Teaching and Differentiating
Teaching is a calling; it is not a “job”. My personal philosophy of teaching is
that in order be an effective teacher one has to care deeply about reaching all
students while providing a warm and caring environment that encourages
risk taking, exploration of skills and concepts, and trial and error. As Mahatma
Gandhi stated, “We must be the change we wish to see in the world.” Teaching
anyone to learn something requires the ability to present the material in such
a way that learning takes place. Teaching a child to identify letter sounds is a
complicated skill. It implies that the child can already identify all the letters of
the alphabet. Teaching children that all letters have sounds and that
sometimes these sounds do not follow the rules creates an even greater
challenge to our English Language Learners.
Differentiating instruction is more than providing a variety of activities to
keep children busy; it requires knowledge of how each child learns- a task that
demands time and observation. Teaching involves objectives and goals while
scaffolding skills so that learners build upon their prior knowledge in order to
learn more complex skills. I believe that the best teaching practices are the
ones that work. I spend my days teaching young children from all
backgrounds that hard work and making mistakes is a part of the process of
learning and mastering a skill. There is no one way to learn and no one way to
teach. It is finding the right way that is the difference between success and
failure. Teaching requires regular assessments and evaluations to ensure that
a student is making real progress. Differentiating instruction is the process
by which individual students find their own style of learning and incorporate
that style into their everyday life. The ultimate goal is learning the skill well
enough to be able to teach it to someone else.
My classroom is a microcosm of our community. It is filled with five and six
year old children of all shapes, sizes, colors, cultures and preconceptions.
Their parents’ expectations of the curriculum, homework, behavior and
procedures are also varied. Therefore, it is always a learning experience for
me to spend time to understand their expectations for their child in the school
environment.
Additionally, it is important for me to meet face to face with the parents
whenever possible, to better understand their child and their family’s culture.
“The teacher believes that all children can learn at high levels and persist in
helping all children achieve success,” (Chinn & Gollnick, 2002). Reading in
the home is one of the most important predictors of a child’s success in school.
Reading and acquiring language skills are paramount at any grade level –
however, what begins at birth and throughout early childhood is the
foundation of a child’s language experience.
Therefore, when the kindergarten teacher opens the door at the beginning of
the school year it is to welcome in a varied and widely diverse population with
a myriad of instructional levels. As stated above we must be ready for the
challenge and we must be ready to change the way we think if something is
not working. I look forward to an exceptional school year!
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