‘Differentiation is….. the process of identifying, with each learner, the most effective strategies for achieving agreed targets’. 

As rightly said, differentiation is an approach to teaching that attempts to ensure that all students learn well, despite their many differences.

‘Coping with differences’.

‘Learning for all’ or

‘Success for all’.

It’s very essential to understand the term Differentiation in the right way. There are a number of common misconceptions about differentiation.  Some believe that it is something ‘added on’ to normal teaching and that it just requires a few discrete extra activities in the lesson. In fact, differentiation permeates everything a good teacher does and it is often impossible to ‘point’ to a discrete event that achieves it.

 It is not what is done often, but the way it is done that achieves differentiation. For this reason differentiation may not show up on a lesson plan or in the Scheme of Work.  However teachers try to show their intentions to differentiate by setting objectives in the following format:

All must….

Some may…
A few might…
Eventually if every learner achieves at their maximum rate this has huge consequences for their own lives, but also for society at large.  Social inclusiveness, welfare to work, and the reduction of crime, all require an educated citizenship and workforce. Differentiation has a lot to offer individuals, society and the economy, so it’s worth getting it right.  As teachers it’s our ultimate goal to produce a set of good citizen for the welfare of the society and for a strong generation.

 

What would you like to do in future training sessions?

I would like to learn more about

·      Strategies that can enhance collaborative learning in the class room.

·      Ways through which I can involve and ensure the participation of all the students in the class room.

·      Methods through which differentiation can be easily incorporated in the class room that can cater to the needs of all the different types of learners.

·      Methods that can enhance critical thinking among students.

·      Ways to boost up the confidence level in students.

 

 

If you could do the tasks and activities of unit 1 all over again, how would you do it differently?

As we say “Every child matters”, we as facilitators aim at providing a cordial and conducive learning atmosphere for our students despite their abilities thereby giving them the best opportunity to explore and learn through fun and entertainment. So if I get an opportunity to redo the task I will definitely focus on overcoming all the barriers and difficulties that I faced thereby building the best possible platform for my students to learn.

·      I would like to incorporate the use of different strategies that I have learned to create a good learning atmosphere.

 

·      Through the variety of questioning activities, I can engage each and every student in the class and provide more opportunity for the students to involve actively in learning.

·      Encourage lateral thinking.

·      Incorporate the use of ICT effectively to make learning exciting and challenging.

·      To give more space for collaborative learning.

·      To prepare and plan the resources well in such a way that it should interest the learners.

·       To stick on with the time slot.

·      To include energisers to remove boredom as well as to evoke the enthusiasm of the learners.

·      Be prepared with a plan B in case if plan A doesn’t work as expected.

·      Avoid the use of questioning strategies and experiment with the different types of questioning strategies learned.

·      To include hot seating along with the props.

·      To encourage the students to appreciate each other’s work.

·      Connect the subjects to real life experiences as well as to include cross curricular link with different subjects to promote critical thinking.

·      To provide maximum opportunity to involve different types of learners through activities that can equip the interest of each and every one.

·      Use different types of plenary to sum up the learning.

 

 

 

 

How did I do the Plenary through the strategies that I have learned?

Well that very exciting to have a lot of ways to do the plenary and you can try out anyways. The best part was we were doing poetry for the past week and to add on to the joy we had decided to gift the children with a Poet Café outside the classroom in order to appreciate the poems and poets. This was an awesome experience as I took my plenary with 6A while they were seated outside under the bid tree in the garden.

As the children were all ready with their poems and had enough knowledge about the poets which we asked them to research on they could do the task with ease. They were reading out their poems and appreciated each other’s work which was an appealing sight to watch. I joined them for the plenary with the WHO questions “Questions you would like to ask”. Before I started the strategy of questioning I gave a gist of the agony that a poet go through while making a poetry as I compared the same with the way an oyster makes the pearl. Then I asked them about poetry which they answered by saying “it’s a way to express your feelings and emotions.”

I started my questioning strategy by giving the definition of poetry as “A poetry is a spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings and it takes it origin from the emotion recollected in tranquillity”, as William Wordsworth says. Then  I had brief them on what they need to do as soon as I put them into pairs and with the boys on one side and the girls on the other side. They had to frame questions based on the poets and the poetry Café that they had discussed so far with their pair which should be done secretly as they need to pose the questions later on to the girls group.

Children were given 3mts to frame questions, once when they are finished with the task they were given turns to pose the questions to each other. At the same time, each group was given time to answer the questions as well. Children really enjoyed and loved questioning the other groups while they learned and had a quick recap on the whole thing that they discussed throughout the session. I could find the excitement when they were trying to frame the best question as possible to shot to the opposite group.

Apparently it was a wonderful session as it went on very well than I expected because it was outside in nature and the children enjoyed a lot as the topic itself matched with the scenario.

“Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”

As the saying goes its true, it really works, believe me and the best part is children love it. They just like the variety that we bring in their lessons. It was quite confusing to scan through and choose which on to fit in my lesson when I had all the 119 starters in front of me. Wow! What a wonderful opportunity I have, then going through each one revisiting it again and again eventually I discovered that I will do the starter “Passing the Parcel”.

I have been doing the features of poetry with my children from last week so I thought let them have a surprise so that they remain excited and imaginative to create a perfect mood for the lesson, then they work better and it really worked. I started the activity with a quick mind mapping on the features of poetry which I elicited from the children as my focus was on figure of speech. But I was amazed by the fact that my children of year group 12-13 were completely focused on the Red Box that I brought to the class. I found them excited as they saw the box and they were quite curious to know what I was planning to do with them.

As I started I told them it’s a magic box and you will do the magic. I had a few pictures of different objects which I passed from one group to another, giving the instruction to secretly remove one picture from the box and pass it on. Each group was asked to make complex sentences with an imagery based on the picture. I gave them 3 mts to discuss and do their task after this each group were asked to present their picture to the class and read out their sentences. As they read the sentences the class evaluated their work by pointing the imagery used in the lines. They also suggested different sentences for other pictures as well as commented on each other’s work.

Apparently my task was achieved as they revisited on the features of poetry and was clearly able to identify the different poetic devices used and could appreciate each other’s work.

This way a quick recap on the features of poetry thereby stressing on the figurative speech was done and the children enjoyed a lot.