Questions
•What are some strategies that you have learnt from the video and course-mates that you may like to add to your teaching repertoire?
•What challenges do you foresee in implementing these strategies in the Singapore classroom?
•How might you overcome these challenges?
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Juliet
76 comments:
1. After going through this session, I realised that it is important to vary our teaching and facilitating methods to meet different student’s needs. Not all students are alike, what is effective for most preschoolers may not be as effective for my students. A very clear example and which have impact me the most is the Case Study #11: Silences: The Case of the Invisible Boy. Working in groups may be a popular approach as it provides a lot of advantages and are effective for most children, but not for Dennise. Therefore, the teacher may be flexible and try out other ways to match Dennise’s learning style.
2. In Singapore context, parents treat their child like a precious possession as they have very little children. Therefore, children have been used to be treated very special at home.
I think that a possible problem for implementing such strategies would be: Other typical children in the class may realize that I am giving a different style of approaching and instructing to some of their friends who have different learning styles as them (like Dennise). They may feel less important as they do not receive an individualized attention. Just because they can cooperate in class and can follow the instructions given, it does not mean they do not need special attention and individualized approaches. Thus, more misbehaviours may occur.
3. I can make use different kinds of assessment as a teaching tool for children’s different needs and learning styles. I have to recognize their individual styles so that I can get ready with the individualized instructions, questions and approaches in class. Hence, everyone will feel important and respected in class and less misbehaviour will occur.
Nurul Izzah
Q1) From the video, I have learnt to provide differentiated instructions to students. I particularly like the idea of using cubes of different colors to group children according to their abilities and varying the types of instructions given. However, I feel that making so many cubes with paper each time is a hassle. I will prefer to make a more durable cube or buy commercial ones, stick the instructions on it and replace the instructions for the next activity. In the video, I have learnt that we must create consistent environment such that every learning centre is of high standard. This will help to encourage children to express their ideas and understanding in the learning centres which appeal to their interests. I find that children tend to be attracted to go to learning centres such as the block centre with commercial toys. Learning centres like the art centre, is often neglected or shabby looking. Hence, I have learnt to set up equally attractive and interesting learning corners to cater to the different interests of children. Another strategy which I have gained is to allow for purposeful movements in class when children are on task. This promotes children’s independence and autonomy.
Q2) Grouping children according to their abilities and providing different instructions may cause unhappiness to parents especially when their child is lower in abilities. They may think that their child is not sufficiently stimulated and gain little in their learning. Also, they may feel inferior and may think that their child is unintelligent and slow to be in the group which consists of slow learners. Creating learning centres which are of equal standard may be challenging for some preschools. Due to the lack of space and finance, some preschools tend to be inconsistent in creating learning centres. For example, the previous centre which I was working in is a voluntary welfare organization. It placed much emphasis on dramatic centre by buying some commercial toys and other learning centres such as the manipulative centre are neglected and toys are often broken as well as old. Another challenge which may be faced when promoting purposeful movements is that the class may be a little chaotic. As most of our preschools in Singapore are built using open-concept, it may affect other classes and cause unhappiness among teachers. Also, some principals who are very structured may perceive teachers as poor managers of class.
Q3) To overcome the misconceptions from parents, teachers need to explain the rationale and benefits of providing differentiated instructions and assure parents that all activities are challenging in different ways. Teachers can set equally stimulating learning centres by creating a floor plan for the class to ensure that sufficient space is allocated for each learning centre. Also, teachers can help to minimize costs by using recycled materials or even children’s product to decorate and create interesting learning centres. To encourage purposeful movements, teachers should have a common consensus during discussion to adopt this approach. Also, rules and regulations in class need to be reinforced with children to ensure purposeful movements. Teachers can also discuss with principals to inform them about the rationale of allowing movements in class. We can also convince our principals through evidence of the progress which children have made through videos or photographs.
Toh Jingfen Yvette
Group A
1.From the video, I have learnt about some ways of using “differentiated instruction” to advocate children. As we all know, by using Differentiated Instruction, it means to cater to individual children based on their abilities, needs or level of interest. There are many ways that we can use to categorize different learning styles. One of the examples shown is based on the theme on “Pioneer Life”. The teacher then separates the class into different groups based on their abilities as observed previously. For instance, teacher have grouped children whom are better in Technology, at the computer corner whereby children will be doing some simple research based on the theme “Pioneer Life”. By using this method, it will enable children to work independent without much of teacher’s facilitation. The other example shown on the video is about using surveys to discover children’s interest and to group them according to their interest. Personally, I find that this method is very helpful as it will enable lessons to be more children-directed instead of teacher-directed. This will help children to make choices and also allow children to see connection in their learning.
2.I feel that convincing parents will be the main challenge that I will face if I were to implement these strategies in the local classrooms. As I feel that regardless of any changes made, teachers will have to first convince the parents and also to take some time before parents are willing to accept the change. In addition, some of our local classrooms may have insufficient resource for both teachers and children to access to.
3.Before implementing any changes, it is best to inform parents through letters or emails and to let them be aware of the benefits that these strategies may bring to their children. To increase the effectiveness of these strategies, teacher may do a record by using checklist or any other recording tools over a period of time to take note of any improvement and to make any necessary amendment to make it more effective. Finally, it is important to have a strong home-school partnership so that if the classroom are lacking of resources, parents may assist teachers in gathering some resources or materials.
Zheng Huilin
Group B
From the video, I have learnt some strategies where I feel that I can apply them in the future when working with young children. The first strategy that I have learnt is to differentiate the content of a topic or a unit that are based on the children’s interest and needs. An example quoted from the video will be, using surveys at every beginning and ending of a particular topic or unit so as to know more about the student’s interest before designing lesson plans and interesting activities to engage the students. Teachers may include questions like “What you like to do?” or “What you do not like to do?”
Moving on, the second strategy that I have learnt is to provide sufficient choices for students to choose when engaged in a particular activity. One example quoted from the video that I have learnt is to use different coloured cubes to group the students based on their interest and readiness level in a particular topic. Another example of differentiating the content and activities based on the student’s interest and readiness level is to allow a balance of small group work and individual work in the same readiness level to engage in a particular activity.
The last strategy that I have learnt from the video is that differentiated instruction enables teachers to play numerous roles in the student’s learning, such as being a facilitator of time, space, planner and assessor when we approach the problems faced differently and be flexible by making adjustments to suit and cater the student’s interests, needs and readiness level.
There are challenges that I foresee in implementing these strategies in the Singapore classroom. The first challenge will be in the area of the time factor. Reason being, the issue of time factor has always been a problem or challenge faced by most teachers in the local context as they always feedback about the shortage of time due to the heavy workload that they have. Thus, two ways to overcome this challenge is to encourage teachers to be more organized and task- oriented and encourages teachers to attend seminars or workshops on time management.
The second challenge will be on the area of the teacher’s professional growth. Reason being, I feel that some teachers in the local context may not know in details on what differentiated instruction is all about and how to implement the strategies in a classroom. Thus, one way to overcome this challenge is to encourage the teachers to upgrade their knowledge and skills by attending workshop or seminars.
Alina Poh
Group B
1)The short video on differentiated instruction enlightened me on how the readiness levels of children vary and how products can vary accordingly. One key strategy I learnt was from the section on learning profiles, where a teacher talked about having six different tasks on one same concept. It was interesting to see how she facilitated learning in the children despite knowing that all their end products would vary. This is valuable as there seems to be a growing concern among local parents and teachers with what children learn and produce at the end of class.
Also, in discussing the case study on Dennis with my peers on adapting instruction and modification on creating opportunities for participation, suggestions such as having debates, drawing worksheets and allowing him to choose what he wants to learn surfaced. Even in modification for evaluation, we unanimously decided that rather than sticking to the traditional tests, differentiating the product and assessment tool would be a better alternative in gauging his learning.
2)From personal experience, I’ve seen that when parents know that their children are producing different work pieces on the content they were covering, they tend to question the teacher’s practices. Growing up in schools which focus on creating identical products resembling a factory line, parents and even teachers have not seemed to warm up to the mindset of having children learn and be assessed differently.
Apart from convincing parents of the benefits, it would also be a big challenge on the teacher’s part in trying to accommodate the lesson to the needs of the diverse learners in her classroom. The growing needs of well informed students have to be met, as teachers seek to challenge the children’s learning, creativity and analytical skills through varied activities.
3)I can begin by observing my students on a regular basis and documenting these observations. As I do so, I will be able to begin to notice the different ways my students learn best, and those who are having difficulty learning. Through these documentations, I’ll be able to take the next step of taking action.
Varying activities and grouping children of different ability levels together would help the children learn from each other. For children who have difficulty with following instructions, I can modify the instructions in ways they understand best, such as pictorially or through auditory means. As for convincing parents, I can include the benefits in the monthly newsletter and inform them of the purpose of differentiated instruction through making resources such as books and magazines on different learning styles available to them for their perusal and understanding. The emphasis on varying products reinstates the importance of seeing the different strengths in a child. It is thus important to ensure that I convince all parties involved in the child’s learning, if I were to successfully carry out differentiated instruction.
Shron
Group A
1) Some of the strategies will include conducting surveys to find out about the children’s interests and it can be done at the beginning of every semester. This is so because their interest might change over time as a result of the changing environment and their personal growth. Apart from that, differentiated instructions can also be done using the coloured cubes as seen in the video. By having differentiated instructions on coloured cubes, the children who are less capable would not feel demoralized as compared to when the teacher personally provide a one to one instruction with the children, that seems to be more obvious. Also, the coloured cubes are more flexible and allows the children to work together. The children could work with others with the same coloured cubes or having a mix of colours to share the different ways of representing a certain topic.
2) Firstly, it would be quite challenging for teachers to come up with a variety of activities for every lesson based on the learning needs and capabilities of the children. Apart from that, parents might not feel comfortable when they see their children bringing home a different piece of work from their peers and would start questioning the teachers.
3) To overcome these challenges, teachers would have to inform parents on the benefits of using differentiated instructions and that every child has a different readiness level. Aside from that, the children’s progress should be reflected in their progress chart and feedbacks can be provided to parents from time to time. To have differentiated instructions in the classroom, teachers need to have a strong resource, network and support from their colleagues and school. By doing so, teachers get to share the techniques and strategies with one another.
Nurfarah Mohamed Group A
1. What are some strategies that you have learnt from the video and course-mates that you may like to add to your teaching repertoire?
I feel that the video highlighted on the teacher giving children differentiated instructions and planning activities of different level to cater to the children as learn at different pace like what the maturational theory suggested.
I particularly like the part of the video whereby the teacher allocates different color cubes that consist of instructions of different levels for the children. If all children were to do the same set of activity with the same instructions, those highly functioning children will get bored as it is not challenging enough for them, whereas those children who are a little slower will get frustrated because it is too hard for them. By catering to the children’s needs and level, children will be more likely to engage with the materials and will experience success.
2. What challenges do you foresee in implementing these strategies in the Singapore classroom?
I feel that teachers will find it challenging to adapt the strategy in Singapore due to the high teacher- child ratio. Therefore, teachers may not have enough time to prepare the materials to meet all the children’s needs.
3. How might you overcome these challenges?
I feel that the strategy is workable if we had a smaller teacher to child ratio. Perhaps the center supervisor can consider having a smaller teacher child ratio so that the teacher can manage and meet the needs of all her children or alternatively hire some assistant teachers to help the teacher prepare her materials.
Michelle Tan Yi Ni
Group A
This video has enforced the point that every child’s readiness levels are different. With that knowledge, educators should provide differentiated instructions to cater to the needs of children with different abilities. A differentiation in contents, activities, and products should also be provided to children so as to cater to their individual learning styles, needs, and intelligence, thereby ensuring success in their learning.
I would take into consideration the idea that children should be grouped according to their learning styles. Of course, I would first have to assess them and identify the ways in which they learn best. In the video, the educator had identified the learning styles of each individual child. She observed whether the child is good in writing, estimating, building and structuring, or in logical thinking skills. She then grouped the children according to their strengths and gave them different tasks to do which focused on one single topic. Through this, the educator is catering to children’s different learning levels, thereby granting them a comfortable yet dynamic setting to learn and problem-solve. It also creates a sense of pride in the children when educators identify their strengths rather than their weaknesses. Through grouping children according to their learning styles, it grants greater flexibility to lessons, and it also supports children’s learning without frustrating them.
One challenge would definitely be the mindset of parents. It would be hard to make them understand why we provide such differentiations to the children. To them, it might seem that we are choosing the best things for the best children, and leave the average and at-risk children to do other different tasks which stifle their learning.
I would give parents the reasons as to why the children are provided with such differentiations. A workshop or talk would be good to ensure that the parents understand why it is done. Also, this would create a partnership between the educator and the parents. Since parents will understand the importance of having differentiated instructions, they will be able to work alongside the educators to provide for their children a proper learning environment at home. Children’s learning will then be supported both in the classroom and home environment.
