Week Three

Hallmark #1 in differentiation is creating a strong link between assessment and instruction. As a teacher, I need to preassess my students in order to understand their needs, base my lessons on the information I gather from the preassessment, and then continually assess their learning in a variety of ways to determine their progress.

Student profile and interest surveys as shown in the text Fulfilling the Promise will provide me with vital information to use when designing appropriate lessons to meet the needs of my new students. Important information about individual students can be gathered from these student surveys. Reading a student profile and interest survey is like reading the informational label attached to a new plant at the garden store. These labels help the gardener decide the type of soil, water conditions, and sun exposure necessary to keep the plant thriving. Strengths and weaknesses are noted and fertilizing instructions are included. Without reading the label for hydrangeas, a person would never know how very amazing that plant can be. By changing the ph level of the soil, the hydrangea can produce blooms in a variety of colors - both pink as well as blue. Students are like this, if the teacher never learns a student is passionate about a certain topic, that passion can never be used to engage the learner in a meaningful way. A hidden talent of a student might remain “undiscovered” by the teacher. Keeping the students’ “informational label” handy and referring to it often will enable the teacher to tap into the students’ hidden beauty.

As I am very interested in teaching kindergarten, I believe it would be necessary to modify the “student Profile Survey” to include simpler words and illustrations as well as provide a smile, frown, or neutral face for the students to indicate their preferences. For the “Student Interest Survey” I would make it a take-home family project which would include a space for an adult helper to write the words along with a space for the student to make small illustrations. For kindergarten, I would alter the text to ask questions concerning preschool experiences they may have had. I would use these inventories to begin to develop my understanding of each student and include interesting topics and engaging teaching methods to meet the needs of my students. Like a gardener, I would have an idea about what would help my students to flourish in the classroom.

Looking through the “File of Inventories/Pre-assessments” included on blackboard, I noticed a large variety of assessments tools that can be used to assess general as well as specific areas of content. I noticed there were options for students to check boxes, respond with short answers, draw pictures, or give longer explanations. Some of the ideas were designed to help me as a teacher, bringing to mind some of the many criteria I should be looking for as I assess the abilities of my students in different content areas. Some of the ideas were designed for me to record my own observations. Some of the ideas were actual assessments that I could use as-is, or modify to assess my own students. From looking through this file of inventories/pre-assessments, it is very clear there is a strong link between assessment and instruction. If I am to be successful like a gardener in a beautiful garden, I must learn all I can about my students, use my knowledge about them to design instruction that will be beneficial for them, and then assess to see if they gained that knowledge. The overall theme of differentiation is getting to know my students, where they are, how they got there, and then using that knowledge to help get them to move higher in their understanding.