Standard 1 - Know students and how they learn
Final Practical Experience 2
2018 Term 3
1.5 – Differentiate Teaching to meet the Specific Learning Needs of Students Across the Full Range of Abilities
Situation: The abilities and needs of the students in my class were extremely varied. Throughout activities the students were usually grouped together according to their levels of understanding. These groups were not always the same and students could be moved around, as they needed.
There were 3 students in particular who had low levels of literacy understanding. One of these students had learning difficulties and 2 of them had recently moved from a different school. This meant that their literacy understandings were significantly behind the rest of the class.
Action: By grouping the students according to their levels of understanding the educational assistant or myself were easily able to sit with the group who required some extra assistance. I also catered to the needs of the students who required extension by giving them challenge tasks to complete once they have finished the focus task.
To cater to the needs of the 3 students with low levels of literacy understanding, the educational assistant would take them out during the morning session for 10 minutes of focused literacy learning. This allowed those students to receive one on one attention that was differentiated to their specific learning needs.
For one literacy rotation in particular, the students were focusing on writing 10 of the sight words that they had recently learnt on a small whiteboard. For students who needed extra help they were provided with a laminated list of the focus words to trace before writing them on the whiteboard. The middle levelled group of students were given a laminated list of words to assist them with writing on their whiteboards, and the students who required an extension were challenged to write a sentence using the focus words.
There were 3 students in particular who had low levels of literacy understanding. One of these students had learning difficulties and 2 of them had recently moved from a different school. This meant that their literacy understandings were significantly behind the rest of the class.
Action: By grouping the students according to their levels of understanding the educational assistant or myself were easily able to sit with the group who required some extra assistance. I also catered to the needs of the students who required extension by giving them challenge tasks to complete once they have finished the focus task.
To cater to the needs of the 3 students with low levels of literacy understanding, the educational assistant would take them out during the morning session for 10 minutes of focused literacy learning. This allowed those students to receive one on one attention that was differentiated to their specific learning needs.
For one literacy rotation in particular, the students were focusing on writing 10 of the sight words that they had recently learnt on a small whiteboard. For students who needed extra help they were provided with a laminated list of the focus words to trace before writing them on the whiteboard. The middle levelled group of students were given a laminated list of words to assist them with writing on their whiteboards, and the students who required an extension were challenged to write a sentence using the focus words.
Outcome: By knowing my students, along with formative assessments, I was able to differentiate my teaching and group the students so that their individual needs could be met. This allowed students to receive the assistance that they required and gave them a greater opportunity for success.
The individual morning literacy sessions with the educational assistant worked very well, with the 3 students who participated showing clear development of their understanding in letters and sounds.
Future Action Plan: I believe that it is crucial to get to know your students as quickly and as in depth as possible. It is important to discover their personalities and physical needs, as well as their academic abilities and learning needs. In my future teaching career I aim to differentiate my teaching in order to cater to the variety of individual personal and learning needs of each of my students. At the start of every year I will send my students home with an introduction pack, this aims to get provide an instant understanding of each student’s needs on which I can build. I also intend to undertake professional development courses and learn how I can better differentiate my teaching to meet students specific learning needs.
The individual morning literacy sessions with the educational assistant worked very well, with the 3 students who participated showing clear development of their understanding in letters and sounds.
Future Action Plan: I believe that it is crucial to get to know your students as quickly and as in depth as possible. It is important to discover their personalities and physical needs, as well as their academic abilities and learning needs. In my future teaching career I aim to differentiate my teaching in order to cater to the variety of individual personal and learning needs of each of my students. At the start of every year I will send my students home with an introduction pack, this aims to get provide an instant understanding of each student’s needs on which I can build. I also intend to undertake professional development courses and learn how I can better differentiate my teaching to meet students specific learning needs.
Final Practical Experience 1
2018 Term 1, Week 1
I have been extremely lucky with my professional experience to be placed at a wonderful school, and with an amazing mentor and education assistant, who have been nothing but positive and supportive throughout the first couple weeks of the experience.
My pre-primary class consists of 17 students who range in ages of 4 and 5. These students come from a diverse number of socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. This range in diversity means that there is not only differing learning levels, but also a number of students with English as their second language. There are also a couple students in the class with learning and speech difficulties, those of which have specialists that we are in contact with and are working alongside.
Within the first couple days of beginning the school year, my mentor and I sent home an introduction package that not only gave the parents information about us but asked for information about them, the students and their families. This helped provide us with an understanding of the students, allowed us to get to know all the students at a deeper level, and made us aware of any crucial information such as allergies, learning difficulties, circumstances, etc.
My pre-primary class consists of 17 students who range in ages of 4 and 5. These students come from a diverse number of socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. This range in diversity means that there is not only differing learning levels, but also a number of students with English as their second language. There are also a couple students in the class with learning and speech difficulties, those of which have specialists that we are in contact with and are working alongside.
Within the first couple days of beginning the school year, my mentor and I sent home an introduction package that not only gave the parents information about us but asked for information about them, the students and their families. This helped provide us with an understanding of the students, allowed us to get to know all the students at a deeper level, and made us aware of any crucial information such as allergies, learning difficulties, circumstances, etc.