- Nur Amira Safari Wijaya
Group A
Question 1
As early childhood educators, we all know that catering to different children’s cognitive levels, abilities and level of interest is essential. But many a times, teachers tend to overlook these aspects when planning lessons for children. Hence, I found the idea of conducting an ‘interest survey’ for the children to find out the areas with which they are interested in and the things they enjoy doing before starting on a particular theme a very practical strategy. In this way, children are learning what they like best and there would be a higher chance that the children can remember the information they have gained in class and apply it in the future. Next, the idea of creating a learning profile seems to be an effective tool to guide teachers in the planning of effective and meaningful lessons and activities for all children. In this way, all children’s learning styles and preferred way of learning will be reflected to aid teacher’s planning. Additionally, children’s strength will be capitalized which may increase their sense of self- worth.
Question 2
It can be argued that implementing these strategies may inhibit or limit the amount the children are learning and to expound on their stronger learning styles may cause a further decline in the areas which they are weaker in. Moreover, younger children from 18 months to 4 years of age may have difficulties articulating their likes and dislikes. Hence, it may make collecting the ‘information’ difficult and time- consuming for teachers.
Question 3:
To counter the above pitfalls of the mentioned strategies, it is essential for the teacher to find out more from the parents and the teachers who have taught them previously. In this way, teachers can have some background knowledge of the children. Having a rich source of background knowledge together with teachers’ observations in class during well- planned activities; it might further reveal children’s interests and learning styles. For example: reading with and without the use of visual aids, what are the children’s reactions?
With regards to children being inhibited in their learning and in the seemingly lack of support in the children’s ‘weaker’ areas, buddy systems or occasional rotation of groups may be helpful. For example: the class is grouped by their interest and within the group they are broken down according to their readiness level [each learning about the same thing but has different tasks to complete]. In this way, children with higher readiness level can be of support to the children to lower readiness level. After working on it for a while, teachers may want to split the class according to the children’s readiness level. In this way, children working on the same tasks but different in the area of interest can come together to share their ideas.
1)•Differentiating instructions:
- Allow children to connect what they are learning to their real life. For example using of superheroes and connect to someone that they know or in their family.
- Group children by interest so that they will be involved and enthused in doing and discussing together
- A variety of interesting activities for all children
- Using survey to find out what children like and want to learn
- Provide interesting activities for children to be engaged in after they have finished their work
• Case 11 Silences (Dennis)
- Since Dennis has great interest in drawing, use pictorials as assessment.
- Assessment criteria should be different from peers for example a combination of drawing, writing, speaking
- Tap and expand on his interest for example
2)• Some schools have curriculum and activities that they want children to learn and there may not be any time for teachers to have lessons that children want to know (from the survey)
• Teachers are not providing interesting activities. They are giving more work (such as worksheets) for them to do just as long as they do not disturb the others.
• Parents want their children to score academically hence they may argue and disagree with focusing or tapping on children’s talents or interests on arts, music or dance
3)• Have discussion with the principal. Organize and schedule time properly for children’s interest.
• Allow children to go to learning corners. Learning corners should have a variety of interesting and engaging activities for children and we can also incorporate children’s interest in the learning corners for children to explore and discover.
• Have meetings with parents and show them concrete evidence of how their children have learned and enjoyed through art, music or dance.
Rina Lin
Often I heard that teachers need to be flexible in their teaching. However, what do they mean by flexibility. Is it the teaching strategies, the instructions or the activities that they have planned for the children. I believe that flexibility comprises of all these. Especially, in the video, it emphasises on the factor of differentiated instructions.
With further group discussions on the video, I agree that differentiated instruction is vital in making learning effective for each individual child. Differentiated instruction means that teachers differentiate the content, activities and product for each child. Therefore, in my teaching, I need to have reasonable and achievable expectations for each child. In other words, I need to design my approach of teaching to cater the needs of individual child. To achieve this, I need to first understand and learn their area of interests, intelligence and level of readiness. This can be done through surveys or discussions before making them do any activities on the topic as shown in the video. As the lessons proceed, the activities designed need to be engaging and interactive for all children.
The activities will then need to consider the children’s interests, intelligences and level of readiness. Not only that, I have to ensure that the children have variety of choices to choose from. By doing this, children of higher achievers will not feel neglected as they tend to be the ones completing their tasks earlier than the rest. However, in order to keep them engaged while the rest are still working on their tasks, I need to ensure that proper types of activities would be suitable for them. These activities should be something that they enjoy doing and not what they see as more work. Such examples can be helping the rest of their peers or even working on the more challenging activities.
However, in implementing these strategies in Singapore classrooms will mean that there will be more challenges for the teachers. Teachers might not be trained in the areas of special needs education. When they are untrained in that area, there bound to be misunderstanding and thus learning for these children will not be as effective. When teachers do not understand the needs of all children, it might be difficult for them to plan out activities that aim differentiated products and instructions. Therefore, teachers need to constantly upgrade themselves as education is always changing.
Adding on, introducing the differentiated instructions in class might upset some parents. Every parent wants the best for their children. Therefore, questions like “Why my children are not doing the same activity like the rest” and “Why my child gets to do only the simple ones” may arise. Therefore as teachers, they need to approach parents in a polite way to ensure that they understand what differentiated instruction is and why they are implementing it. This can be done during parent-teacher conference or small talks but must be accompanied with concrete examples of how the differentiated instruction approach is beneficial to their children.
Nur Amalina Bte Zaini
Group A
Q 1:
From the video, one strategy used is asking children to do surveys at the start of each curriculum unit. This is for the teacher to find out their interests, such as favourite books, what they like to do and what are their likes and dislikes. From the surveys, the teacher is able to find out the current interests of the majority of the students and plan the lessons that enable them to connect their prior knowledge to new information. In addition, such surveys allow the teacher to understand each student better. This strategy provides options for recruiting interest as it enhance relevance, value and authenticity.
Another strategy seen from the video is having different learning corners or activities at the same time in a class. Children are assigned to different activities based on their strengths and multiple intelligences. For example, children who are good in language may be in the library reading for information, while some may want to draw or write their learning experiences in their journals, while those good in mathematics are doing measurements. When using this strategy, the classroom may seem chaotic at first, but the students are actually engaged in purposeful movements and talking. At the end of the lesson, the class may come together to share what they have learned. The learning corners help to facilitate children’s learning by allowing them to make their own choice to learn in a way they are comfortable with.
Colour coding of materials to differentiate difficulty levels cater to the different readiness level of the students. Students are able to evaluate their own learning by deciding what level they can accomplish. This strategy helps to stretch each student to the maximum level without frustrating them.
Q2 & 3:
Getting students to do surveys at the start of the curriculum is not a common practice seen here in Singapore. The students may not be accustomed to share their personal opinions and interest as openly as the students in the western countries. Furthermore, teachers may be more overwhelmed by the diverse of interest and abilities that he or she did not expect to face. Questions and topics set in the survey have to be closely tied-up with the Singapore’s education framework and the theme of the curriculum. Hence, the feedback the teacher gets back will be more concise and relevant, yet meeting the interests of individual child.
One challenge the teacher may face in letting children to be engage in different activities is providing the right materials for each learning corner. The materials chose for the topic that children are learning has to be age-appropriate and a balance or close and open-ended. Providing the wrong materials may result in meaningless activities. To overcome this challenge, the teacher has to reflect each material in each corner by asking how is the children going to use the materials and did the materials meet the Universal Design Learning guidelines. During the activities, teacher observes and again reflects if the materials have been helpful in their learning and what can be improved.
Another challenge is that student-teacher ratio is quite high in most government preschools and primary schools. Having a lesson with so many ongoing activities might be difficult for the teacher to facilitate learning and manage students. I feel that for learning in a big diverse classroom to be successful, the student-teacher ratio has to be lowered by having an assistant teacher in the class to help the main teacher to guide students’ learning. Giving clear instructions and rules help to minimize misbehaviors and confusion so students can be engaged in their own learning.
Koh Feng Yan Yvette
Group B
Hu Huazhen Dawn Group B
1) I learned that teachers enhances student learning by matching student characteristics to instruction and assessment. For example, in the last segment of the video, the teacher provided different colour cubes to cater to different students’ interest. She is constantly providing survey to check with their diverse needs. In addition, the activities and content were created based on their readiness and interest throughout the day. Through group and individual discussions, teachers can assess children’s learning while leveling the question to ability and aim at higher order thinking. There are tiered assignments, interest centers or interest groups and flexible grouping for teachers to specify skills and students to target their own learning styles.
2) My challenges are the increased time commitment required of teachers to engage in a differentiated classroom as well as the necessary funding required to implement and provide ongoing support for the differentiated classroom. Learning how to capture different students’ learning styles would pose a challenge for me, as I do not know how to measure in accordance to their readiness. There is no funding or support from the school and it is required for teachers to follow a prescribed curriculum. As teachers, some might adopt differentiated instruction by overstating the benefits and virtues of the concepts. Conversely, teachers might feel that children could only “learn” when teachers “teach” and be unable to understand the change process as it applies to implementing differentiated instruction practices.
3) Teachers can take on small steps in implementing differentiated instruction as everyone is already doing some differentiation in the classroom environment. Teachers are willing to schedule their time in refine professional skills and practices. Emphasis should be on goals of creative and critical thinking as well as engaging all learners. Providing a balance between teacher-assigned and student-selected tasks ensure students’ performance levels are thoroughly understood and regularly communicated.
Hu Huazhen Dawn Group B
1. In today’s context, educators have to cater to more diverse learners with different capabilities and needs. Thus educators need to be flexible to adapt and meet the current needs of the masses.
In coping with catering to the diverse learners, one of the strategies that can be adaptable to my teaching repertoire is differentiated instructions.
It is not a secret that children have different readiness level so it makes sense to have different instructions. By using learning profile to carry out differentiated learning, it helps to facilitate learning by accommodating choice and also categorize the diverse learners. It is interesting how the teacher in the video conducted her lessons using differentiated learning and it clearly demonstrates how it allows flexibility. She capitalizes on the children’s learning according to their interest by getting the students to pick what they want to learn. She designs her lessons considering the level of her student interest, readiness in minds. By doing so, she provides different challenges according to the student’s readiness enabling students to progress with confidence.
The different dynamics in class as a result of the interactions between students and teacher enhances and allows teacher to grow and change. At the end of the day I have taken away with me that differentiated instructions are created to ensure success where students of different level of readiness are equally engaged and respected.
2,3)
Implementing these strategies in the Singapore classroom might be met with obstacles. In Singapore, typical pre-school education consist of a three year structure with curriculum that covers from language skills, basic number concepts, creative problem solving skills etc. The spectrum of pre-schools and kindergartens in Singapore caters to the diversity of learning and development needs of all pre-schoolers thus they all have different approaches to the curriculum. The strategies can be introduced and implement. However will it follow through with the lack of manpower in the field? For differentiated instructions to successfully take of in Singapore, teachers have to care enough about each individual progress to cater to the needs of the diverse learners. The shortage of manpower will lead to more workloads for teachers and thus taking away quality time for the teacher to spend on the children.
As the new generation of fresh graduates of early childhood teachers enters the scene, will the older generation be able to accept the new ideas the graduates may have considering the culture here in Singapore? I am not saying the strategies shown are impossible to use here in Singapore, in fact , I am more than excited to implement what I have learnt but Singapore still have a long way in order for these methods to be truly successful.
Generally in childcare centres in Singapore, teachers are always kept busy with so many things pertaining to the child in terms of routine and curriculum and other projects. Even with the structures in place, some teacher may struggle to strike a balance as time is not on their side.
It takes more than one individual to overcome these challenges. There should be a nation-wide training pertaining to the curriculum guidelines in order to provide common structures for all childcare centres in Singapore. Differentiated learning is an excellent way to conduct lesson and for children to learn as there are equal respect and challenge in each task. Teachers should work together among each other to be a role model for their students. Teachers could also bond over networking session gaining supports from peers alike. Perhaps with the results of differentiated learning and seeing how much a child can bloom and benefit from it, it will be a testimony to all potential parents to be that the quality of early childhood education in Singapore is rising. Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong need not be so worried regarding filling the space of 20,000 childcare places over the next five years as it will not be a problem anymore once the quality of preschool teaching increases.
Syafiqah
Grp A
What are some strategies that you have learnt from the video and course-mates that you may like to add to your teaching repertoire?
I have learnt ways to accommodate to the different levels of individual children. Whether it is accommodating to their capabilities and planning for activities that allows for success or incorporating lessons and activities that includes and highlights significant attributes that are of interest to each individual child so as to engage them even further.
To accommodate to children’s capabilities or their readiness, teachers can apply differentiated instruction like for example allowing children to contribute through means that are achievable. Like for example when asking children to document points that requires comparison to discuss afterwards, we can allow children who are at a lower level to draw pictures to illustrate their point, doing venn diagrams for children who are at the average level and allowing children at a higher level to do a compare and contrast diagram to highlight their point. Though their processes are different, the ultimate end is all the same. By varying the medium, we allow children to work to their maximum potential without overwhelming them.
