Is Differentiation for Everyone?

This week we have continued with our lesson study, and I was able to observe it taught this week in another kindergarten class. Like last time, we were unfamiliar with the students, the class set up, and any of their routines, and we were basically going in blindly when it came to differentiating.

This upcoming week we will be in our first home classroom, where two of my peers will be teaching to their own students, whom they know and are comfortable with. We were able to begin adding differentiation to the lesson and added other details such as whether certain activities would be best taught with the students at the carpet or in their seats. These small details are the ones that can sometimes make a difference in a portion of a lesson, or the overall lesson.

My coteaching partner and I have already begun discussing the differentiation we will include in our classroom, because we now know our students and can tell that they will need different instruction then the classroom we will be in this week. However, it is easy for us to accommodate for, because this is a science lesson, and everyone is basically on the same page. All students are on track for science, and the things we will need to differentiate for are behavior problems versus learning issues. However, I see the real difficulty come into play with other subjects like reading and math when it comes to differentiation. In Tomlinson and Imbeau chapter 7, they discuss some concerns teachers continue to have with differentiation and the common reasons that they do not use it. One that struck me was that the class size was too big. I feel that it is almost opposite in my classroom now. The class size is not too big, but the size of those struggling, is too small. There are four students that I am immediately concerned for when it comes to passing FAIR testing, and being capable to reach the levels expected of them to move on to the first grade.

My wondering for this week is, can differentiation help students who are the few being left behind?

My class is full of bright, motivated young students who are eager to learn, and are doing very well, almost all reading and doing math beyond their grade level. However, there are a select few at the bottom who are not reaching their potential and further more, are just struggling. They are included in group activities like reading and writing aloud, however how do we know that they are gaining anything from this instruction, and not just hearing their fellow students and copying their work? I know this is an opportunity for good modeling, but I am wondering if more one-on-one attention needs to exist at this age, or if these students will eventually just catch up.

Our teacher is good about differentiating homework for math assignments, my coteacher and I are implementing UFLI which is differentiated by level, and their literacy stations are differentiated as well. But during these times, since the teacher is not working directly with them, they tend to slack off, or goof around, and are not truly gaining anything from this experience. At home, they very may well be getting too much help on homework, and it is not truly reflecting their work.

I wonder if differentiation in a classroom like this should be so different and extreme to where it is the entire class working on one assignment, and three students with the teacher, almost at all times, to ensure that they are learning and progressing.

I think that overall I have learned that especially in this classroom, differentiation is important, but I continue to wonder how it will look in different classrooms.