Blog #3

Option 2: Choose 2 (two) of the hallmarks of differentiation (from the golden ticket) to discuss on your blog. Be certain to choose ONE from hallmarks 1 - 6 and ONE from hallmarks 7 - 12. Explain what you now understand about differentiation because of these two hallmarks. Also explain how differentiation is different from just very, very good teaching where you might find elements of these hallmarks, but where there is no differentiation occurring.

Hallmark #1: A strong link between assessment and instruction. Assessment and instruction are inseparably connected. The teacher continually assesses student knowledge, understanding, and skill in both formal and informal ways, making ongoing adjustments to instructional plans to ensure progression toward individual and group goals.

This hallmark stood out to me because it is so central to how we can implement good differentiation skills within our classrooms. We will be ineffective teachers if we are not adequately challenging each of our students. If we teach with a one-size-fits all mentality, we are only serving the students who are at the level of that instruction. Really good teachers must constantly be assessing all of our students to determine where we need to instruct them. In order for all of our students to learn and grow they need to be learning in their ZPD, and we need to be scaffolding this learning. Many students in our class are on various levels and we need proper assessment to determine where to guide our instruction to benefit them all.

Hallmark #11: Proactive rather than reactive teaching. Systematic planning for student differences, based on purpose and responsiveness to student variance, with improvisation as needed, is the way to become a differentiating teacher. No...you cannot possibly differentiate every unit, every lesson, or for every child all of the time. You can (almost) always be a responsive teacher. But when the stakes are high enough to warrant differentiation, is should be as proactive and deliberately planned as possible.

This hallmark also stood out to me because I have a strong belief that we must be proactive in our teaching. If we just wait for specific incidents to occur or needs arise, our classroom and therefore teaching will become laboured and ineffective. We need to plan ahead for circumstances and have these plans ready to implement so we can respond to these student needs. From school year to school year, the needs of our students will change and we need to be prepared for those needs by being proactive. Realizing that we are human and will not be able to do everything perfectly will keep us humble, but we must always strive to do what we can and do better than the time before by learning from our mistakes.