DI

After the presentation and discussion on differentiated instruction on Tuesday, I began to evaluate the utilization of this technique in my coops classroom and realized it was nonexistent. Not only does every student in a class perform the same tasks, but every class does the same lesson each day, including the ESL section. I'm unsure if my coop is uninformed of the effectiveness and possibilities of DI or if he simply refuses to incorporate it into his lessons. I am tempted to encourage him to at least offer his students choice, which I believe is one of the rudiments of DI thought. In his class, all students must complete the same writing assignment based on identical prompts. As I gradually acquire more classroom authority, I will definitely vary the writing prompts, and even the readings, as to allow students a choice, and empower them in their learning. I would love to initiate a writer's notebook activity, in which students can develop a sense of individuality with their writing, and work at their own pace. Beyond giving students choice in their writing, I would like to extend this to assessment, allowing students to create multimedia projects in place of an essay. Another possible DI implementation could be designating each student specific tasks in group work, instead of the current structure in which there are no roles. I would assign struggling students different responsibilities than those given to their faster moving group members. With even the slightest integration of DI, the classroom dynamic would be dramatically altered, and provide students with a needed sense of ownership in their learning.