Differentiated Instruction

For this assignment I read the article "Differentiating in the Language Arts: Flexible Options to Support All Students" written by Ruthanne Tobin who is an assistant professor of Education at the University of Victoria in British Columbia. At the University of Victoria, Professor Tobin teaches courses in differentiated instruction and Language Arts methodology. In her article she defines differentiated instruction as awareness and respect for student diversity. In her article she lists key elements to differentiating instruction: "modifying the content, modifying the process, and modifying products of student learning". Professor Tobin includes that differentiating instruction will allow students to be more motivated in the classroom. I agree with this completely because if you keep presenting students material in the same way every single day they are going to get stuck in the same routine and get bored. I know for me personally I constantly need a change up of activities and for me to use differentiated instruction in my own classroom will help me as a teacher but also it will be beneficial for my students.

Professor Tobin says that differentiated instruction also provides students a chance to have their individual needs met. I agree with her on this because a change up of activities and presenting material to students in the classroom in a variety of ways will help each student be able to learn things they are most comfortable with.

In this article it also says that a key emphasis on differentiated instruction is also placed on flexible grouping and on-going assessments for all students. Continually assessing students is key with using differentiated instruction. It is important because you have to see which lessons work and which lessons don't work. That is one downfall to using differentiated instruction is that you constantly have to change the routine and come up with new lessons that may or may not be beneficial for the students in your classroom. It would be easier for teachers to just do the same thing the same exact way every single day but that wouldn't be in any way beneficial for the students. As teachers we need to remember that every one is different and unique and you can explain the same concept, the same way as many times as you want but there will still be at least one person who does not understand what you are trying to explain. That is why using differentiated instruction is a key pedagogical tool for all instructors at all levels of education.

Professor Tobin also adds in a part about balancing small group instruction, whole group instruction, and self-directed learning. She even says that there is no model to help with this but that its up to each teacher to asses how to do this in their own classroom. Every classroom will be different, some classes you will be able to split up into groups and have them be able to stay on task the whole time and other classes you will be limited to what you can do because of the variation of student ability. It is up to every teacher to be the judge of what their students can handle and what they aren't ready for yet.