Discussion #2

As an aspiring educator I plan to use differentiated instruction as much as possible to meet the needs of myvery diverse learners. My ideal position would be at the middle school level as a special education teacher in a resource setting. I think the easiest way to differentiated instruction is to first observe your students because this will allow you to determine weak areas.
Once you have determined which areas your students need more instruction in, then you can design a differentiated instruction plan just for a group of students based on their needs as a whole. I read an article by Carol Tomlinson titled, “Defining How Differentiated Instruction Looks in Today’s Classroom.” The article reveals many inaccurate views of what most teachers think differentiated instruction is. The article states that educators believe that differentiated instruction is tailoring instruction to the individual needs of each student, but this is simply not true. The true definition of differentiated instruction is reflected in my goals in teaching because differentiated instruction involves teaching differentially to a group of students instead of each student on an individual level. Another inaccurate view that I found appealing was that educators think that differentiated instruction will solve all educational issues; this is simply preposterous. I would like to know how to create differentiated instructional strategies to
meet the needs of all students? Where do I start?

Reference:

Tomlinson, C. (2011).
Defining how differentiation looks in toda'ys classroom. In Integrating
Differentiated Instruction & Understanding by Design: Connecting Content and
Kids (pp. 8-10). Alexandria, VA: