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Running head: DIFFERENTIATION IN THE CLASSROOM

Differentiation Instruction

Ivory Ysquierdo

Regent University

In partial fulfillment of UED 495 Field Experience ePortfolio, Spring 2019

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Introduction

In this competency, I have chosen to reflect Student Centered and/or Differentiated

Instruction in the classroom. In this I have included a lesson developed for a whole group science

lesson with differentiation for our students in Special Education. Additionally, I included a math

small group specific to students struggling to understand a concept already taught. These type of

competencies are important to classroom instruction for many reasons. Primarily, as we have

many different learners at different levels of learning, it is important for teachers to aim to

provide appropriate instruction for each learner. Though differentiation can be hard to

accomplish within a single lesson, it’s important to be mindful of it and continuously seek to

meet the needs of all learners.

Rationale for Selection of Artifacts

I included two different types of artifacts. The first artifact is an example of a small group

developed after learning a new concept in math. The students were on their third day of being

introduced to decimals. The students were each day learning something new about decimals and

were building upon knowledge learned the previous day. The students that were not able to

understand the concept of decimal place value on day one and two were pulled into a small

group for differentiation. I added this artifact because in this small group time that I planned for

both the morning and afternoon class, I tailored the instruction to meet the students’ needs in the

morning class. The point of this small group was to allow students to gain a better understanding

of comparing decimals, however, based off the progress seen in the morning small group, I

decided to take steps backwards and differentiate the lesson based on what the students showed

they knew. I ended up spending a lot more time reading decimals in the Place Value Chart, rather

than teaching and reviewing decimal comparison. Once they were able to understand how to read
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decimals, comparing the decimals was a lot easier. In the afternoon, I was able to keep to my

lesson plan and teach decimal comparison with only one example of reading decimals in

standard form.

The second artifact that I included was a graphic organizer I created for a whole group

lesson on the Earth, Moon, and Sun. The point of the lesson was to introduce the new unit and

create a chart to put inside their Science notebooks. I created two different types of graphic

organizers. One graphic organizer was a simple chart with only headers. The other organizer was

the same chart with sentences for the students to fill in as we went through the content. The

organizers with partial content filled in were given to students in the SPED program. These

students were expected to participate in whole group but were asked to fill a different graphic

organizer. The reasoning for this type of differentiation is to allow these students to take accurate

notes at a pace that was in alignment with the rest of the class.

Reflection on Theory and Practice

In the morning math small group, I was able to walk through place value with students

and practice reading decimals in its standard form as well as compare two decimals. This was not

something that was originally practiced in whole group due to the majority of the class

understanding standard form after one or two examples. In this small group, the intentions were

to help the students use their place value chart to compare two decimals, finding the greater

decimal. After spending time in this small group, I found that the students were not able to

compare decimals when asked in whole group because reading decimals was being done

incorrectly. In small group, I spent most of my time teaching the students how to read a decimal

in a place value chart before actually getting to comparing decimals. By the end of the small
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group, students were able to successfully read decimals and compare simple decimals. The

decimals given to compare were not as planned due to the shorter amount of time had to spend

on comparing. I found that differentiation in this small group was important due to the fact that

the students’ understanding was a lot less than I had planned for. In my records, I recorded what

the small group in my morning class looked like and what it looked like in my afternoon class.

As for my second artifact, I saw how having notes for the students to keep was important,

but taking the notes can at times be really complicated for students. Many of the students in the

SPED program have trouble with reading and writing as well. I have often times spent time

reading paragraphs or questions on worksheets for students that were not proficient in reading.

Because of this, I modified my graphic organizer to allow the students to not have to focus so

much on writing the science content. I wanted the students to be able to focus on the science I

was teaching rather than focusing on writing the right thing down accurately. I have also found

that students that are lower in reading and writing at times cannot read their own handwriting, so

having this graphic organizer for science was beneficial as the students spent time learning about

the Earth, Moon and Sun.

After spending time in learning about differentiation and finding the importance of it, I

had found that many of these students can and will grasp the concepts in whole group, but many

students need the small group time to really understand. I like how Carol Tomlinson put it in,

Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners, “So many students are

physically present and psychologically absent. About 40 percent of students go through the

motions, neither trying hard nor paying attention” (Tomlinson). I have found this to be incredibly

true as I spend time with students that are able to easily grasp concepts after a few minutes in
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small group. I know some students are able to focus more and be more comfortable with asking

questions when they are in a smaller group setting.

Additionally, in providing a graphic organizer that meets our students at a lower level,

creates a greater outcome of student understanding. In a Professional Development article in

“Teaching Tolerance”, Differentiated Instruction, “Differentiated Instruction is teaching with the

child in mind rather than adopting a standardized approach to teaching and learning that seems to

presume that all students of a given age are at the exact same place academically”. In this, I

found that knowing each child is important in the process of differentiating instruction.

In making these decisions of differentiation, I have found that in learning it is important

as a teacher to meet the students where they are at. In the same way, I see how Christ meets us

where we are at. Thinking about how we as humans hear and know the Lord in different ways is

incredible. In our inability to understand, God is faithful to teach us. When we mess up, he is

faithful to forgive and lead us in the right path. Psalm 23 begins with, “The Lord is my Shepherd

[…]” (Psalm 23:1, ESV). This along with many other scriptures that point Him to being a

Shepherd, help me understand how we as teachers are called, in a sense, to shepherd our

classroom. Shepherds take the time to teach their sheep and provide the sheep of all they need.

Being a part of the sheep flock means that there are others that may not be the same as us. I think

of how patient a shepherd must be for the slow learning sheep. The Shepherd genuinely cares for

each of the sheep so much so that he would be willing to leave the ninety-nine to find the lost

one (Luke 15). In the same way, I have been called to not leave a single student behind.

Differentiation is necessary if I want to reach each student and see them successful. If I want

them to learn and grow, I need to be intentional with how I present my teachings. I am in a way
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called to shepherd the class –to teach with a willingness to slow down for those that need me to

and even give to those that need me to challenge them. “My sheep know my voice” (Luke 10:28,

ESV). The reason a sheep knows its shepherd’s voice is because it is a familiar voice. In the

same way, I want to know my students so much that I can pre-determine what each student needs

in learning in my classroom as time passes. I’m thankful to continue to learn about each

student’s needs and find how I can grow in accurately differentiate for the students I am to teach.
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References

Differentiated Instruction. (n.d.). Teaching Tolerance. Retrieved from

https://www.tolerance.org/professional-development/differentiated-instruction.

Tomlinson, C. A. (2014). Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All

Learners (2nd ed.). ASDC.