Why I Can’t Quit (Even though sometimes I want to)

Recently I had the opportunity to be “professionally developed” by a regional reading coach.  She spent the better part of our time together holding a Reading Program teachers’ manual toward me and my colleagues, speaking to us as if we were the second graders rather than the teachers, explaining to us how to use a program that we have already been using for several years. But that’s not the worst of it. To put in a nutshell her instruction to us that day… skip over the parts that require time, talking, and thinking from the students, and spend more time on the parts that are tested skills. These are the sections that require rote learning, or memorization such as spelling words. And if that weren’t bad enough…she instructed us to break up the main selection into parts to save time!

My first reaction was the desire to stab myself in the leg! My second was…maybe it’s time for me to quit!

But, when I returned to my class of 7-year olds that afternoon, I immediately knew why I can’t quit…why none of us who care about our students or the future of our society can quit. My students deserve a teacher who cares about encouraging their ability to think on their own, to be creative, and to become independent learners. All students deserve that.

It’s time to free the students!

Differentiating Teaching and Learning: What SHOULD it Look Like?

Differentiate according to Dictionary.com means “to form or mark differently from other such things” or “to perceive the difference in or between”.

Therefore, Differentiated Teaching and Learning must mean to “form” instruction differently based upon the “difference[s]” perceived in learners. At least that is what I assume it means. Sounds great! Sounds like good teaching practice to me. Sounds like something we should all be doing for all students. And if you peruse educational websites or publications you might get the idea that this differentiation is a widespread practice. But is it?

I know lots of teachers in lots of different schools in lots of different districts. From all of them I hear the same story….pacing guides, reading and math programs that must be taught “to fidelity”, lesson plans and assignments that are required to be uniform throughout a grade level, mandated materials for use with strugglers. Hmmm…this does not sound like differentiation to me. Sometimes it seems we have locked our students into a scripted curricular prison!

What if we really differentiated our instruction? What would that look like? My thoughts:

Student Choice about reading material

Student Choice about writing topics

Mini lessons based on teacher observation of need

Cross curricular projects based on student interest

What could be more differentiated than learning activities based on student choice and interest?

How can I accomplish this and comply with my districts mandates? Don’t know. I’m still working on that.