This semester my understanding and ability to differentiate has really come full

circle. I have finally had the opportunity to get to know my students needs and
learning styles and apply the knowledge as I learned it in order to differentiate my
lessons to best fit their individual needs. I believe every student has their strengths
and weaknesses and it is our duty as teachers to tap into those strengths as well as
aid their weaknesses to provide equity in the classroom. This semester I grew in my
understanding of what areas to differentiate including content, process and product,
and the best strategies to go about doing so. Taking a look at the plethora of
teaching resources such as glogster, kidspiration, Nearpod, and Doceri allowed me
to take away very valuable and applicable ways to differentiate in the classroom.
The Ladson-Billings article, Seeing color, Seeing Culture was really eye opening to
me, and allowed me to see this issue from a new perspective. Prior to this class and
seeing other peoples very valuable view points and feelings on this subject, I would
have thought the best thing I could do is be colorblind. I probably would have
quoted something similar to the teacher in the article who said, I dont really see
color, I just see children or I dont care if they are red, green, or polka dot I just
treat them all like children. After reading this article I saw that being blind to
these differences takes away from celebrating, acknowledging and valuing these
differences. Differences are not to be ignored they make the individual who they
are, and who they are has an impact on the way they learn and the experiences
they have had. It really hit me when the author gave the scenario about being
confronted by an African American parent who stated she knew her child was black
and they knew they were black and she wanted that difference to be recognized as
a comfortable and natural one. I believe we all have something to learn from one
another, so setting the tone and creating a classroom community where everyone
feels accepted, open to sharing and embracing their culture is the best environment
for all and the most conducive for learning.
I really connected with The Kagan Strategies because I am a strong proponent of
cooperative learning. I felt these were very useful and applicable strategies I would
like to incorporate in my future classroom. I found the information very useful.
Including the benefits of heterogeneous teams and how long teams should last
before being changed. I agree that forming of heterogeneous teams to maximize
the probability of peer- tutoring and improve cross-race and cross-sex relations
because those are two things I would encourage in my classroom.
The willing to be disturbed article really put things into perspective for me. It made
me reflect on my own ideas as a person and teacher. I think it is really important as
teachers to be able to admit when we dont know something. Instead of feeling the
pressure to know everything we need to be willing to learn along with our students
and modeling the process of finding answers to questions we do not know is just as
valuable. When the author talked about authentically listening to others I instantly
thought about how I will build relationships with the parents of my students. The
article said, When we listen without judgement, we always develop better

relationships with each other, which was very meaningful to me. I made a
connection with this article to Freires conversation on tolerance.
I liked the Fundamentals of Creativity article by Ronald A. Beghetto and James C.
Kaufman . This is a topic I am very passionate about. I feel strongly that allowing
students to express their new acquired knowledge and feelings on issues in an
authentic way is very important to their learning. Allowing students to use different
ways/modes and have options for how they express their learning is an excellent
way to differentiate. Giving students the opportunity to make choices improves their
motivation and engagement on a topic. This article quoted one of mottos of
teaching, a Native American saying, Tell me and Ill forget. Show me and I may
remember. Involve me, and Ill understand. In my experiences, encouraging
students to embrace their creativity also fuels them to take pride and ownership in
their work.