Reflecting on the #gtchat I participated in this past weekend:
I am not a GT teacher, nor do I anticipate ever being a GT teacher. I am the sister in law of a GT man who has had a hand in producing a GT child that nearly lost all love of school in kindergarten due to a lack of differentiation. He is now in a better situation in first grade, and developing an enjoyment for school.
When I think of differentiation, I tend to think of making learning accessible to students of lower levels along with the rest of the class. Somehow I had gotten the idea of differentiation mixed up with some sort of remediation, perhaps? When I saw that the topic for this week's #gtchat was differentiation, I was intrigued.
Deborah Mersino, the chat facilitator, started us with a question about what our current understanding of a differentiated classroom was. My reply was "...meeting children where they are and teaching each child from where they are to where they can be." As I hit send, I hit my forehead. At times I might need to provide extra support to students who need it, and there will certainly be a "middle of the pack" that will travel along just fine with my standard curriculum, but what do I plan to do for those who aren't reaching where they can be? What will I do for the gifted children who want to be engaged and excited about learning too? Already, from the first question, I am so glad I tuned into this chat.
The next question was related to whether or not teachers successfully differentiate regularly. That led me to think about my experiences in the school where I substitute and volunteer. I see different ways that each grade level differentiates. Lower grades tend to differentiate through grouping within the classroom. Grades 4 and 5 group amongst the grade for math, and change classrooms. I made a mental note to observe more specifically how these teachers differentiate, and ask some of the teachers how they endeavor to do so.
Deborah shared some "Tomlinson basics" through the talk. I hadn't heard the name in many years (likely since college), so that led me to this article and an Amazon search for her books on Kindle. There were many more resources that were shared by the chat participants that were perfect for me to extend that one hour chat and continue to explore more:
Using Contracts to Extend Learning - from Diane over at "For the Love of Teaching"
The Differentiator - from Byrdseed Gifted
To sum up what I got from this chat session: when planning differentiation for the learners in your class, remember not only to look back to those who need help to keep up, but also to leave room for those who are ready to run on ahead.
