Week 6: Chapter 7

I LOVE "Fulfilling the Promise of the Differentiated Classrom". What a great book. When I was previewing the chapter before reading and realized that this was the last chapter in the book, my heart was sad. I look forward to the reading assignments in the book and the opportunity I have to reflect on it in my blogs.

1. Bullet Point Reviews:
"Students consistently want teachers who respect them, listen to them, show empathy toward them, help them work out their problems, and become human by sharing their own lives and ideas with their students"
I've enjoyed having you as my teacher. I can truely say that you have inspired, enriched and empowered me. I know that you respect me, listen to me and have helped me become a better student and one day a great teacher. I appreciate your vulnerablity by sharing your life with us and connecting to us individually. You live this principle of differentiation.

"Effective teachers carefully establish classroom routines that enable them and their students to work flexibly and efficiently."
I am a very organized person. I need order in my life. I find that I function best when I have a routine that I can follow. One thing I've learned about differentiation is that flexibility is neccesary and that I'll need to be able to find ways for my students to be working at different levels at different times and that it's a good thing. As I provide these opportunites in my routine as a teacher, I'll be able to help my students individually.

"Effective teacher set high expectations for themselves and their students with an orientation toward growth and improvement evident in the classroom"
I have very high expectations for myself. My goal is to receive straight "A's" until I graduate. I realize that "A" students don't always a good teacher make. However, to me these grades represent a level of dedication and desire to always do my best and I know that I can achieve this goal because I am capable of it. I want my students to know that they are capable to accomplish their own personal "best" and that I believe in them too.

"Teachers in schools with high achievement rates pre-assess in order to do targeted teaching"
If there is one thing I've learned about differentiation, it's that pre-assessing is vital to the success of a differentated classroom. If a teacher doesn't know what her students already know, how will she know what to teach and which students need more or less.

2. Metaphors
"Making bread somehow makes him who he ought to be. As he grows, the bread evolves, he explains, and that makes him one with his bread.... allow ourselves to be reshaped by what we do, to become one with it"
I'm not a good recipe follower. I'm always trying to find a way to make it better. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. In fact, I've made some crummy meals in my time by reinventing a recipe. I love recipe books to get me started and help me know what herbs go good with what meats and what kind of ingredients work well together. When I find a recipe I love, I still don't follow it exactly the same the next time. I believe that we need to always find ways to improve our lessons and not just do the same thing before it worked great last time. Sometime it will work, and sometime we need to go back to the recipe, but we need to alway be evolving.