Week 8!

Determine one unit in Differentiating in Practice: A Resource Guide for Differentiating Curriculum (Tomlinson & Eidson, 2003) that seems appropriate for the grade level of your field/student-teaching class. Read everything about that unit thoroughly. Explain: 1) what impresses you most about the unit; 2) anything you learn about differentiation, just from studying this one unit; 3) what you don't understand about the unit or how it works; 4) what, other than the content, you believe you would have to modify in the unit if you were going to teach it to your student-teaching class; 5) why you would modify it; and 6) how you would modify it.

I chose "It's All a Matter of Chance: A Mathematics Unit on Beginning Probability."
1) I was most impressed by how rich each activity seemed to be for all students. It didn't seem like the teacher had to do a lot to make it so that each student was operating in their Zone of Proximal Development. Homework was differentiated as well, and not by cutting out certain problems in the math book but by having engaging questions that students could address on their level of readiness.
2) I learned something about differentiation in the practice of the teacher who developed this unit (Laura C. Massey) of having students share their findings from their homework in a small group setting. I understand the sharing concept for team building and writing. But I had not thought of it as a way of showing kids that they are all still addressing the same problems. There would be no way to think I was "the dumb kid" or the one that was behind when my classmates were sharing things they did in homework, that though different from what I did, are still accessible to me as just a different part of what I am working on.
3) Am I going to be allowed to take 11 days for one topic in math?
4) I don't think I would have that long with a unit, but I could be wrong. I love the pattern for each day... with discussion time etc. I know that I would have to establish the kind of classroom environment that is conducive to and get my students comfortable with sharing, but I plan on that kind of classroom anyway.
5) An interesting term was used in this chapter. The wrote that, while differentiating, she knew there were the "non-negotiables" that needed to be taught and that she needed to make those accessible to all students but that a lot of things could be enriching and add a deeper knowledge. I think there is a happy medium between teaching to the core and getting the job done and done fast, and doing so much with a subject that it the students lose their interest.
6) I might cut out some of the activities. The Creating a Character activity looked like a bit of a stretch. This teacher has been indoctrinated in the same doctrine I have that everything must be integrated. At the same time, I do not want to beat a topic to death so the my students hate it because we have dome so much with it. They need to understand and use it in daily life type activities, but maybe not so much.
*** I loved that what I've heard called "Fast Finishers" were called "Anchor activities" in this unit. Students are not just being given extra work to do but are given a way to deepen their understanding of a topic. Great... just great!