Teacher
Normal Diversity
SOE Goal #3: Teachers differentiate instruction with respect for individual and cultural characteristics.
Introduction
To begin the discussion on differentiating instruction and making sure it is respectful of the individual, I will need to begin with some definitions of terms and basic thoughts. The scope of this paper is to talk about multicultural education as well as differentiation for the varying abilities of the students. It is a wide coverage! There cannot be a simple differentiation of a lesson that will cover all of those who need differentiation. Thus, there is some difficulty for the teacher, but a rewarding challenge at the same time. As a whole, I think that most teachers realize there are different abilities and cultures represented in the classroom. The question becomes: how is that addressed? What can he or she do about it, to ensure each student is receiving instruction with respect to his or her individual and cultural characteristics?
No classroom will be homogenous. When students come to school, no matter the grade, they each come to the room with a set of factors from their own upbringing and their own culture that will determine how he or she will behave, study, speak, interact and learn. I mean that this is their starting point as they enter the learning community in my room. It is individualistic and helps to make up who he or she is. They will vary in ethnicity, language, religion and ability, to name a few of these factors. Diversity has become the normalcy. The differences represented in the classroom should be acknowledged and celebrated.
Diversity [is not] just a modern phenomenon; America has been a nation of immigrants, a symphony of languages, a host of religions, and a tangle of social classes for centuries, not just the past couple of years. Student diversity used to be viewed as a problem to be solved: students of supposedly varying abilities were segregated by tracking (Daniels & Bizar, p.
SOE Goal #3: Teachers differentiate instruction with respect for individual and cultural characteristics.
Introduction
To begin the discussion on differentiating instruction and making sure it is respectful of the individual, I will need to begin with some definitions of terms and basic thoughts. The scope of this paper is to talk about multicultural education as well as differentiation for the varying abilities of the students. It is a wide coverage! There cannot be a simple differentiation of a lesson that will cover all of those who need differentiation. Thus, there is some difficulty for the teacher, but a rewarding challenge at the same time. As a whole, I think that most teachers realize there are different abilities and cultures represented in the classroom. The question becomes: how is that addressed? What can he or she do about it, to ensure each student is receiving instruction with respect to his or her individual and cultural characteristics?
No classroom will be homogenous. When students come to school, no matter the grade, they each come to the room with a set of factors from their own upbringing and their own culture that will determine how he or she will behave, study, speak, interact and learn. I mean that this is their starting point as they enter the learning community in my room. It is individualistic and helps to make up who he or she is. They will vary in ethnicity, language, religion and ability, to name a few of these factors. Diversity has become the normalcy. The differences represented in the classroom should be acknowledged and celebrated.
Diversity [is not] just a modern phenomenon; America has been a nation of immigrants, a symphony of languages, a host of religions, and a tangle of social classes for centuries, not just the past couple of years. Student diversity used to be viewed as a problem to be solved: students of supposedly varying abilities were segregated by tracking (Daniels & Bizar, p.
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