What challenges do you foresee in implementing these strategies in the Singapore classroom?
Though efforts are made to deviate learning from the traditional means of structured pen and paper, desk bound style, the mentality of most Singaporean parent and the educators from the older generation still believe that structured learning is the way to go and that children learn best from having structured, behind the desk, lessons and having tons of written assignments. Especially with children in the Kindergarten 2 level, preparation for the commencement of primary one will be of utmost importance and primary school usually means even more paper work and parents might not take too well to the fact that their children are not doing activities that are at the same level as their peers and instead doing activities that are suited to their readiness. With such a mentality still prevalent among parents, it will be difficult to introduce parents to varying other mediums of learning such as the play based curriculum and the likes. Even though the ultimate product is similar, some parents still doubt the capabilities of play or the teaching capacities of a toy.
Also, as much as I would like to make differentiated instruction integral in the classroom, the fact that primary schools are not adapting such strategies makes me hesitant in getting children used to the flexibility and the availability of different means of expression of differentiated instruction. For getting used to such strategies in preschool might mean a rough head start in primary school.
How might you overcome these challenges?
I would advocate my stand for the effectiveness of differentiated learning to the parents and explain its benefits. Though differentiated learning might mean that their child is doing activities that are at a lower level as compared to their peer, they will be able to learn better and more as compared to forcing them to complete high level activities. Not only might they frequently experience failure, children might also lose confidence and lose their interest in studying altogether. Its flexibility and effectiveness will be able to help each and every single one of the children in the same classroom, despite the diversity of their achievement levels.
With regards to having a rough head start in primary school, I guess during kindergarten two, educators can start preparing children for primary one by explaining to them the learning styles in the classroom so as to familiarize them with the classroom norm and not experience too much of a ‘culture’ shock when they enter primary school.
Audrey
Group B
Done By: Lee Ningzi
Strategies learnt
The use of differentiated instructions helps cater to individual child’s learning style in the classroom. It enables teacher to understand that each child has different readiness level, needs and capabilities. Through the use of surveys, the teacher will be able to find out the interest areas of the children and allow them to make choices as they select topics that most interest them. In this way, children can make use of their strength to learn and at the same time, increase their autonomy as they get to make decisions. Additionally, children can make their learning meaningful and purposeful through their conversations and problem solving as they received equal engaging and respective activities. To help children feel more comfortable and less threatening, children of the same readiness will be grouped together during discussions. The teacher should play an important role as a facilitator at all times and make necessary adjustments to stretch the children by being flexible in the lesson plans.
Foresee challenges
I can foresee that it would be a chaotic classroom at the very beginning as children need time to adjust to the new way of learning in class e.g filling up the survey forms at the beginning. Also, many of the childcare centers may already have their fixed lesson plans and thus, educators may be unwilling in being flexible to make adjustments to the lesson plans according to the children’s interest. Since majority of the educators are working long hours at the childcare centre, not all may agree to the use of differentiated instructions as it would take them a longer time to prepare the materials that caters to the different learning styles of the children. Next, educators may face the problems of the parents who may get impatient to observe the effectiveness of using differentiated instructions. Additionally, some parents may prefer their children to work with others who are of a higher intelligent level in the classroom.
Overcoming the challenges
Educators will need to be persistent and believe that differentiated instructions will work well for the children, so as to convince others the benefits of using this strategy. As an educator, he/she must be flexible to make necessary adjustments to the lesson plans according to the children’s interest whenever needed. A few of the educators can work together to implement this strategy in the classroom by helping to prepare the materials for the children. With the increase of manpower, it will help educators to decrease their workload despite having long working hours daily. Next, educators would need to explain and discuss patiently with the parents to gain their understanding about the effectiveness and benefits of using differentiated instructions in the classroom e.g. increase children’s autonomy and freedom. Educators should constantly review the children’s progress, results and products of the child to his/her parents so that they will achieve a better idea of what is going on in the classroom.
Lee Ning Zi
Group B
1) From the video, I realized the need for differentiated instruction in the classroom. It has always been quite the typical practice in Singapore to plan a curriculum using the ‘one size fits all’ approach. Through the video, I was able to see how differentiated instruction really affects the children’s learning and classroom management. Differentiated instruction in the classroom can be guided by using the children’s interest or their readiness level. Or example, as shown in the video, the way the teacher used different colour codes for different activities at different readiness levels, but all the activities revolved around the same concept, which was comparing. This is one strategy that I would like to keep in mind for my teaching repertoire.
2) As mentioned before, the Singapore classrooms have always been using the ‘one size fits all’ approach. One of the challenges that I can foresee in implementing the differentiated instruction approach in the classroom is changing the mindsets and getting other teachers to see why it is beneficial. Other teachers will feel that it requires more work and more effort in teaching the class and be resistant to change. There will also be doubts in using the differentiated instruction approach in the classroom as most teachers are unsure if they will be able to carry it out correctly.
3) When it comes to changing the mindsets of other teachers, they must first be able to see that using differentiated instruction is effective. I will have to start implementing the approach to my own classroom first to show its effectiveness before I can get other teachers to use the approach as well. The lack of confidence in using the differentiated instruction simply comes with the lack of practice for it. I believe that the doubts will eventually be cleared once teachers are more comfortable in implementing differentiated instruction approach more often in the classroom.
Nur Fazelah (Ella)
Question 1:
The video highlighted numerous strategies that we, as early childhood educators, can adapt and use to reach out to the diverse needs of learners in our classrooms. Two most interesting and creative strategies that caught my attention are the usage of the readiness cubes and the interests surveys. These strategies cater to the different levels and interests of students in the class. The color coded readiness cubes help us to better chart students’ progress and at the same time serve as an effective tool for us to better scaffold their learning. We can use the readiness cubes to know which level a student is at and plan activities for him or her to progress to the next level. The interests surveys seeks to find out children’s interests of a particular topic prior to the implementation of the curriculum unit. This helps us to better plan lessons and activities that cater to their interests. With this, students will find more joy in learning and this will effectively aid in their development of content knowledge.
Question 2:
In order to implement these strategies successfully in the classrooms in Singapore, a major challenge that educators would face would be the parents’ perception. In our academically-oriented society, parents would want to know the activities and lessons that we have planned and implemented in our classrooms. Some parents may not fancy the idea that we are planning activities according to students’ interests and levels as this may not guarantee that their children are learning content that will help them ace their exams. Therefore, even though the strategies as discussed are effective, parents may not be convinced.
Question 3:
Therefore, it takes a high level of commitment for educators to follow through the implementation of such strategies if we are aware of its effectiveness to help children of different needs and interests learn. Besides explaining to parents about where we are coming from, we should be committed to chart students’ progress and understanding with the implementation of such strategies. As we observe children and collect artifacts about their learning, we would have evidence that reflects students’ increasing knowledge and understanding. With such evidences, parents’ concerns and worries could be put to ease.
Low Shilin Jacelyn
Group A
1. What are some of strategies that you have learnt from the video and course-mates that you may like to add on to your teaching repertoire?
Upon watching the video, the fact that different children have different learning needs is once again highlighted to me. Teachers could assign students to tasks based on their learning profiles. Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theory could be put into play here. Based on the children’s intelligence preference, they could be divided into small groups.
It is also equally important for children to embark on tasks that cater to a wide range of learning profiles. This way, children are developed as a whole. According to the video, it is a failure to see tasks as quantitative. Teachers should also keep in mind that all students have equally engaging activities. It would not be fair for any particular group to have more fun as compared to any other group. Although divided into groups based on their learning profiles, there should still be purposeful student movement or interaction, in a non-restricted environment. There should also be times when the whole class works together, for example solving a problem together or meeting together to share learned knowledge.
Teachers should also capitalize on students’ interests. It allows students to attach what they learn to what they already know. Interest surveys could be used to discover children’s interest. Upon deciding on a common topic of interest, the teacher could then divide them different groups according to their level of readiness. It is important to note that grouping may not necessarily mean working in a group either. They could be simply be sitting together, but each child is engaged in his or her own activity privately. Following that, children with different levels of readiness can get together to discuss similar interests.
Another point that the video brought across was having multiple means of representation. This caters to children with different learning styles. For example audio recordings could be provided for non-readers; pictorial posters could be put up on the walls for visual learners,
2. What challenges do you foresee in implementing these strategies in the Singapore classroom?
One major challenge in implementing these strategies is the lack of funds and resources. The limitation of classroom space is also another factor. Sometimes, principals want teachers to stick with the theme throughout. Even though the children’s interests have changed, the teachers are required to complete the work for that particular theme. As such, teachers would not be able to plan for activities that are of children’s interest.
3. How might you overcome these challenges?
Firstly, to combat the challenge of lack of funds and resources, teachers could make use of recycled materials for their lessons. Secondly, arrange the classroom space to maximize the use of the space. Teachers should try to limit the area of dead space so as to make the space area bigger. Finally, it is important for principals to trust teachers to plan for the lessons to the children’s benefit. By forcing the teacher to stay with the theme, when children are no longer interested in the theme, it may stifle children’s learning interest.
Ng Xing Hui Stephanie
Group A
Q1:
From the video, I have gained some knowledge how to plan a classroom to meet the needs of diverse learners. Before the teacher starts to design an effective classroom environment, it is essential that she learns about the children’s interest and then work on it. One of the example to planning a classroom for diverse learners include having individual corners that cater to the different groups of learners in class; auditory corners equipped with tape recorders and headphones for auditory learners, a computer corner that caters to visual and auditory learners with the aid of a CD-ROM activity programe etc. Despite of all the different corners, all the children would be working on the same topic but engaged through the different learning styles.
Another example from the video would be conducting a lesson based on the different levels of childrens’ readiness and interest. Once again, the teacher finds out their area of interest so that she is able to plan an effective lesson. However unlike the above example, the content is differentiated by readiness and interests of the students. For students who belong to the low-readiness group, they would begin with structured activities and students with high-readiness are to work on drawing conclusions of the topic.
Personally, I would change they way I design my lessons after viewing this video. At the present before I plan an effective lesson, I would first collect views and thus discover the childrens’ area of interest. Building on their interest, I believe the children will enjoy the learning process more and also at the same time gain further knowledge on the topic that they are learning about.
Q2:
I believe I will meet with several challenges in implementing the above mentioned strategies in the Singapore classroom:
• Spatial restrictions
Due to the space constraints in the local childcare centres, there will be difficulty in allocating space for the different learning corners.
• Parents point-of-view
Because Singapore is still quite a conservative society, parents might not understand why the teacher is adapting the differentiated instructions method. As parents, they would have their doubts whether their child would receive an effective education.
Q3:
• Spatial restrictions
Perhaps what I would have done is to combine 2 corners into 1 space. For example, the look-and-listen corner could cater to students who are auditory and visual learners. It could be equipped with tape recorders, headphones, storybooks, charts and computers (for students who learn best through using IT-programmes)
• Parents point-of-view
To ensure that parents understand and support my teaching style, a workshop about “differentiated instructions method” can be organized. It would provide information and benefit of using the differentiated instructions method to educate the children. In addition, parents could be involved in an activity which integrates the method of differentiated instructions so as to understand and experience it better.
Jasmine Chong
Group B
1. Strategies which I have learnt from the video are teachers must be flexible when using differentiated instruction in the classroom. We should vary our instructions in planning lessons and activities to different needs, interest, ability and readiness level of each individual. Secondly, differentiated instructions can be taught to the children by the entire class to small groups or to an individual child based on the above criteria. Thirdly, we can keep the same concept but vary the different ways of accessing the concept. We characterized the different ways by the child’s intelligence level or preferred modes of learning such as auditory form, Math incline, and writer in the form of writing a journal, technology or building of structures. One strategy I like to add to my teaching repertoire will be to set up different stations at parts of the classroom to allow children to work on different tasks. The second strategy will be to use complex instruction where challenging resources, open-ended materials and small groups are provided to the children to think and problem solved on them. The third strategy will be that the tasks are written on cards placed in pockets. And lastly will be the 4MAT plan instruction where the activities are conducted in the areas of mastery, understanding, personal involvement and synthesis. The children will move to the preferred area and improve on areas that they are weak in.
2. In implementing differentiated instructions and strategies in the Singapore classroom, I am able to foresee some challenges that will pop up for us to pause, reflect and think about them. The challenges are teachers do not have time to handle large class sizes and at the same time use those strategies. The teachers argued that it is difficult to track each child’s performance if the class size is too big. Second challenge will be that of the classroom management. The teacher is worried that with so many different strategies used, she will have a problem handling the children. Next challenge will be the insufficient funds for staff development. The final challenge will be that of the resistance to the idea of differentiated instruction.
