Bev,
Amen!
It is so sad that differentiation has come to mean only levels of difficulty.
To me, you can differentiate by learning styles, interests...etc etc.
(And, Bev, maybe it won't surprise you, but before I became a reading
specialist, I was an early childhood classroom teacher.)
Jennifer Palmer
Reading Specialist, National Board Certified Teacher
FLES- Lead the discovery, Live the learning, Love the adventure.
"Children grow into the intellectual life around them."
-Vygotsky
From: Beverlee Paul
Sent: Tue 9/23/2008 3:18 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Understand] Beginning with Chapter One
Early childhood educators often discuss a "partner" of what you're saying,
Jennifer - that which they call "representation of learning." I love that
people of all ages and capabilities can represent their learning in so many
different ways other than we middle-class college graduates see as traditional.
Having taught two selectively-mute children (both happened to be Native
American, not so coincidentally), I've become very aware that there are many
ways people interact and "show understanding," not always with words and, many
times, in innovative and creative ways, if we just leave the welcome mat out
for them.
Jennifer saw it in her young students and I'll bet anyone who's taught kids
with CP or kids with autism or "weird" kids (as some would say) or kids who do
not speak a common language, has seen it too. We all "show" comprehension in
different ways, but sometimes noone is looking.
If we open our eyes and our doors and invite multiple representations of
learning, we're more and more likely to "see" evidence of understanding where
none had been shown before. And we don't have to "differentiate" with easier
and harder tasks (or worksheets); we just have to see and respond positively
and supportively. Doing that models what we hope all students come to do-- to
work together to create an deeper understanding.
And understanding is not reserved for just a few of the "chosen ones." It's
open to everyone. Which is one of the things special educators have been
telling us for years.
You know, we just haven't tried all that hard to figure out what we meant when
we kept telling our students "to understand," I guess.
> Last year, as we worked on comprehension lessons in Kindergarten and first
> grade through the lesson study process, I saw tremendously high levels of
> thinking. What seems to be developmental is the way those thoughts are
> expressed...through movement or pictures. We saw that we needed to give the
> kids the words, the language, to express the high level thinking they were
> ALREADY capable of doing.
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