Discussions

Your Name and Title:

Heather Douglas Middle School Math Teacher

School or Organization Name:

Excelsior Springs School District

Area of the World from Which You Will Present:

Kansas City, Missouri USA

Language in Which You Will Present:

English

Target Audience(s):

Teachers  and  Administrators

Short Session Description (one line):

Affectively Using Differentiated Instruction to Meet the Needs of Diverse Learners (Middle School)

Full Session Description (as long as you would like):

This session is dedicated to teachers in the classroom.  We will focus primarily on using differentiated instruction in a math classroom with adolescent students.  I have experience teaching in an urban school and in a rural community.  Through this experience, I have developed affective teaching strategies that meet the needs of diverse learners.  One of the best ways to reach learners from unique cultural backgrounds and experiences is through differentiated instruction. 

Students enter your classroom with a variety of cultural backgrounds, learning styles, abilities, and family dynamics.  It is unreasonable to believe these students all learn exactly the same way.  It is imperative teachers are equipped with tools and strategies to differentiate instruction. This session is design with two goals in mind.

The first goal is to provide strategies for a classroom filled with different learning styles.  Students generally fit into one of the following learning styles: visual, verbal, logical, musical, bodily, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist.  This session will supply practical strategies and activities designed to meet these varied learning styles.

The second goal is to present strategies to meet a wide range of ability levels and prior knowledge.  This will be accomplished through the presentation of two strategies, open questions and parallel tasks.  These strategies allow the teacher to effectively manage the classroom and empower students to take ownership over their own learning. 

Websites / URLs Associated with Your Session:

Additional websites that would be helpful resources for teachers looking to implement Differentiated Instruction into their classroom.

http://www.amle.org/

http://www.east-haven.k12.ct.us/attachments/244_Great%20Ways%20to%20Differentiate%20Math%20Instruction.pdf

http://www.activemath.com/pdf/differentiated_sample.pdf