3. A solution to the first challenge will be to break the class size into small groups so that the strategies can be implemented to the class. With a variety of activities at different readiness levels provided to the children, classroom management can then be better managed or reduced. To address the third challenge, the supervisor has to allow the flexibility of funds to purchase the use a variety of materials by the teachers and not simply relying on the textbook alone. The supervisor must be well versed about differentiation on the philosophy and classroom implications. She must guide staff development, curriculum, materials and the methods used. Teachers can be trained with the knowledge of differentiated instruction and influence the others to be interested in it. An excellent method will be peer coaching to one another from teachers who already knew differentiated instruction.
Done by :
Madeline Tan
Group B
Q1
•Using songs to teach topics
•Having children use journals to show their understandings
•Having children participate in different activities simultaneously based on a topic
Q2
•Unsupportive colleagues or principals
•Time constraints – insufficient time for children to complete activities due to the structured routines that all teachers in the centre need to keep to
•Limited resources for children to work with during activities
Q3
•Help them to understand the benefits of using such methods of differentiating learning
•Try to work within time limits, by planning for shorter activities that are just as enriching or amending the activities to fit the time limits
•Look for alternative materials for children to work with, or make use of recyclable materials collected and contributed by children
Tania
Group A
Video Reflection: Differentiated Instruction
The clips which were viewed in class focused on differentiated instruction and how it will be beneficial to diverse needs of the children which we may have in our classroom. Thus, I would say that from the video, I have picked up several points which I felt was key and essential.
Differentiated instruction is necessary as children have of the same age may have different readiness levels and interests and some children may do things or pick new information faster than the rest. Therefore, their learning can be facilitated by allowing choices in the classroom and allocating each of them different tasks with equally important roles. This way, it will allow the children to be more participative of the activities in class. Teachers can also use surveys to discover interests of the children and have activities capitalized on these interests. However, the content can then be differentiated by readiness and interests to further engage students.
Having said these, I believe that it is a challenge to ensure that the above is successfully integrated into a Singapore classroom. I would say so as I feel that the Singapore classroom is very much structured, so much so that it restricts the curriculum to be based on the interests of children and what they want to know, but rather what they are required to know. Besides, I think that it may be a time consuming process, not only in the process of collecting information about the interests of students’, but at the same time, the planning of curriculum suited to the interests of the children. With parents, it may also pose a problem as they may see that we are categorizing their children into groups of different intelligence levels.
Upon seeing these challenges, it may seem like a major setback which leaves no room for negotiation. However, I feel that it can be overcome through the perception and mindset which the teacher possesses. If I, as a teacher strongly believe in such a practice, I believe that without much difficulty, I would be able to carry out and implement this in the classroom. Introducing differentiated learning in classroom need not be a complicated process with excessive planning. In can be established by getting parents to first understand why differentiated instruction can be beneficial to their children. Next, having worksheets catering to the needs of children maintains the original structure of the curriculum but yet have the content differentiated.
With such, I would say that differentiated instruction can make a huge difference in children’s learning; providing them with a more purposeful and enriched learning. Most importantly, it is to remember how differentiation should stretch children, not frustrate them.
Amanda Liew
Group A
1. From the video, the importance of using differentiated instruction to cater to different children is evident. It emphasize on allowing children to use different ways to express their understanding and modifying instructions for children of different developing stages. In the video, the teachers use the children’s multiple intelligences to build on their areas of concerns. I feel that tapping on the children’s multiple intelligences is an excellent way of promoting self-confidence as well as letting children know they do have strengths that might be better than others.
2. As Singapore’s education system is still very much geared towards paper-based examinations, it might not be easy to modify the way of allowing children different means of expressing their understanding. Parents might resist the change as the examination-based education system have ‘survived’ over the years and have shown results.
Another challenge is that the society might not placed as much emphasis on other subjects other than language and mathematics. Hence, the other intelligences will be diminished.
3. It takes time for people’s mindset and beliefs to change but I would try to let parents know of the benefits of placing emphasis not only on mathematics, science and language but also on his/her child’s other intelligences including music and environmental knowledge.
Toh Jasmine
ONE.
From the video and a small discussion with my course-mates, I am now more aware of how I can form differentiated instructions to cater to the different learning needs of the students in class. It has always been a challenge for me to plan activities that will be able to cater for children with different needs. Very often, when the activity does not suit the child’s learning style and needs, he will become very disruptive in the class within minutes. Now I know that, I can actually plan a variety of developmentally appropriate instructions that will cater to the children’s learning needs. And of course, these activities must ensure success and must be of interest to the children that can also help build on their prior knowledge.
TWO.
Some parents may not like the instructions in the class being differentiated. Especially if they were the parents of the children who may be slightly weaker in class as compared to their peers, they may feel ‘ashamed’ and uncomfortable that their child falls in the category of the less competent. Besides which, parents and superiors of the centre may find that in a classroom that uses differentiated instructions chaotic and messy. Hence, the above responses mentioned above, may be some of the challenges that will discourage or even hinder me from implementing these strategies in the Singapore context.
THREE.
Firstly, I must believe in the benefits of using differentiated instructions and be a strong and firm believer of using differentiated instructions in the class. Secondly, I must be able to explain the uses and benefits of differentiated instructions and, how the use of differentiated instructions will cater to the different children’s learning and developmental needs.
- isabelLA [group B]
Segment 1: Readiness
From this segment of the video, I gained a deeper understanding and awareness on how children respond to the class learning. Children are all unique individuals, they do not only have diverse needs and abilities, but their readiness differs too. Therefore it will be helpful towards the children when the teacher provides a range of activities with differing complexity that is not only suitable but also flexible towards the children’s learning needs. The content and curriculum can also be modified to suit and caters to the diverse learners’ interests and needs. Furthermore, the teacher can also have differentiating products for the children, for instance children who are independent and competent in their learning can do a 3D rocket while children who needs more guidance can start off by doing a 2D rocket first. However, planning for a diverse range of learners will mean more effort and time for the preparation in planning the curriculum or activities. The educators may work and discuss with the other educators, which not only lighten the load of the educator but she may also gain useful insights and wider perspectives towards a better and suitable programmes for the children.
Segment 2: Learning profile
Different people have different intelligence and needs, therefore the ways that we learn may differ from another. It is the same logic in children too as they have different needs or ways that they can learn better than the other. Through this video, I came to understand that we can facilitate different children’s learning needs and interests by having differentiated instruction, providing choices, for instance they can choose which learning centres they will like to work in on a particular theme, or they can have a choice between whether they want to work individually or in groups. Another point that I gathered from this video is that the differing quantity of work allocated to children, like children who are faster in their work needs to do extra pages, and children who needs more guidance will need to do lesser pages, such practices may actually dampen the children’s interests and mood. Therefore instead of providing different quantity of work allocation, the teacher can provide activities that cater to their learning abilities and their needs, and at the end of the lesson allow them to share with the class their work. It is the same explanation for tests too. Children who are very good in their speech may score badly in an oral test but if given a piece of paper to pen their thoughts, they may produce astonishing product. Therefore, tests can also be flexible and accommodate to the children’s learning capabilities and needs. Lastly, the video also discussed about the use of technology in the classroom such as computer, which it can facilitate children’s intelligence and learning, and helps them become independent and successful learners. Some of the challenging issues or concerns that may arise in today’s society are, whether it will retard children’s creativity or result in the children’s over-reliance on technology. I feel that by exposing children to the use of technology in their learning is indeed helpful for their growth and knowledge especially when the teacher take effort in choosing children software programmes that is educational, interesting and appropriate for the children.
Segment 3: Student’s Interest
Planning lesson according to children’s interest is an important characteristic to show children and parents that the teachers do care about how they learn. Learning is not a one-way track where the teachers make decisions on how children should learn, instead it should also be based on children’s interests, needs and capabilities. Many teachers may think that it is challenging and a difficult task, however I bet to differ. The teacher can plan activities according to their interests and capabilities and allowing them to make choices of what interest them through open discussion or forms where children fill up what they likes and/or dislikes and what they enjoys doing. The video also talks about providing flexibility in children learning through providing differentiated instruction, a wider content with different activities that differs in complexity so as to cater to the children’s abilities, needs and interests. With differing approach of teaching to the different learners’ needs, the teacher is planning for flexibility and for bigger dynamic that encompass success in her teaching and in children’s learning.
The above comment is from
Tan Wei Wei Crystal
I have picked up a four strategies from the video and course mates in which I would like to include in my teaching repertoire in future. These strategies may be categorized into the three Universal Design for Learning (UDL) guidelines, namely, multiple means of representation; multiple means for action and expression; and multiple means for engagement.
Under multiple means of representation, one strategy would be to group the children according to the same interest or readiness levels, and have small group discussions instead of solely having discussions as a class. Another strategy would be to offer children various choices of materials to learn from; we can present topics in visual and auditory forms on top of printed materials which we are all familiar with, e.g. graphics and audio books.
The challenges that I foresee in implementing the two above-mentioned strategies in the Singapore classroom would be poor student-teacher ratio and lack of resources/funds, respectively. Very often, the teacher is expected to be responsible for 20 or more kindergarten level children in the class single-handedly. And if she does small group discussions with one of the groups, the other groups may create chaos without ‘proper’ supervision. To overcome this challenge, I would have to generate very engaging activities that the other groups are able to do simultaneously and independently.
Having a lack of resources/funds is also a rather common predicament in many of the preschools in Singapore. When faced with this, teachers are often unable to provide a variety of materials for the children. Some ways that I would probably try to overcome this challenge are: to use recycled materials, download resources from the Internet, borrow from the library if available, or even do a recording of the stories personally.
Another strategy I would like to employ in future falls under the category of multiple means for action and expression; which is to provide for differentiated activities by having different learning stations.
One very apparent challenge in implementing this strategy in Singapore is the lack of space. Without adequate space, it is tough to provide multiple learning stations/activities for the children. However, teachers can alternate the stations/activities instead of trying to squeeze as many stations/activities as possible into the classroom. Another idea would be to use mobile stations if the space is really tight, e.g. put activities in a box.
Last but not least, under multiple means for engagement, a strategy that I have learnt is to do a survey with the children and find out where their interest lies in. This way, we are able to provide them with choices and options that will appeal to them.
I do not see an apparent challenge in implementing this strategy, however, I am a little concerned that if we allow children to just learn through what they enjoy doing or what appeals to them, they might not be exposed to the other areas. Hence, I feel that there should be a balance in any of the strategies that are or going to be implemented.
Evie Huang (Grp A)
Q1) Every child is a unique individual. From the video, I realized that differentiated instruction does not only apply to children with special needs but to the typically developing children as well. I learnt that activities and instructions can be planned according to the readiness, learning styles and interest area of individual child. When children are given the opportunity to learn in ways that they are comfortable in, chances of success tend to be higher.
Instructions can be planned in such ways:
•Different tasks that lead back to the same concept
•Activities are equally engaging and interactive
•Children can choose what and how they want to learn through surveys and discussions
•Provide opportunities for group work and problem-solving
•An environment that is consistent yet challenging
•A balance between all developmental levels and area
Q2) Implementing differentiated instructions itself is not just the work of the teacher. Schools, education system and parents perception may pose limitations for the employment of such strategies. Differentiated instructions require a vast variety of materials and resources to meet every individual child’s interest and learning styles. For example, the need for media technologies and floor space may be needed for the setup of learning corners. Many childcare centres also employ a ‘top-down’ system in planning curriculum. Such that the yearly curriculum is already planned by the school’s curriculum specialist, and teachers’ role would only be to carry out those step by step procedures of activities. How then can the implementation of differentiated instructions be possible in such circumstance? Parents may also not like the idea of the ‘unstructured-ness’ that differentiated instruction seems to portray. Some forms of evaluation may not be seen as child’s achievements to parents. Many would probably prefer exams and worksheets to evaluation-drawing which may be the interest of the child. If differentiated instruction is so easily accepted, then why do we still see parents sending their child to enrichment classes, against the wishes and interest of the child?
Q3) As the society’s perception of education is gradually making progress (i.e. play curriculum), many people may better be able to see the benefits and advantages of implementing differentiated instruction. For myself as an educator, it is very important that focus is constantly placed on what works best and the interest of the children when planning lessons and curriculum.
Ng Shi Yun Gladys
Group A
1. From the video, I learnt that every child is an unique individual. They have different interest, different ability to learn things and different readiness level. Therefore it is very important for teachers to be adaptive; to work according to the children’s different learning styles, different cognitive and multi-intelligent level and to tap on the children’s interest before planning a lesson to teach the children.
To achieve some of these to adapt to the different needs of the children, i learnt some strategies from the video. Firstly, teachers can work according to the children’s different learning styles, cognitive and multi- intelligent level by giving the children many choices to choose from. In this way, the children will be able to feel comfortable learning in the classroom. Secondly, to tap on the children’s interest, the teacher can do a survey to know the children’s interest. With this, the teachers will allow the children to easily make connections from what they know with what they are going to learn. Thirdly, to cater to children with diverse readiness level, the teacher can plan activities that have different levels of difficulties for them. In this way, the children that are at a lower level of readiness will not be so intimidated with the difficult things that their peers are doing.
