Chapter 1: The Differentiated Instruction Mind-set: Rationale and Definition

Teachers have been using differentiation for years; it just wasn’t call that yet. Now, differentiation has a name is being adopted as a model of teaching that all teaches should use. The goal is to allow students to show their mastery of the subject being taught in any form that allows them to best show all that they have learned: the goal is to be fair. A differentiated classroom is one in which students learn to advocate for themselves, see each other’s differences as strengths, and begin to understand themselves as learners. Students who learn in a differentiated classroom go on to do better in all learning settings, because they know how they learn best and can adapt better. My goal is to make my classroom a differentiated and fair learning environment for all my students. If I succeed, it means my students will too.

Chapter 4: What Really Matters in Planning for Student Success?

The goal of teachers should be finding different wants to teach students so that they can all learn what is necessary for them to succeed. Differentiation is important in teaching students, because everyone learns differently. When starting a unit, some students will be proficient at the abilities needed to work through the unit, while others don’t have the necessary skills and some possess almost all the knowledge already. Because of these gaps in student standings, it is the job of the teacher to assist students in reaching the goals of the unit as well as progressing past their former knowledge. Teachers also need to create environments in which all students can respect each other and work well, together and apart. Students need to learn how to become aware of their goals and how to meet them as well as how to set new ones, and this can be done with the aide of a teacher, and then students can develop to the point where teacher assistance is limited or unnecessary in creating practical goals. This all impacts me as a teacher because I will need to plan units for my class as a whole, but assist students individually and teach groups of students differently in order to have them all finish the unit with the knowledge they were supposed to learn. This may mean different lessons or projects for different students, working with students individually or in groups, and paying attention to make sure none of my students fall behind.

Chapter 3: What Really Matters in Learning? (Content)

The problem with standards is that they can be too specific, too broad, and too numerous. A good approach to standards is to think of them as “big ideas” (27) and essential questions instead of a confining statement to be met. A good way to assure that standards are met, addressed, and taught to is backward design. There are three stages to backward design: the first is determining the end results, the second is determining that student work will prove they have met the end results and the third is the plans and activities that will teach students how to do the work. By using backwards design teachers avoid simply teaching everything in the curriculum without a goal in mind and planning activities or work that do not help students to truly learn the material. When I teach, backwards design will be essential in my creation of units to assure that I am meeting required standards but also teaching students how to prove they know the information.

Chapter 4: Teaching Students About MI Theory

Multiple Intelligence Theory can easily be explained to any age group; the concepts are easy to grasp because everyone has all of the intelligences. After explaining each intelligence in age-appropriate terms, one can ask questions of the students about the intelligence that all should be able to answer yes to (Who here can read? That makes your word smart.) This will help students realize that everyone really is smart in eight different ways. Another important way to concretely explain the intelligences is to get out of the classroom and experience each intelligence on a field trip. Other ideas are reading the biographies of famous people who are known for a certain intelligence, do quick activities in the classroom, and have students learn about each other’s intelligences. The main goal is to help the students to understand the intelligences and their roles inside and outside of the classroom and recognize that we are all smart, just in different ways. This means that when I teach, I need to familiarize my students with the multiple intelligences and help them to understand which ones they. By doing this, my students and myself will be better able to learn and expand our knowledge.

Chapter 3: Describing Intelligences in Students

In order to teach to students’ intelligences, it is first necessary to know what their intelligences are. There are many resources one can use to start learning about each student’s preferred intelligences. Looking at how they act when they are not participating in class is a great way to start noticing how they learn. If they are not being taught to, they are going to start doing something that does hold their interest. Collecting evidence, such as papers, photographs, and recordings, is another great way to start forming a picture of a student’s intelligences. School records are another way to gather data, but observing how well students did on tests and what their grades were, one can see if they tend to do better in gym or in English, which can point towards bodily-kinesthetic or verbal. Talking to parents is also key, because they’ve seen their child grow up and learn in ways different from those in school. But to really understand a student’s intelligences, one needs to ask the student. In order to learn how to teach my students, I will need to collect many different types of data and consult many resources to understand their individual make-up of intellgiences.

Chapter 1: The Foundations of the Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Originally, intelligence was measured almost solely by the Intelligence Quotient test, leaving one’s intelligence to be measured by only a number. Then Howard Gardener came along and developed his theory of multiple intelligences, the idea that there are eight and maybe more intelligences that can be measured in a number of ways. All people are capable of having and developing all the intelligences. Some intelligences unfortunately seem more valued more than others, with linguistic and logical being the two most taught to in schools. The intelligences do not function separately, but rather work as a collective unit, requiring more than one to complete most daily tasks. Gardener’s multiple intelligence theory will have great impact in my classroom because I will need to be aware of my student’s intelligences and help they to develop all of them, not just advance their obvious stronger intelligences.

Chapter 2: MI and Personal Development

Teachers need to determine what their strongest intelligences are in order to help their students develop their intelligences as well. Because some intelligences are stronger than other, teachers are more likely to teach in a way that represented their strong suits. But intelligences are not just biologically drive; they can be cultivated, strengthened, and unfortunately, impaired or blocked. Biology, such as genetics, personal experience, and culture all play roles in how one’s intelligences develop. Just because someone shows mastery of one intelligence does not mean they cannot go on to master more or even all of them. Because intelligences can be strengthened and even stunted by bad experiences or physical brain damage, it is important for teachers to not just teach to students’ obvious strengths, but also teach to their less developed ones to build them. And I as a teacher will need to work on my other intelligences so that I can better learn to teach students with multiple intelligence strengths different from my own.

Chapter 2: What Really Matters in Teaching (The Students)

UBD/DI focuses not only on the idea that a teacher should know their students learning styles, but also what impacts their life outside the classroom and how it affects their learning. Students’ relationships with peers and parents greatly affect their performance in the classroom. Social and economic status as well as gender, race, and previous exposure to learning are all important factors of how students learn. Attending to all of these issues and influences is a difficult task, but the teacher is not expected to create individualized lesson plans for each student to best meet their needs. Teachers are expected to recognize different ways of learning, such as the multiple intelligences and teach to those to meet the needs of all the students. This impacts me greatly as a teacher because I will need to learn to understand what influences my students and rather than teach to each individually or all in a blanket fashion. I must see patterns of difference in the way my students learn and incorporate their learning styles into

Chapter 1: UBD and DI: An Essential Partnership

Understanding by Design and Differentiated Instruction are two ways of thinking about teaching that work together to create guidelines and support for teachers who want to insure they reach all their students when they teach. Both models support idea that teachers must be aware and responsive to their students, the learning environment in which they work, the subject matter they are teaching, and the way they deliver the information. By focusing on these four parts, teachers are better able to analyze how their students need to be taught and what they can do to meet students’ needs. UBD/DI is all about making sure all students that walk into a classroom have their personal learning styles and their level of understanding recognized, taught to, and supported. When I step into a classroom, I need to be prepared to adapt my curriculum, lessons, and teaching style so that I can insure that none of my students are left in the dark or lag behind. Everyone learns differently and at different speeds, it is my job to present information in ways that everyone can comprehend and make sure that at the end of the day everyone has a better understanding of the material. UBD/DI will be a cornerstone in my teaching practices. The more I advance my knowledge of UBD/DI and my students’ needs, the more I will be able to advance my students’ knowledge of the material.