do. I tell them that I am there to support and help them. We can do it together. Together we strive to use every minute we have to become the best that we can be.
Or most of the students do so.
I remind them that anything that I ask them to do, is for their own good: I am on their side all the way. And I won't give up--even when they want to. I keep pushing-- encouraging, and affirming my belief that they can do it. It may take hard work, but if they commit themselves to it, I will be right there with them working just as hard.
I'm on of those teachers who is usually the first one in and often one of the last to leave each day. I try to model for the students that hard work pays off.
I ask the students to set goals every time we meet. I ask them what they want to practice, then I support them in their endeavors. I have the best job there is-- where else can one say that the student drives the instruction? I demonstrate for the group when asked, work one on one when they prefer. I'm there to give feedback--not just whether they are doing it correctly or not, but what I think they understand and what they seem confused about. What they are doing well, as well as where they need to improve.
I take copious notes daily and try to get know my students as learners. I hope that they realize how much they all mean to me, and how much I'm pulling for their success.
Several times I have asked my students for feedback. Sometimes it's in the form of an exit query: Was that helpful? or Do you understand it a little better now? And I really want to know.
I have asked students to assess my websites (I've created 2 over the years.) and tried to use some of their suggestions. Some of what they would like to see is beyond my capabilities at this time. I always ask them to let me know if there is a concept or skill that I have not included, or if they prefer videos, games, or practice quizes online. I update and change my website accordingly.
In the past I have led students through activities that highlight what type of math learner they are: visual, number-oriented, or verbal, and whether they are more often a global thinker--always focused on the big idea, or whether they tend to prefer step-by-step procedures. The forest or the trees.
In this way we can encourage them to become more metacognitively aware. I always ask them what they were thinking. So that I can understand where they are coming from. I believe that teaching is a conversation between the teacher and the student. I cannot teach if I cannot listen, observe, and ask questions.
I ask the students to reflect upon their work. I ask them how they feel about a concept or skill, a quiz or a test. Do they think they understand? Do they think they did well? I worry more about a student who continually says that they don't need to practice, then they take a test and fail, than I do about a student who is aware when they don't understand and knows when they were not adequately prepared.
Years ago I tried to engage some difficult to reach students. I was a science teacher at that time, so I considered how the concepts and skills we were learning related to the careers they might pursue in the future. I called it "Taking Ownership of their Learning". When we were studying fossils, I buried bones in aquariums filled with dirt, gave the students toothbrushes and didn't tell them what they might find. I tried to make it as close to an archetologist's dig as possible. It worked. They were engaged, intrigued, motivated, and totally focused.
Carol Ann Tomlinson has long been a favorite author of mine. I recommend that you read this article in its entirety.
How do you differentiate? Please send me your ideas and suggestions.
--Lauren
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