Blog 7B - Kristin Morgione's Response to Gia Prezioso

Gia, even though I have been in the co-teaching classroom for years it is still an obstacle to have teachers not design one set lesson for the class.  There is much resistance for differentiating instruction to occur even when I model activities.  The teachers are “afraid”/”nervous” that children may be learning different outcomes, not so much as learning differently.  I feel it is the best way to reach all the students, especially the gifted and the learning disabled students in the same classroom.  I don’t know how to get past this barrier.  I keep exposing the teachers in hope that one day they will do it on their own.

1. To what extent are lesson plans differentiated in order to meet the needs of all students?

Content, Process, and Product

“what is taught and how students access the material, activities that help students make sense of the content, and the ways in which students demonstrate what they learn”

2. To what extent is differentiation used for students with disabilities and students identified

as gifted?

I think it is best for teachers to identify their learning targets for each unit.  What are the objectives that you want to accomplish. How can you extend them for those students who need to be challenged further and how can you modify or break them down in steps with support to get the students who have difficulty learning?  These are important questions for teachers to identify before beginning their instruction.

3. What co-teaching methods work best when planning differentiated instruction in the

Classroom?

I firmly agree with your comments of clarifying “all key concepts and generalizations, use(ing) assessment as a teaching tool to extend instruction, mak(ing) critical and creative thinking a goal of lesson design, engag(ing) every student in learning, and provid(ing) balance of tasks between what is assigned by the teacher and selected by the student”.  Teachers - both special educators and general educators- need to keep all of this in mind when planning collaboratively.

4. How can flexible grouping be used most effectively in a differentiated classroom?

Differentiating instruction is based on data driven assessments.  Teachers must make observations and/or informal assessments to place students in the proper grouping or tiers for the instruction.  Some students can not be expected to evaluate expressions involving the order of operation with fractions if the student does not know how to add or multiply with fractions of unlike denominators.  Thus, I too believe in identifying the student’s readiness of the skill/concept.  This directly affects the instruction in the classroom.

5. How is differentiation of instruction and Bloom’s taxonomy related? Are they one in the same? DI definitely offers the opportunity to incorporate Bloom’s taxonomy and the depth of knowledge into the lessons, depending on the level or tier of instruction.

Gia, I particularly liked reading your statement of assessing the readiness of the student by  “finding the zone in which a child can be pushed into mastering new skills and becoming an independent thinker.”  That is an important skill of any educator but with students of exceptional learners it becomes imperative that they realize their inner strength of what they can accomplish independently.