2. I believe that one of the challenges that I will foresee when I implement these strategies is the lack of resources. In the centre, there are very limited resources for the teachers to look up and it will be very time consuming if the teacher needs to find more materials needed for the lesson. Another challenge will be the lack of support from the other teachers and maybe the supervisors as well. In Singapore, the teachers will think that there is no way a teacher can accommodate to the needs of every child and hence they believe the “one-size-fits-all” lesson plans are best for all children.
3. I feel that to start to overcome these challenges, one of the most important things is to explain to the other teachers the benefit of using differentiating instructions for the children. Not only that, it is important to carry out and implement lessons which includes the use of differentiating instructions as well to show the other teachers what are the results of using these methods of teaching.
Charlotte (Group B)
From the video, a teacher plans activities according to the learning profiles of the children based on Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences. She breaks the class into groups according to their intelligences- verbal/linguistic, logico-mathematical, musical, interpersonal, spatial. She provide activities such as books, an estimation activity, listening to past music and music now, discussion on the topic and using IT and drawing for the different learners respectively.
Another teacher plans according to the interest of the children. She uses an interest survey for topics related to her thematic unit. She finds out what the children can do, can't do, like to do and not like to do. The children show interest in what they like and were engaged in the activities. She also recognises the readiness of children by using coloured cubes to group children as the activities on different cubes are of different levels of difficulties.
Due to the restricted time and finance to cover content in curriculum, I foresee that teachers would not have the time and money to plan activities to meet such a diverse group of learners. Also, it requires the teacher to plan purposeful activities that are of equally engaging and respect, thus it takes the teacher a lot of efforts to plan the activities according to the intelligences.
I felt that as a teacher, I have to be resourceful to be able to substitute expensive materials with recycled materials. Time is the crucial factor to plan for the variety of materials and activities, which much of it falls back on the contents to cover. I would suggest focusing on just the children's interest to reduce planning time. I see the need to utilise classroom time by using the play time and sleep time to makes the materials and plan for the activities.
Adalene Hu
Group A
1. I thought that in the video it has clearly illustrated that teacher’s lessons are always conducted to suit individual children’s ability. In order to do that, I had observed teachers using survey form for children to reflect upon their academic readiness. With that the teacher was able to assess and understand whether the child is coping well in classroom. I thought that the survey strategy could be efficient, because as educators it is critical to know how our students are learning. Besides that, having a survey it can allow teachers to reflect upon our lessons. This can allow us to know which area of the lesson needs improvement or rather how it can be modified to cater to children’s ability and interest. In catering to children’s interest and readiness, the video had shown examples of how a teacher had conducted her writing activity by using color blocks.
2. Despite of the excellent strategies that the video has demonstrated, I believe that it is difficult for educators to implement it in their classroom. With the hectic schedule and curriculum that are designed in our childcare system, teachers too tight up with other preparations like parent-teacher conference, preparing children’s portfolio .It is tedious for teachers to set aside time to conduct surveys constantly to assess individual children. Hence, teachers might find it a hassle to implement surveys to observe children’s learning progress and area of interest. I feel that teachers are too overwhelmed by work that they lose their focus in this field. It is about educating our children and not all about paper work and curriculum.
3. I personally believe that, one has to re-priorities and question their personal aim in ‘education’. We are here to educate children and to respect their area of interest. I believe that teachers need to have more communication time not just with the children, but also with themselves. The concern of time constraint can be overcome if teacher could have better time management or might allocate student leader to hold the survey as a class. Definitely simple questions are required to allow children to cope with the survey. Children will get to understand that the survey is catered specially for them.
Tiffany
Group B
(1) The strategies that I have learnt from the video are in terms of content and process of differentiating instruction. Firstly, teachers can provide a variety of Medias through which students can access curriculum, always including both text and non-text sources, such as magazines, personal journals, audio tapes and film. Secondly, the process includes delivery and organization of the instruction. When teacher plan the lesson, design it to access students’ strengths. Anticipate student weaknesses and plan ahead to provide necessary supports. Teacher can also make accommodation and modifications for individual students throughout the lesson when necessary.
(2)Differentiating instruction is not easy. There's no question that it's a big challenge, but there's no bigger challenge than trying to insert kids in a one-size-fits-all (classroom) and then having to deal with the emotional and behavioural reactions. If children are not fitting in well and fail to learn, they let us know loud and clear. When this happen, parents will be alarm and start blaming the teachers for not doing their job. Especially in Singapore where most parents are usually competing against each other to make sure their children receive the best of everything in education. Implementing differentiation instruction may give some parents an impression that their children are not learning what their peers are learning.
(3)School and teachers can help parents become more aware and understand the concept of differentiating instruction in classrooms. Parent- teacher conference is one good way of making parents understand what their children are learning in the classroom and what kind of strategies and method the teachers are using in delivering their lesson. When parents are clear about differentiating instruction and how they can help their children progress in class, only then parents will begin to place their trust and show support. Thus, creating a strong school-home partnership.
NUR'HAZWANI
GROUP B
JASMINE CHUA
1.
•Promoting purposeful learning by making use of the environment
This came strongly to me as I feel that a teacher should actually use the resources around her, especially those that are immediate, such as the classroom, to help children learn. Different learning corners could be set up to cater to the different needs of the students. By using such a strategy, children would also be given freedom and autonomy to make choices for themselves and learn in an environment which they feel most comfortable in. Besides this, a non-restricted and threat reduced environment is set up for children to discover and explore in freely, bringing learning to a different level.
•Taking note of children’s strengths and weaknesses.
In the video, the teacher had made use of interest surveys as a medium for children to tell her what they wanted to learn and were interested in. I believe that by better understanding the needs of children, it would also be easier to cater to their needs. The teacher could plan for children to be grouped to form study teams, based on those which shares similar interests or with others that have different strengths. This way, children can learn from one another as different views and ideas are contributed by each child. Also, the teacher would be able to efficiently plan lessons that meet the needs of children, as well as be prepared for the differentiated instruction that may need to be used in class, keeping and recruiting children’s interest at the same time.
2.
To plan out and create effective and attractive learning environments would be a tough challenge on its own due to space and time restriction in the Singapore classroom. Besides that, the creation of activities that are thought provoking and at different levels, yet stimulating for all children would be a challenge for the teachers. As mentioned in the video, one of the pitfalls of learning environment activities happen when activities vary too much, in regards that some are overly engaging while others are too dull and unattractive. Finding out children’s interest, strengths and weaknesses may also be difficult as the staff-child ratio in a class may not be ideal. Such information may also be better collated through observations which may take over too long a time span to collate.
3.
To solve these problems, I decided to get children involved in the process. We could find out each child’s strengths by getting children to different groups to create learning corner activities for themselves. As Isenberg (2006) suggests, “self-created games are the most engaging”. The games children make for themselves would be of their interest and likes. Besides that, observations on children could be done during the period of the group work, to find out which tasks was each child good or weak at, killing two birds in one stone.
Respecting each child as an individual and maximizing their each individual potential are some of my teaching beliefs which I think differentiated instruction can play an important role. In the video, it is stated that differentiated instructions in content, activities and products are created to ensure a learners’ success in their learning.
Different learning corners of various subject areas can be a good way to cater to different learners. The learning corners can be designed according to the teaching theme of the term. Some examples of subject areas that learning corners can be based on are art – drawing or painting; language - creative writing, listening station and reading corner. The activities in the learning corners can also be designed for either individual or group work, and at different readiness levels.
Differentiated learning is a concept that is not an entirely new concept, but it is seldom adopted by teachers when planning their curriculum. It is quite common for childcare centres to have standard curriculum worksheets for the students to complete within the term, thus time constraints may reduce opportunity for differentiated instructions. Furthermore, it takes a lot of preparation when designing differentiated instructions. Already under a heavy workload, teachers may resist adopting the method of differentiated instruction in fear of increasing their workload.
I think that in order for differentiated instructions to take place, the school’s administrators must be supportive of this method of teaching. Teachers should be encouraged to teach through what interests the students rather than what is the most convenient for teachers. Instead of using worksheets, the administrators can encourage teachers to use methods that are of the students’ interests to deliver their lessons. For example, a lesson on animals can be taught through books, dramatising animal movements, craft on the animal and songs about animals.
Lynnette Fang Yixuan
What are some strategies that you have learnt from the video and course-mates that you may like to add to your teaching repertoire?
(1)Providing differentiated instruction through three areas namely content, activities and products. Content and activities can be differentiated according to students’ level of competency. Products can be differentiated where children can choose the products they want to submit to show their understanding at the end of a lesson, for example, drawing a robot or listing out the parts of a robot through writing.
(2)Group children into the level of competency (high, average, low) and plan varied activities for each of the level. This is so that children will find activities stimulating and appropriate at their level.
(3)Take children’s interest into considerations when planning activities. This is so that children will self-direct and can take control of their learning when topics of interest are motivating to them.
What challenges do you foresee in implementing these strategies in the Singapore classroom?
Parents’ expectations may be a key challenge when differentiating instructions. Parents may not be satisfied that the end products of lessons differ for children or even the contents of the lessons differ for each student.
How might you overcome these challenges?
Help parents understand that children comes with diverse needs and abilities in each classroom. The best learning for students is to provide them with materials and activities appropriate to their level of competency. Workshops can be set up to show videos to promote differentiated instruction. During teacher-parents conference, teachers can share the differentiated instruction used in some of their classroom activities for individual children.
- Ng Siew Chin -
In a regular classroom, there will always be students of different level. By separating them, and making an arrangement such that all the students from the same level stay in the same class, is never a good idea. As children of different level work together, it enhances their learning skills. The video provided us with quite a number of strategies that we could follow and to add in our teaching repertoire. One example is to offer a variety of activities for children to work on. Children will be split into these smaller groups according their learning abilities, where they will then be provided with some activities, which are of their level. They will then be given the freedom to choose their own activities. This is to provide opportunities for children to make their own choices, yet providing little restrictions to ensure that children are working with activities that are developmentally appropriate for them.
Different children also have different learning styles. To make sure that every child has sufficient engagement in lesson, different learning aids should be available in the classroom for children to choose from. For example, children who like to learn through hands on activities can use hands on materials to revise through what was taught in class. Whereas for children who prefer to have their learning process done in a quiet way, a comfortable and gentle atmosphere can be arranged, with some books or materials for them to record what they had learnt.
It is all right for children to gain their learning opportunities in a way of their own. Nevertheless, interactions should still be available in class. Children can get together to share about what they had learnt.
Parents might feel that children can learn better when all of them are of the same level of learning abilities. For example, if all the children in the class learn at a faster pace, the teacher is able to move on in her teachings, and children would be able to learn more. They would not need to wait for the children who learn at a slower pace.
For children, they might know how to make their own choices, or some restrictions might occur. They might even make choices under peer influences. On the other hand, when the teacher allocate the children with different activities depending on their learning abilities, some of them might not like how it is fixed, and refuses to cooperate.
Those are some common personality traits of parents and children in Singapore.
Challenges will always be present, all we need to do is learn how to deal with them tactfully. Parents will want the best for their children. For myself, I would try to convince them with the positive outcomes of these strategies. As for children, I would have to find out their learning styles and abilities through my observations.
- Evon Woo HuiJing -
From the video, I have learnt that instructions can be differentiated according to the students’ interest or readiness levels. Learning profiles can be established and there are many ways in which we can categorize learners such as according to their intelligence preference, learning styles or attention span. Surveys can also be used to find out what are children’s interests and teachers can plan activities accordingly and students get to pick what they learn and thus, learning would be relevant and appealing to them. The teacher in the classroom when using differentiated instructions is more of a facilitator of children’s learning in the classroom.
In the video, the teacher also varied the difficulty levels of the activities according to the children’s abilities. In differentiating the activity levels, children with high abilities would not find the activity to be too simple and boring and children with lower abilities would not find the activity to be too challenging and frustrating. This would reduce behavioural problems in the classroom.
Implementing these strategies in the Singapore classroom may be challenging as in many childcare centres, the teacher student ratio may be as high as 1:25. Many childcare centres also require for teachers to complete the planned curriculum within a certain time span. Therefore, teachers may not have the time to establish the learning profiles of their students so as to plan for purposeful student movement and differentiated instructions to create success in the classroom. Students’ readiness and interest levels may also differ over time and therefore, teachers may find it effort-taking to have to always update their students’ learning profiles should they implement these strategies in their classrooms. Therefore, to want to implement such strategies in the Singapore classrooms, the management of the childcare centre would have to be very supportive and provide resources and support for the teachers such as allowing time and flexibility in the implementation of the curriculum.
Teachers might also find it challenging as to how they are able to provide feedback to parents as differentiated instructions would results in students producing differentiated end products to display their understanding of what they have learnt. Parents may argue that it is not a fair comparison of the students’ learning progresses in the classroom as the end products and not the same and therefore, cannot be compared on the same level. However, teachers may explain to parents that students’ learning progresses are based not only on their end products but also, their development over classroom time based on teacher’s observations.
