Taming the Fox

"Schools are like airport hubs; student passengers arrive from many different backgrounds for widely divergent destinations. Their particular takeoffs into adulthood will demand different flight plans."
This quote comes from Fulfilling the Promise of the Differentiated Classroom by Carol Ann Tomlinson. I think this quote is the perfect example of what a school is like. Each student passenger is from a different place and are going to different places. It is our jobs as teachers to direct them to the correct terminal and their ultimate destination. I have only read the first couple chapters so far, but I have made many notes about what makes for a good differentiation classroom.
I pulled from chapter one a few good points:

• Teachers must take into account who they are teaching and what they are teaching
• Who - Children
• What - Fun interesting information that needs to apply to their individual lives at all possible.
• Differentiating is responsive instruction
• Direct instruction is a teachers easy go to if they are teaching a boring subject, a new subject, or they just have no interest or value in the subject. It has it's use and it is a great instruction model, but if you want a differentiated classroom you need to get your students involved. They need to have a feeling of involvement and motivation to learn.
• Know your student
• From this statement I get the imagine of a spread sheet. On the sheet is a list of students with their pictures. Each student has a small biography listing their birthday, favorites, and family information. But this is only part of the information a teacher needs on each of her students. Differentiation goes beyond the basic information, you need to know their learning background. You almost need to become a private detective and investigate each student thoroughly. Getting all the "dirt" on them and creating a profile that you can turn to.

There are four student traits that a teacher must address to ensure effective and efficient learning:

1. Readiness: Student's understanding, knowledge, and skill related to a particular sequence of learning.
1. the use of readiness instead of ability is key to a students learning. Readiness can vary over time and morph if needed.
2. Interest: Topics or pursuits that evoke curiosity and passion in a leaner.
1. Passion, I love that word. It's vibrant and it evokes a strong emotion when used.
2. This is not the time to lecture about the use of electricity, but to get the students investigating the uses electricity has in everyday use. Bring your lesson to life!
3. Learning Profile: How students learn best.
1. Take gender, culture, intelligence, and preference when you create a lesson plan. You obviously can't include every child's preference, but venture out to something new in one lesson and try something else another time.
4. Affect: How students feel about themselves, their work, and the classroom as a whole.
1. Emotions!!!! Key to effective teaching!

The Little Prince

I remember reading this book in the seventh grade and not understanding its complexity and uniqueness. Because of this wonderful book Fulfilling the Promise of the Differentiated Classroom I have gotten a better glimpse of what The Little Prince offers to the reader. There is a passage on a part of the book called Taming the Fox. The Little Prince meets a fox in his adventure and attempts to play with it, but the Fox being a wild creature can't be tamed into playing with the Prince. If we put ourselves the teachers in the Princes place and our students into the position of the Fox, how can we expect them to work with us when we haven't tamed them? The Prince claims he is too busy to tame a Fox, but with some good advice is told "One only understands the things one tames". It takes time, patience, listening to tame each other. We must work with our students and they with us. It is a partnership of learning and grow.

 

 

Have you ever thought about the inner workings of a clock? How do all the pieces work together? When one piece stops working how does that affect the mechanics as a whole? The other model the chapter gave was the Cogs of Differentiation. The three work together and as a whole cog it stands independently.

The first cog is what the student seeks in the classroom, they require specific mechanics:

• Affirmation
• Contribution
• Power
• Purpose
• Challenge

The second cog is how the teacher responds to the student, they use specific tools. They can be used as a sort of compass that will help teachers make decisions to adapt their instruction for student needs:

• Invitation
• Opportunity
• Investment
• Persistence
• Reflection

The final cog is the use of curriculum and instruction as a vehicle for teaching. It needs tools like the other cogs:

• Importance
• Focused
• Engaging
• Demanding
• Scaffold

The importance of using these models when preparing for a differentiated classroom are imperative. To become a successful teacher it's not only important to know your student, but to try to understand what they are asking from you. They are looking for the guidance we just need to provide it for them in ways that they can relate and understand!