FeedManiac Monday: Differentiated Instruction and Modifications
January 25, 2010 in Elementary Educators, High School Teachers, Maniac Mondays, Middle School Teachers Tags: differentiated instruction, IEPs, modifications, special education
photo by zitona www.flickr.com
How many of our children or students feel like the boy in the picture? Frustrated!!! I decided to dedicate this Maniac Monday post to the topic of differentiated instruction and modifications because 1) it’s something I’ve always been interested in as an educator 2) I had a recent conversation with a teacher about modification and 3) I’d like to hear other’s viewpoints.
Before I go on my “soapbox,” I wanted to give a shout out to Tricia Sanders blog who featured my upcoming, online social networking class on Sunday. I also want to remind you that I am starting a book giveaway contest tomorrow–Watersmeet, which is a YA fantasy.
I was recently talking with an elementary school teacher about some students in her class. One student had an IEP because she was labeled as LD in language, and she was having some troubles in the regular classroom. I made some suggestions about what the teacher could do–these suggestions were modifications or using differentiated instruction techniques–and she said to me, “Well, according to her IEP, she’s not supposed to have any modifications. She’s supposed to do this work.” I bit my tongue, and maybe I shouldn’t have because what I wanted to say was, “Clearly, what you are doing isn’t working. The child is failing. So IEP or not, your job is to help this child learn and be successful. What can you do? Don’t call it modifications then–call it teaching.” And just to let you know the whole picture, this classroom has less than 15 students.
One of the worst things we can do to our children or our students is frustrate them to the point where they hate learning. If they are constantly failing, then they are going to hate learning. I understand that teachers have to give grades. I understand it is tough to give grades when you are modifying and differentiating. I did it in public schools when I taught fifth grade from 2000-2002. But I think we need to put the grade issue aside for now and think about what our job is as educators–teachers and parents. Our job is to teach our children information to be successful in their lives. It’s to instill in them a lifelong love of learning. It’s to help them become productive members of society. So, if you have to read a test out loud to a student, like in the movie The Blind Side; or you have to give a student an extra month to read a chapter book; or you have to move a student’s desk right next to yours to keep him on task, then do it. Right? Right?
Maybe I’m too passionate about this subject. I’d love to know what you think.
January 25th, 2010 at 12:40 pm
I agree Margo. If we as teachers know what the outcome is to be…what we want our students to learn, then it becomes our job to do what needs to be done to guarantee learning for all of our students. That is the “art” of teaching…taking all of what we’ve learned (the science) and utilize what is needed for each student’s learning. Is it an easy job? Heck no…it’s one of the hardest when done correctly! Unfortunately for our students and our profession, there are those who have difficulty with the “art” of teaching. The modifications listed in a student’s IEP are what is to be done above and beyond what is done in the regular classroom in order for learning to occur and are based on the student’s learning challenges based on the diagnosed disability. Those modifications are in addition to the differentiation that should be occurring in the regular ed classroom to insure that all students will successfully demonstrate learning. Maybe what we need is clearer communication between all of us in the field of education…maybe we should only use “accommodations” when dealing with special education issues and use “differentiation” to identify classroom strategies. However, “differentiation” used this way isn’t the same as “differentiation” as Tomlinson writes about!!! But, I suppose that’s a whole other blog!!!!!
