Differentiation in Action!!

Hi Friends,

So for this post I wanted to catch you all up on my awesome field experience. I had the best time in 2nd grade and I was able to actually see a few things that were very interesting. First, was that I was able to go into another classroom and participate in a Morning Meeting with some 5th graders. It was so cool!! I loved it. I am so glad that I was able to see a Morning Meeting in real life. It was so nice to actually see it and not just hear about it and watch various YouTube videos. I loved it! The top three reasons why I loved it were because every single student was involved and you could tell that they all felt successful. Next, is that the 5th grade teacher had fun saying for everyday of the week. For example, on Friday it was "Funny Friday" and the students were able to turn in little slips of paper with funny videos that they found online. On Friday she would show one of the videos and all the kids loved it. They thought it was so great. Lastly, you could feel the community in this classroom. It was fantastic. I am going to do Morning Meeting in my classroom and I couldn't be more excited!

My cooperating teacher had a really strong grasp on differentiation. She was able to differentiate most of her lessons for all of her learners. I saw it most in math, guided reading, and re-teach/enrich. I know, you are probably thinking what is re-teach/enrich? Well it is probably the greatest thing that a school can do! Every student is placed in a group and for 30 minutes they go to another classroom where the lessons are designed specifically for their group. For re-teach, they cover things in math that the students may have not grasped onto the concept yet. For enrich, students are provided with activities that extend and expand their learning. This is how the whole school differentiates for students specific needs. I was very impressed with this program. I feel that every school needs to do something like this to help all students to be more successful. This program helped to differentiate for readiness and interest. It was a wonderful program!

Overall, my experience in field was full of learning experiences that I needed to have in order to be more prepared for my internship next year! My favorite part was watching differentiation in action!

I found this picture that pretty much sums up what differentiation means to me! 

Till next time,