All in all, differentiated instructions capitalize on students’ interests and therefore, make learning relevant and appealing for students. It also promotes flexibility and therefore, make learning experiences dynamic for students.
Cai Xiena Sara
1. In regards to the strategies that I have learned, it is being categorized according to the UDL guidelines.
Multiple means of representation - Options for perception: Different kinds of activities can be provided, that caters to the different needs and learning styles of children. For example, to provide activities that is of different challenging level. Also, I can provide opportunities for children to share, discuss and problem solve. For example, group projects or discussions. In addition, I can create opportunities that allow children to identify and compare i.e. before and after, or a character to an adult.
Multiple means of action and expression- Options for expressive skills and fluency: I can provide materials that are of different structures and materials that allow children to draw and write. Also, I can make use of information technology i.e. program software that allows children to express creativity. I can also make use of comparison chart, as I consolidate different ideas in a discussion with children.
For providing multiple means for engagement- Options for recruiting interests: I can provide children with opportunities for decision making. For example, asking children to discuss and decide on what they want to learn. I can also create a less restrictive environment to encourage interactions among children and between children and teachers, and to provide activities and materials that engaging. I can create opportunities for children to make choices i.e. to provide a variety of materials or activities for them to choose.
2. The challenges that I foresee, includes limitation in classroom space. It will be a problem as I plan the classroom environment. In present childcare centers, the classrooms’ spaces are different. Some of the classrooms might be smaller, whereas some will be bigger. Therefore, classrooms that are smaller tend to not have enough space to include learning corners and multiple activities for children. Storage of materials for children is also a problem, as there are insufficient storage places to place the materials, so that they are accessible for children.
In addition, teachers are restrained to a budget in providing materials for children. For example, purchasing of computers in certain childcare centers are seen as a high expense for the center, thus children are being deprived of using such a learning tool. Some principals in childcare centers require teachers to follow closely to the curriculum that is being planned. Therefore, it is challenging for teachers to find time in providing additional activities for children that are not included in the curriculum.
3. I can remove dead space in the classroom, or to re-organize the classroom environment so that every space is well made used of. With regards to the restrained in budget, I can plan and choose wisely on the materials that are necessary and useful for children’s learning. With regards to the planning of additional activities for children, principals should allow flexibility in changing of curriculum plans. Also, teachers can organize and plan their time wisely, so that additional activities can be provided for children.
Hung Yirong (Jasmine)
1) I have learnt that differentiated instruction means having different levels of learning for different children. It usually matches to an individual’s readiness and interest level. It is dynamic and allows for great flexibility. There are different approaches to different children. Learning profiles help characterize different learners and hook them in preferred learning modes. Some examples are visual/auditory learner and kinesthetic learner. All children learn differently and learn best when their mode of learning is being addressed and initiated. There should also be equal number of engaging activities in a differentiated classroom, which provides multiple pathways to learning as well. Various ways of learning also help stretch children and not make them feel frustrated. This will also help children gain a sense of autonomy and raise their self-esteem. The teacher’s role should also be redefined as a facilitator.
2) I think in the Singapore context, it is not easy to be able to allow for children to work best in their preferred learning modes. In Singapore, childcare centres are usually more adhere to their own learning curriculum and will not be able to allow for such learning to take place to help each child learn at his/her best. However, though it may be difficult, it is still possible to help children learn best.
3) Teachers can do some tests with the children to help group them according to their variation of learning. Having a variety of activities in the classroom can also help the teacher to take note of the children’s different modes of learning. Teachers can also draw up new curriculum according to the children’s needs and also explain to the other colleagues and parents the importance and benefits of differentiated instructions for different children.
Kar Kam
What are some strategies that you have learnt from the video and course-mates that you may like to add to your teaching repertoire?
I think it is important to meet the different standards and needs of the children in the classroom. One way we achieve this is like what the video has suggested, differentiating instructions. I feel it might be much more effective for both the children who are learning and the teacher who has to deliver her lesson if the teacher can plan to carry out her lesson in the way she feels is the most effective, just like the teacher who conducted her lesson using the different coloured cubes. That lesson allowed the children to work at their own comfortable pace without compromising the learning experience of the other children who might be of a faster or slower pace.
What challenges do you foresee in implementing these strategies in the Singapore classroom?
It might be extra work for the teacher to have to come up with different sets of instructions and materials for the class and she might not be willing to do it especially if she is on a tight schedule. Besides, if the teacher has to group the children according to their abilities, it might affect the child’s self esteem and parents of children who might be in the ‘less achieving’ group might voice their disagreements. On top of these, children who are grouped in the ‘less achieving’ group might not feel motivated to learn. Getting parents to agree to such a teaching method might also be a challenge.
How might you overcome these challenges?
I think it is important to make parents realize the rationale behind doing all these and if they can understand that all the teacher is trying to do is mainly to help their child progress, they might be more willing to accept the change. I feel that the teacher should also be tactful in grouping the children so that they would not compare amongst themselves, therefore children might not feel inferior as compared to their friends.
Pamela Ang
Group A
• What are some strategies that you have learnt from the video and course-mates that you may like to add to your teaching repertoire?
I learnt that we can provide different activities in a classroom according to individual readiness level without leaving any child behind in the lesson. We must allow great flexibility in the classroom. We can group the children according to their interest and chose topic according to the various readiness. Example those who like to draw will be group together, and they will express their work through drawing out their ideas. In this way we can stretch and yet not frustrate the children.
• What challenges do you foresee in implementing these strategies in the Singapore classroom?
In Singapore, teachers have to finish teaching the curriculum within a certain period so if we do this every lesson we may be behind time. And I felt that we can not possibly always allow the group of children who like to draw to always express their ideas through drawing. Moreover teachers who need to follow the curriculum which mostly has a theme so we can not possibly always allow children to choose their topic.
This might not be suitable for younger children such as 2 years old. As I felt that the method needs to be carry out in a systematic way which may turn out chaotic if it is not well handle. As every group are doing different things and the teacher will need to go around facilitating them, children who waited very long for the teacher might feel frustrated and bored. Moreover for younger children who needs more attention and help.
• How might you overcome these challenges?
I think I will introduce a flag system, which children will raise the flag when they need teacher assistant. As the teacher might be busy attending to another child so by raising the flag it helps to reduce the chaotic situation whereby all the children are calling for the teacher and raising their hands for long period of time. In this way teacher can clearly knows who needs help and children can continue to think of solution for their problem or do others things while waiting.
I may also group the children according to their different readiness in the topic of the curriculum and designed activities according to the group. Within the group, for children who needs more help I will assign him/her a buddy who can guide him or someone of the same working style or interest as him. For instance the previous example, the child who likes to draw may be assign to someone of the same interest so that they can discuss the topic through drawing and the buddy can help to express his ideas through verbalization and at the same time the child will learn and be expose to words to express ideas.
yvonne lee
1. Throughout the diploma years, we have been taught and reminded that children are unique individuals and are special in their own ways. Therefore, as an early childhood educator, I believe that it is important to cater to the needs, interests and readiness of all children. We, as educators, are the facilitators to the children in the classroom. In facilitating children in their learning, we have to learn to adjust ourselves to approach each child differently so as to meet their needs and readiness.
Keeping in mind that every child learns differently, we have to allow children to make choices in the classroom so that they can perform their best. In the video, it showed an example of a teacher who grouped the children in her class according to their strengths and learning styles – such as construction, mathematics (measurement), reading, writing and information technology. By grouping the children, they get to make choices and find out about the unit. Of course, the teacher allowed for time when the class comes together when they shared with each other what they learnt and solved problems. This allowed the children to learn according to their learning styles and also allowed them to work together and learn from each other.
I also believe that it is important to teach according to children’s interest. By allowing children to decide what they want to learn, children feel that they have a place and responsibility in learning. Therefore, making the effort to put in their best to find out more about the unit. As teachers, we should allow children to decide together what they want to find out about and use their interest as a teaching unit. The video showed an example of another teacher who allowed her children to decide on the unit and grouping them according to their interest and then their readiness level so that they can share what they learn. This allows children to have autonomy in what they learn but yet allows children to expand their knowledge about that topic.
2. I foresee that there will be challenge if teachers were to group children according to their strengths and learning styles, they may not get to practice the skills and concepts that they are weaker at.
I believe that it may be slightly difficult to teach children according to children’s interests, as most childcare centres have to allow a common curriculum set by the managing board. It would be impossible to ignore the curriculum and just focus on what the children’s interests are. However, there is also a need to look at what children are interested in and focus on them as well.
3. In response to the challenge about grouping children according to their learning styles, I believe that teachers can also change the groupings sometimes where children who are stronger in the area can teach the others who are weaker. This would allow children who are weaker in the area to be coached about the area and yet learn about the unit. This would also allow children who are stronger in the area to feel successful as they teach and practice and hone their skills.
Though there might be a challenge, I believe that there should be a balance between teaching based on the curriculum and teaching using children’s interests as teaching units. We can still teach based on the curriculum but we allow children to decide the different parts of the unit of the curriculum that they are particular interested in. Therefore, children still have autonomy to decide what they would prefer to learn about.
Q1. I learnt that I have to first change my mindset and accept that all children have different learning styles – there is no one-size-fits-all approach that suits everyone. Thus, I should not feel dejected whenever certain children appear to be uninterested in the lesson. Instead, I should find out the interests of each child, through the use of surveys or even in daily interactions. Apart from the usual grouping of the children according to their readiness, I could also group the children based on their interests. This would ensure that there will be a variety of intelligences in each group, where purposeful interaction and peer facilitation will take place.
Q2.I think I might encounter difficulties in providing differentiated activities in the classroom. I might have the tendency to give easier activities, according to the child’s ability.
Also, I am worried if the children’s interests are not relevant to the local context, or I have no knowledge about a particular interest, I will then have difficulties in providing the necessary guidance.
Q3. I will group the children according to their interests, in that way, I will have children with various abilities and scaffolding will take place. The activities will then be based on their interests, not on their abilities.
I will have to spend time reading on the interest that I have no knowledge of. Also, I would ask children to list down their prior knowledge of the topic. This would allow me to better understand how to develop a more appropriate activity for them.
Sarah Chiok
Group B
1)In the video, it highlighted that children have different readiness level, thus, there is a need for differentiated instructions. One of the ways to cater to the diverse learning needs of children is to integrate Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences into classroom learning. For instance, teacher could enhance visual/spatial learners’ learning by providing them with concrete materials to build on. In addition, I learnt that to capitalize children’s interest, it is important for teachers to be around to facilitate children’s learning as teachers play a key role in helping children to plan and succeed.
2)One of the possible challenges that teachers may face is inadequate support and resources. Teachers will face difficulties if the school does not support their idea in designing a curriculum that caters to children’s diverse learning needs, interests and abilities. Moreover, in some preschool, besides teaching, the teacher needs to handle routine care and deal with administrative work. Thus, teacher may not have the time and energy to work on a plan that caters to every child’s needs. Furthermore, for those teachers who have the intention of applying differentiated instructions into their teaching may not have the necessary skills and knowledge in doing so. Another possible challenge could be parents’ perception on children’s learning. I feel that most local parents would perceive that worksheets and tests are a good way to assess their children’s academic progress. Thus, parents may not readily accept the use of differentiated instructions in their children’s learning.
3)I feel that in order to overcome these challenges, the attitudes that teachers possess are imperative. As future early childhood educator, we need to be firm in our beliefs on what is best for our children and should preserve in advocating for the rights of our children. Next, teachers should also constantly upgrade their skills and knowledge so that they could keep up with the fast-changing paced society. Lastly, teachers need to be open to feedback from others and be self-reflective as this is a way to improve on ourselves.
Cai Wanqin
1) One of the strategies I have learnt is to differentiate instruction according to the learning profiles of different children based on Garder's theory of multiple intelligences. Using the same concept that she taught, she can differentiate tasks by setting up reading, audio, math, writing, building stations and using technology to allow students to demonstrate their understanding by creating different products at each station.
The teacher can also vary instructions according to the readiness level of her students. As seen in the video, different coloured cubes are given to students with different readiness level. The activities range from simple to complex. Students who have the ability to deal with more difficult tasks work on questions that require a higher level of thinking while students who may have difficulties start with the basics first. Children of the same readiness level will then come together to share about what they did. The teacher needs to go around facilitating and scaffolding children’s thinking.
2) Besides time constraint due to the curriculum that a teacher must complete, it takes a teacher extra effort in thinking and planning of the activities to implement the strategies mentioned above. Apart from the other workload involved, a teacher needs to think ways to cater to the different needs of her students. This requires a lot of passion for teaching and love for the children. The challenge is in finding the teacher who is willing to consistently take this extra mile.