January 25th, 2010 at 1:27 pm
Amen Margo!!! As a parent of a dyslexic child I know the importance of differentiation in educational instruction. Unfortunately the public school system in our area doesn’t believe in it. My son had an IEP for speech issues and I regularly attended all the meetings and at each meeting I raised my concerns about his reading difficulties and my belief that he was dyslexic. I was consistently told that he exhibited no signs of dyslexia and they were already providing him assistance, which consisted of teaching him the same way just in a smaller group. It seemed that I was the only one who recognized that their assistance was not helping. So we had him independently tested and he was diagnosed as dyslexic. However, when I presented this information to the public school I was told he was already receiving all the the “specialized” instruction that they offer. He was in first grade and already was filled with frustration and had a total loss of self confidence because he felt he was “dumb” and “stupid” (those were his words) and that he would never be able to read. We put him in a private school who offered him accomodations to meet his needs and a program that specifically teaches dyslexic children how to read. He is now in third grade and while his spelling scores still remain tremendously low he now reads above grade level and scored in the 90% for reading comprehension, 99% in social studies and 96% in science! He feels so good about himself now and is excited to read and learn. We are so very thankful that we found the school he attends now. But my heart breaks for all those other learning challeneged students who don’t have the same opportunity to discover their true potential.
January 25th, 2010 at 4:19 pm
I agree, Differentiated Lessons/Assessments are tools that we, as educators, may use in order to meet what should be the critical aspect of our endeavor, educate students. Whereas the public education system is not a suitable environment to accommodate every child’s’ unique learning style, there is an obligation or diligence, at least, to attain student learning outcomes and objectives for every student. Teacher Created Materials now has resources at http://justteachit.com that provide practical strategies, activities and assessments to help educators with lessons to meet the individual needs, styles and abilities of students. These resources focus on:
Reading Strategies
Content-Specific Vocabulary
Multiple Assessment Options
Activities for Various Learning Styles
Graphic Organizers
Keep up the great job teachers you are making a difference.
January 25th, 2010 at 5:36 pm
Wow, I am very blessed. I taught in the Raytown, Missouri school district for 6 years, 3 of those were class within a class where we offered lots and lots of modifications. Whenever we had IEP meetings, we specifically wrote in specific modifications for each child. It was all about modifying so the child would feel successful and become successful.
Now, my 5 year old has her own IEP for speech. She missed the Missouri cut off date by 25 days and is still in preschool. At this time, because she would not talk in speech it was recommended that she be allowed to attend the public preschool to better help her. (EVEN THOUGH HER IEP SAYS THE ONLY SERVICE SHE NEEDS IS SPEECH). This year has been filled with lots of success for her because our public schools are stepping up and modifying for her needs. Next year she will receive 40 minutes pull out for speech, and I’m confident that if any other issue arises it will be taken care of.
January 25th, 2010 at 6:00 pm
That’s great, Sabrena. Thanks for sharing your good news!
January 25th, 2010 at 6:01 pm
Amy, I am so glad that things are working out for your son in his school. We do have to be advocates for our kids!
January 25th, 2010 at 8:15 pm
I agree with you, Margo. We don’t teach curriculum. We teach children. Teaching is an art in which the teacher is able to modify what he/she does to meet the needs of the child.
January 25th, 2010 at 10:12 pm
It is time teachers are given the freedom to teach what we know the students need instead of teaching to the test. I was given a scripted reading program for my remedial classes this year. I decided to push these students a little harder and require them to read 10 books from 7 different genres and three genres of their choosing. I divided books. I counted books over 300 pages as two books and had them write reviews for each section. I made suggestions for books. I allowed them to use the novels read in LA classes for part of their 10 books. They have risen to the challenge. Most of them are reading better. One of the best things said to me in years was said to me by a student who entered my class hating to read. He said, “I just want you to know how much I hate you. When I came into this class I hated reading and you have taught me how to love it.” I will take that kind of hate every day. We differentiate or modify lessons so that each student can learn best. Keep doing what you are doing.
January 25th, 2010 at 11:08 pm
“Our job is to teach our children information to be successful in their lives. It’s to instill in them a lifelong love of learning.”
I’m not a teacher (still a student), but I share your version. The focus on the grading system can cause students to lose focus of what really matters in the education that they receive… Thank you for your post.
January 26th, 2010 at 5:57 am
Thanks to everyone who left a comment about this subject that is near and dear to my heart! I am glad to see that I am not alone in my educational philosophy.