LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS - ELEMENT 6: DIVERSITY OF LEARNERS
Candidates facilitate a learning community that empowers learners with diverse backgrounds, characteristics, and abilities.
Artifact: Focus Study
Description:
GSPE 501: Exploring Inclusive Practices, Summer 2015
The goal of this focus study was to identify a variety of hands-on, developmentally appropriate activities based on a given case scenario. Activities were to include demonstrating an understanding of the major components of given content (language arts, math, social studies, science), identifying student needs related to needs expressed in case scenario, and matching instructional interventions to specific needs in designated content areas, using systematic instructional approaches to meet the development needs of the student. This artifact also included creating a lesson plan based on the intervention selected to meet the needs of a diverse group of students.
Candidates facilitate a learning community that empowers learners with diverse backgrounds, characteristics, and abilities.
Artifact: Focus Study
Description:
GSPE 501: Exploring Inclusive Practices, Summer 2015
The goal of this focus study was to identify a variety of hands-on, developmentally appropriate activities based on a given case scenario. Activities were to include demonstrating an understanding of the major components of given content (language arts, math, social studies, science), identifying student needs related to needs expressed in case scenario, and matching instructional interventions to specific needs in designated content areas, using systematic instructional approaches to meet the development needs of the student. This artifact also included creating a lesson plan based on the intervention selected to meet the needs of a diverse group of students.
Reflection:
When I think of diverse learners, I immediately think of Howard Garner's theory of multiple intelligences. I truly believe each of us learners in difference ways and have unique talents. Some of us are auto-visual learners, some of us are kinesthetic learners, and some are a mix! With that being said, today's schools are becoming increasingly diverse. Many teachers find that their classrooms are populated by English language learners, gifted students, students with disabilities, and students who are culturally diverse. Nearly half of all students in U.S. public schools (42 percent) are students of color, approximately 20 percent of students speak a language other than English at home, and approximately 14 percent of students have an identified disability (U.S. Department of Education, 2007a). Approximately half of the students who have an identified disability spend 80 percent of their school day in general education classrooms (U.S. Department of Education, 2007b). To add to this diversity, approximately 12 percent of students in public schools are labeled as gifted and talented (Friend, 2007). Like their peers with disabilities, gifted and talented students also are integrated into general education classrooms. All of these differences make teaching more interesting and exciting as well as more complex.Personally, I was able utilize my previous experience working with students with learning disabilities to select response to intervention techniques. I also felt I improved upon my research skills in that I was able to justify my choices of intervention in collaboration with research and the student's difficulties. Professionally, I was also able to design a lesson based on the intervention strategy that would best fit the needs of the particular student in the case scenario as well as meet the needs of a variety of learners. This will impact students in that I have accumulated knowledge on how utilize a variety of learning techniques that best suits their individual learning styles.
Resource:
National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, https://nces.ed.gov/
When I think of diverse learners, I immediately think of Howard Garner's theory of multiple intelligences. I truly believe each of us learners in difference ways and have unique talents. Some of us are auto-visual learners, some of us are kinesthetic learners, and some are a mix! With that being said, today's schools are becoming increasingly diverse. Many teachers find that their classrooms are populated by English language learners, gifted students, students with disabilities, and students who are culturally diverse. Nearly half of all students in U.S. public schools (42 percent) are students of color, approximately 20 percent of students speak a language other than English at home, and approximately 14 percent of students have an identified disability (U.S. Department of Education, 2007a). Approximately half of the students who have an identified disability spend 80 percent of their school day in general education classrooms (U.S. Department of Education, 2007b). To add to this diversity, approximately 12 percent of students in public schools are labeled as gifted and talented (Friend, 2007). Like their peers with disabilities, gifted and talented students also are integrated into general education classrooms. All of these differences make teaching more interesting and exciting as well as more complex.Personally, I was able utilize my previous experience working with students with learning disabilities to select response to intervention techniques. I also felt I improved upon my research skills in that I was able to justify my choices of intervention in collaboration with research and the student's difficulties. Professionally, I was also able to design a lesson based on the intervention strategy that would best fit the needs of the particular student in the case scenario as well as meet the needs of a variety of learners. This will impact students in that I have accumulated knowledge on how utilize a variety of learning techniques that best suits their individual learning styles.
Resource:
National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, https://nces.ed.gov/