3) As a teacher, it is important to understand my purpose in this field. There are times when my passion for children would be shaken. Having a strong philosophy statement and setting goals for myself and the children would spur me on when I feel tired. It is important to focus on the reward that can never be replaced by things, that is making a significant change in a person’s life.
Developing a teacher portfolio before going into the workforce and continuing to work on one may be a source of motivation for me when I reflect on the growth I’ve made as a professional and upon seeing the works and gains of the children from my teaching.
Geraldine Liu
Group A
REFLECTION ONE
What are some of the strategies that you have learnt from the video and course mates that you may like to add to your teaching repertoire?
Differentiated Instructions
In the video it is seen that the teacher uses a differentiated instruction approach to cater to the different learning styles of children in the classroom and help them bring out the best in them. I find that this is a pretty good way of getting all children to get engaged and feel involved in their learning and take pride in doing so. When I was having my attachments and I saw that children who could not catch up with the pace of the class they would always be left behind and would make little or no progress at all. With the differentiated instruction approach I feel that it actually helps them to feel like hey I am actually capable of doing something well. I felt that the color coded cubes that the teacher uses is a good way of helping children to guide through their own learning at their own pace and when children with the same color cubes come together they could actually discuss their ideas at the same comfortable level that they understand.
Ways to make modifications to help children succeed
As I had mention about the color coded cubes above, the teacher also uses different materials to cater to the different learning needs and not compromising any child’s learning. Through the usage of the different materials it actually brings out the best potential of each child and though different materials are use to guide them in their learning but the potential of each child is maximized. As to be fair to every child, we as teachers have to teach them differently to cater to their learning styles and needs.
What challenges do you foresee in implementing these strategies in the Singapore education?
Personally, I feel that it would be difficult to use differentiated instruction approach in Singapore context in the near future as these actually requires a lot more workload for the teachers and the teachers are miserably paid with addition of heavy workload. They also have a curriculum requirement to meet and many daily routines to do. From what I have noticed in the childcares that I have been to the teachers are actually rushing through the routines and lessons to be able to complete the syllabus in time, thus not much quality learning time is given to the children. To prepare different materials to cater to the different learning needs would mean that the teachers would also have to facilitate each group of children individually and if they do not have an assistant teacher with them they would actually feel difficult to manage the children.
How might you overcome the challenges?
To be able to overcome these challenges I feel that we should have workshops and websites or even an early childhood community to help teacher share ideas and learn from each other. Childcare centers should also always compile to the staff child ratio that would help the teacher to be able to cope with the number of children that they are comfortable with and not overwork them.
As many of the well train teachers do not join the teaching level, and current most of the teachers are either lowly trained or untrained, centers should actually help them to keep up-to-date with effective teaching styles that would help children unleash their potential.
All claims of education notwithstanding, the pupil will accept only that which his mind craves. - Emma Goldman
Reference:
Emma Goldman (1869–1940), U.S. anarchist and author; born in Russia. Anarchism and Other Essays, 3rd rev. ed., ch. 1 (1917).
Samantha Chia
1.
From the video and through the in-class discussions, I have learned and gained understanding of the essentiality of creating multiple paths for learning when it comes to fostering children’s growth and development. The video highlighted that in order to maximize children’s learning; each child’s pace of learning should be taken into consideration during the planning of activities. And it is also important for educators to provide children with different resources that tab on their interests and strengths so as to facilitate effective learning.
2.
Having a wide variety of resources in childcare centres might be a challenge when implementing some of the strategies. Some centres might have financial budgets and getting commercialized resources to cater to each child’s interests might not be possible. As Singapore believes in meritocracy, worksheets play a big part in most of the centres’ curriculum. Children working on the same piece of worksheet regardless of their learning pace and interest can be commonly seen in centres. Therefore, just by focusing on these 2 areas, I strongly feel that creating multiple paths for learning will definitely be a challenge for educators in today’s childcare centres.
3.
However, educators in this instance could make use of recycled materials as resources for children’s learning. Things like boxes, containers can be very versatile and useful. And for a start, educators could adopt and create multiple paths for learning during certain periods in class; gradually increasing the consistency. This way, educators will not be overwhelmed with the work load and at the same time, children’s pace of learning and interests will be met.
the above comment was posted by
Elaine Chan Liming (Group B)
1. One strategy that I found particularly useful was to differentiate activities while still arriving at the same product. Every child learns at a different pace, has different strengths/weaknesses and is at different developmental milestone. I believe a teacher should recognize that fact and work around the children’s strengths and what prior knowledge they have. Separating the class into groups which, for example, addresses linguistic, artistic, mathematical strengths and putting the children into the groups where they can excel at will aid the children greatly. In this way, not only will they be respected as an individual, they also get to learn in a way that they are most comfortable in. Hence, this is one of the strategies that I would consider adding to my teaching repertoire. A teacher should be flexible and be able to adapt to whatever resources that are available.
2. As per majority of other issues, one huge challenge would be the parents. One of the problems that I foresee is that parents will not be happy with this arrangement as their child will be missing out on other academic stuffs. I believe (and also from personal experience), parents usually like teachers to work around their children’s weaknesses. Teachers are expected to help and coach the children in what they are weak in instead of focusing on their strengths. To the parents, it might be that since it’s already strength, there’s not much point still fine-tuning it if the child is lacking in other faculties.
3. One way to overcome this challenge would be to have a trial period where the teacher prove to the parents that differentiated learning does, in fact, benefit their children. In this way, not only can you work on the children, you can also create opportunities for the parents to see how it works and how it helps their children.
1.To identify the student’s interest, in the video, they conducted a survey for the children where they got the children to fill up the things they want to learn. I thought that it was a very innovative way for the children to learn in sync with their interest.
Grouping the children according to their readiness would allow the children to learn at their own pace and to maximize their potential, ensuring that we don’t provide a place that diminishes their self-esteem and their willingness to voice their opinions.
2.Because children might have a variety of interest, there might be a possibility that the teachers might not be able to cater to the interest of all the children and if the matter blows up, there might be controversy with the parents and the organization.
Grouping the children according to their readiness might have very negative response from the parents. Given that in this competitive society, there would be no parents that want to know that their children do not belong to higher academic level among their peers.
3.In order to overcome the first problem, we would have to specify the unit that the organization had provided and let the children to state their interest area within. With this, it would be easier to incorporate all their ideas to ensure that they do not feel left out.
Grouping the children according to their readiness level requires different attention and instruction. We would have to use differentiated instruction and different activities to involve the children in each group, expanding on the different abilities and the group’s characteristics. And we would have to ensure that not too much attention is spent on a particular group that the other groups are being neglected because of their ability to do their work.
Lydia Hong
Group A
1.From the video “differentiating Instruction: Creating Multiple Paths for Learning”, I had a clearer insight about what is differentiated instruction. That is, it is a way to enhance children’s learning by providing a wide range of activities and learning mediums that caters to the different culture, learning styles and diverse backgrounds of children. Some forms of differentiated instructions that we can consider are the contents in our lessons, the activities that we design for children and also the different types of products that children create. I learnt that in order to meet the needs of the children with different levels of strength and capacity, it is important to create tasks or lessons that are appropriate for them, not generally as a class, but as an individual child.
2.I feel that it will not be easy to have to come out with different levels of activities to meet the different needs of all the children in the classroom, as it may consist of children with diverse backgrounds, ranging from high-achieving children to children with special needs. Furthermore, in a multi-racial society, inevitably there may be children that are second language learners in the same classrooms as well.
3.To overcome this challenge, one way is to identify the different learning styles and readiness level of the children and categorize them accordingly. Teacher can then plan activities and curriculum according to their learning styles. Gradually in the year, we can observe what some of the interest areas of the children are and adjust the curriculum to meet their needs. Sometimes, teachers can group children of different achieving levels together where they can support each others learning and also learn from one another. Allowing children to be able to work with other children (both at their achieving levels and not at their achieving levels), enables them to shape each others learning and at the same time not neglecting those with higher ability.
1) With contemporary classrooms becoming increasingly diverse, it is critical for teachers to plan learning strategies that cater for a variety of learning profiles. Some strategies that I have learnt from the video are to design a differentiated classroom environment. The environment should serve a purpose and is comfortable for the children. Teachers can also delineate the classroom into several parts so that children are able to work in groups. Besides that, teacher can also plan opportunities for all the children to come together and share what they have learnt. I have also learnt that teachers should recognize children’s varied needs such as learning style, level of readiness and area of interest. Thus, teacher should plan activities according to their needs in order for them to engage and involve in the lesson. Beside differentiated activities, teacher should also plan for differentiated products. For instances, we can ask a child with high ability to mould an animal using clay and as for the child with a lower ability, we can ask him/her to draw the animal instead of moulding.
2) To implement these strategies in our local context, I think that it is a great challenge for the current teachers to reconsider and modify their way of teaching in the classroom. As many of the teachers have been working with children for very long period of time, it would be difficult for them to employ a different strategy of teaching and educating the children. On top of that, the current teachers might even have to modify their curriculum and program that they have designed for the children. Thus, this might results the teachers in considerable disillusionment, fractious struggles and some frustration. In addition, the classroom space in our local context is rather small and limited. Therefore, it is difficult for teachers to delineate the classroom into so many different areas for children to work on their tasks.
3) To help the current teacher to employ and implement the strategies successfully, we can offer program in which professional educators could provide assist and support in their learning of these strategies. For instance, the professional educators can help the learners to plan and design the appropriate activities that can best cater to the needs of every child. On top of that, as I strongly believe that learners could gain and learn very much from their experiences when they are implementing these strategies, thus we should also offer the learners efficient time to be used to the new strategies. As for the delineation of the classroom environment, we could not help much as this is the amount of space that we are given. However, I feel that it is more important for the teacher to fully utilize the classroom space and to ensure that the environment is comfortable and serve a purpose for the children in their learning.
Koh Han Ni
Group B
•What are some strategies that you have learnt from the video and course-mates that you may like to add to your teaching repertoire?
Some of the strategies shown in the videos include capitalizing on children’s interest through interest survey; differentiating instruction base on readiness through coloured cubes and having children work individually in small grouping.
Firstly, to tap on children’s interests, teachers need to understand their areas of interests and this can be done through interest survey as shown in the video. But for young children who may not be able to provide answers readily, teachers can make use of their daily observation and reflection to identify some of their areas of interest. It is also through daily observation and purposeful recordings that teachers can understand what different children are capable of achieving and what not.
Secondly, by differentiating instruction base on individual child’s readiness through coloured cubes, children will be able to engage in meaningful learning experiences which enable them to experience challenge yet successes – stretch their ability while not frustrating them. Through small group learning, children can come together to share and discuss with other classmates such that everyone in the classroom gain a variety of information ultimately.
•What challenges do you foresee in implementing these strategies in the Singapore classroom? How might you overcome these challenges?
I feel that with such heavy workload, it can be rather taxing for a teacher to handle it all alone. Furthermore, in the Singapore preschool context, there is often the lack of manpower – one teacher may be working with more than 20 over children. Overcoming manpower problem may not be within our scope but teachers can work closely with other teachers or mentor to discuss certain issues in the classroom so that he/she can come up with new and innovative ideas to tackle the problem, with a variety of views.
Another issue that may arise when tapping on children’s interest is the inability to fit everything into the curriculum that is required to be covered. Many times, the schools have prepared the themes to be covered a year ahead and teachers have to follow them closely. How would it then be possible to complete the necessary syllabus while ensuring that children’s interests are met?
Lastly, I feel that one of the most prominent challenges for teachers when implementing such strategies into Singapore classroom is to cope with parent’s expectations. Today, parents may be becoming more educated and well-aware of the education system in Singapore, they may not be comfortable towards such diversity in teaching styles. I feel that it is important for early childhood educators to make available more information about the needs for providing such differentiated instructions for children to the parents. I think that it is also a helpful way to shift the traditional and structured perspectives of teaching to the one that can help the diverse needs and varied levels of readiness of children.
1. One of the strategies which I have learnt from the video is to differentiate the content of future lessons based on students’ interests, and that way to do it would be through surveys where teachers can not only discover specific interest areas of students’, but possibly also their strengths and weaknesses. In my opinion, surveying students on their interests makes them feel as though teachers care, and may be a way to build rapport with a new class as well.
Another strategy is to differentiate activities according to students’ readiness levels. While I have always known that it is crucial to plan lessons and activities that cater to the developmental levels of all children as a group, bearing in mind some possible, accommodations for individual children who need them, differentiating activities for all individuals within the group was new to me. For example, in the video, I saw how, during a lesson, the teacher differentiated her activities by having a group of students draw and fill in a Venn diagram, while another group of students, who were of a different readiness level, had to complete a compare and contrast diagram. Both of these activities had the same objective – which was to enable children to construct and display their understanding of the topic, but the differentiation in activities allowed them to represent their ideas more effectively, as it catered to their readiness levels. I find this strategy is useful, and would add it to my teaching repertoire as I feel that it helps to ensure that activities for all individuals are equally purposeful, regardless of what their readiness level is.
2. With clear and consistent rules and instructions, I believe that the implementation of surveys to discover student interests should generally take place relatively smoothly, even for students who have not been exposed to such surveys before, as instructions should aid them in their understanding of how to complete the survey.
Therefore, I feel that I may experience a challenge mainly in the implementation of differentiating activities, and that would be in increasing the awareness of their benefits in parents and other staff members in the school. Initially, some may not fully understand why a group of students in which their child is in may be engaged in a task or activity which is seemingly different from that of another group of students, even though they are in the same class.
3. I would try my best to make a conscious effort to communicate more regularly and frequently with all parents and staff members, so that they would be more aware of and be able to better understand the rationale and objectives behind certain activities, or the differences in them for different groups of children, and may even use those activities at home with their children.
Abigail
1. I like the way the teacher uses colorful blocks to divide the children in groups. She also used methods to differentiate their learning through their level of readiness. The video also taught me how to differentiate the product of children’s learning. I can implement lessons where children can use journals to record their understanding of the lesson. As discussed in class, surveys are also helpful to assess children’s different learning styles. I can also incorporate individual as well as group learning in the classroom. This will ensure children have an opportunity to be more involved in the classroom.
2. Almost all teachers will have a challenge in planning for differentiated learning as it requires a lot of thinking process into making activities that benefits all children in the classroom.It requires teachers with adequate information about her students before planning an environment that suit the learning styles of her children. The environment should also be able to cater to the different level of difficulties for all children. In Singapore, where space is constrain teachers need to come up with practical and clever solutions. Educating the administrators, parents and community of the benefits for DI.Some people may not see the advantages of differentiated learning as they are brought up learning the traditional mode of learning: teacher-directed. So, to see children being independent or doing their own learning without the regurgitating facts onto their minds would be very concerning to them.
3. Firstly, teachers can sit with fellow teachers or advisors to plan their activities. A teacher helper and a good organizer will help teachers plan ahead of time. The availability of resources should be made accessible for teachers so that if they bound to run out of ideas or need help in certain issues, the resources will help them out. Secondly, teachers should collaborate with their students and/or parents to come up with an ideal environment. Teachers should ask children about how they want their environment to look like. To make the teacher’s job more easier as well as make the environment more of their own to students, they should be encourage to help design and move the furniture into place as well. Lastly, teachers can help parent, community and administrator understand differentiated learning by communicating the benefits of it, ask their opinions on children’s learning and also to collaborate with teacher through organizing the classroom, planning for activities etc.Having good communication and making them understand the purpose of differentiated learning will help parent, community and administrator understand. Other than that, we can also show the benefits of differentiated learning.
1) What are some strategies that you have learnt from the video and course-mates that you may like to add to your teaching repertoire?
One of the strategies I would like to add to my teaching repertoire is to consistently modify my classroom environment. By putting my students’ learning styles and needs into consideration, I can use it to my advantage to create meaningful learning corners/areas. The main objective is to provide children with a learning environment where they can feel safe to explore the materials and take risks to attempt the activities without any restriction or fear. But it would also be wise to ensure that the materials and activities are modified (either in complexity or a new activity altogether) every new semester or theme to keep children’s interest in learning.
Another strategy would be to use surveys to gauge what the children’s interests are in the theme or topic. I find that this is effective for helping teachers to plan learning experiences as they would have a better idea on what piques their interest. That way learning becomes enjoyable for both student and teacher.
2) What challenges do you foresee in implementing these strategies in the Singapore classroom?
I suppose the main challenge would be the teacher’s willingness to find and/or make time to implement these strategies. Although the Singapore education system is moving towards a “learning through play” approach, parents are still concerned with seeing the product of their child’s academic progress than in the benefits of emphasizing on the process. Due to this, teachers are under pressure to execute appropriate learning experiences and still meet parents’ demands. Most of the time, teachers would give in to the parents in order to keep up the enrollment in their centres. In some cases, teachers are merely too tired to make the effort as the workload they already have is huge enough.
3) How might you overcome these challenges?
Having some experience working in a childcare setting, I admit it does get rather exhausting having to attend to your duties as a teacher and having to do extra planning and execution to meet children’s and parents’ needs. The solution is to keep asking yourself this question: “What would benefit the child best?” – We have to remind ourselves that as educators, our priority is the children. Whichever methods we choose is our teaching should all be to enhance the child’s learning, not for parents’ satisfaction or for our own pursuit.
There were two strategies of differentiation that the teachers in the video used. Firstly, one of the teachers identified each child’s learning profile, be it the child is a writer, a good reader, an auditory learner or learns best through other ways. From there, the teacher groups all the children with the same learning profile and allocate a task to them that is related to the topic. For example, children who are good with numbers can help to construct the class cupboards with guidance and children who are technology inclined, can log onto softwares to search for relevant information. The second teacher capitalizes on children’s interests and makes the effort to get some feedback from the children, asking their interest and dislikes, what they can do and can’t do. The key here is flexibility. After which, she comes out with a topic and practices differentiation by introducing to the children different forms of communicating their ideas according to each individual child’s readiness level. Some children may convey their ideas through drawing, some may do a vent diagram and some even convey their ideas through mini essays.
From these two examples, I can learn to adapt and add it into my teaching repertoire, as I believe that differentiation itself is a very beneficial way of learning for the children. By doing so, I can actually cater to each child’s learning needs and readiness level, at the same time, not giving work that is beyond the child’s ability to complete, which may frustrate the child. I can adapt from the two teacher’s examples, asking the preference of my future students as to which topic they would be interested in, and then introduce differentiation by identifying each child’s learning profile, and coming up with the various activities for them to work on.
When it comes to implementing these strategies into the Singapore classroom, a challenge that may arise would be that of the teachers having to get used to this new system of differentiation, as differentiation may not be practiced at all centres in the local context. However, this can be overcome by allowing the teachers to first try out differentiated learning for 2 weeks, and then evaluate the process, instead of just implementing it at one shot for a term. Another challenge that may arise in the Singapore context, would be that of parent’s opinions, in terms of questioning the type of work that each child does. As differentiated learning capitalizes on each individual’s readiness level, each child may be doing a different piece of work, which parents may sometimes inquire. This challenge can be overcome by explaining to the parents about differentiating learning, and its beneficial outcomes for the children, and not that because a child is weaker in certain areas, he has to do another type of work.
Josephine Wong
group B
1. What are some strategies that you have learnt from the video and course-mates that you may like to add to your teaching repertoire?
Of all three segments, the segment that made a greater impact than the other 2 was the third segment, Student Interest. From my personal and teaching experiences, I am able to conclude that it is never easy to teach a group of students with varying interests a topic which is deem important by the curriculum but boring by the children themselves.
From this segment of video, and also form the discussions I had in class, I have found certain strategies that I would like to implement in my classroom later. This is not only to benefit the children, but also for myself, as it would facilitate teaching. To increase student interest, I can start by having a discussion with the class of their likes, dislikes, hobbies etc. This strategy helps to build a rapport with the children I work with, and helps me to have a basic understanding of each individual child in my class. This can also be done through drawings, though it was not stated in the video.
I would also record what children would like to learn within every pre-planned unit at the start of every semester. This can be done collectively in a discussion or individually through surveys, as suggested by the video. The method of doing this, I suppose depends on the age group of the children.
I would definitely want to try having differentiated instructions within my classroom. The use of coloured blocks to display different levels of instructions seems like a very good strategy to implement in my class. I like how, despite different levels of instructions that are based on their readiness level, the children are all working on the same thing and are doing well at it.
2. What challenges do you foresee in implementing these strategies in the Singapore classroom?
To implement such strategies listed above, I foresee that time would be a challenge. It will be rather time consuming to collect and analyse the data, and then using the data as a base to plan appropriate lessons that match their interest. What’s more challenging than this, I feel, is to identify each and every child’s readiness level. It will be even more tough and time-consuming to keep track of their progress so as to determine if the children are ready for the next level of instruction. Another challenge in having differentiated instruction is maintaining the same kind of work throughout the entire classroom. This also means ensuring that children with higher capabilities are not doing more work or more interesting work than the ones who are less capable.
3. How might you overcome these challenges?
To be realistic, I suppose the challenges will never be overcome. The implementation of the strategies listed above are challenging by itself. To make it a success, I might have to work around it and be determined by nature. There really isn’t any solution to a problem that is time-consuming, is there. And so, I feel that by being determined I might be able to work around the challenging problem. I will also have to be constantly up-on-my feet and not succumb to complacency. Plenty of observations will need to be done to determine each child’s progress and readiness level. I think that it will also be helpful to have a good rapport with each individual child in the classroom. This serves as a basis for open communication and will definitely help me identify every child’s strength and weaknesses better, and eventually the whole child, not only on an academic level but also on a personal level.
1. What are some strategies that you have learnt from the video and course-mates that you may like to add to your teaching repertoire?
From the video, it was clear that using differentiated instruction when teaching significantly benefits all children and allows everyone to achieve success.
Some strategies I would add to my teaching repertoire are to find out what are the interest areas and learning styles of the children, and to cater to the needs of these children. Also, I would consider dividing children according to their readiness level as through doing this, I would be able to ensure that all children find challenge in the work that they do, and at the same time are able to cope with the work.
What I significantly found useful in the video was to use color cubes to group children according to their readiness level. In this way, children are able to work with peers who are of the same readiness level as them at a comfortable pace. By using color cubes instead of labeling children according to their readiness level, children do not feel inferior but feel successful when they are able to achieve success in their work.
2. What challenges do you foresee in implementing these strategies in the Singapore classroom?
The key challenge in implementing differentiated instruction in Singapore is that teachers do not have the time to plan different activities according to the needs of different children. This is due to the heavy amount of curriculum that teachers have to cover within a limited period of time so as to prepare children for primary school, such as ensuring that children are able to read and write simple words and recognize all the alphabets.
In addition, as Singapore has always been an academically competitive society, parents may not want their child to learn at a slower pace than other children as they are afraid that their child would not be able to cope in the future when he or she attends primary school. This would affect the implementing of differentiated instructions.
3. How might you overcome these challenges?
To overcome these challenges, we as teachers need to be equipped with knowledge about differentiated instruction and how it can be implemented within their classroom. This would help us be surer and more confident on how we are going to go about using differentiated instruction. By getting to know children better in terms of their interest and learning styles, we can then try to apply differentiated instruction for our children. This can be done through classroom discussions, surveys or interviews with the children.
We can also explain to parents about the need for differentiated instruction and clarify misunderstandings parents have about it. The important thing is to let parents know that their child is being grouped not for the purpose of being labeled, but for the purpose of enabling the child to learn and progress at a suitable pace.
1. What are some strategies that you have learnt from the video and course-mates that you may like to add to your teaching repertoire?
The video shown was very beneficial for me as it provided ways that teachers can give differential instructions and activities that cater to the readiness level of individual child. The two strategies that struck me most were the six different stations that the children were grouped into and the use of different color cubes which provided tasks that focused on the same issue. It made me realize that it is possible to provide tasks that cater to children with different intelligence and still focus on the same topic. Moreover, I understand that teachers can differentiate the products that children are required to produce which is also relates to differentiated instruction. I feel that the practice of these strategies will benefit children with different abilities and strengths. However, when implementing all these strategies, it is important for teachers to remember that the differentiated activities must be challenging and interesting for the child.
2. What challenges do you foresee in implementing these strategies in the Singapore classroom?
I feel that all these strategies are easy to be said than done as there are constraints that we as teacher will face. When a teacher differentiates the product that a child is required to produce, she may be questioned by parents about the variations of the products. Some parents may feel unhappy and disagree with such strategies. Especially for parents who deny the fact that their child’s readiness level is lower than others. They may feel that the teacher is making assumptions and underestimating their child’s ability. Moreover, these parents may also feel that their child is at the losing end as he or she is not learning as much as their friends are. Therefore, teachers face the challenge of handling difficult parents.
From my past work experience, I noticed that the developments or readiness level of the children in a class vary vastly. For instance, in class there may be only a few children who are above average or below average and there may be one to two who have very low abilities. Thus, a wide range of differentiated activities that cater to all the children whose development level are required. Teachers face the challenge of ensuring that the activities are challenging and achievable for each child.
3. How might you overcome these challenges?
To overcome the challenge of unhappy parents, teachers have to explain the reason for using such strategies and assure parents that it is of best interest of their child. However, just by explaining to parents about the reasons are insufficient. From my work experience, I noticed that evidences are what parents want to see. Therefore, in order to gain parents’ understanding, teachers must be able to show documents that demonstrate the child’s progress and learning.
To ensure that activities are appropriate, teachers must have in depth understanding about individual child and plan activities based on children’s development. In order to know if the activities are challenging and achievable for the child, teachers have to observe children’s responses during the activities. Based on the observations, teachers have to reflect and modify her planning to meet the best needs of each child.
Tan Yi Jun
Group A
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