Competency 002
The teacher understands student diversity and knows how
to plan learning experiences and design assessments that are responsive
to differences among students and that promote all students' learning.
Defense
I work with a diversity of students. This
competency is important to me because it is essential that I recognize
differences within my students and take into account their backgrounds.
Prior knowledge and life experiences change the way a student perceives
the curriculum. It is my hope that students will feel equitable in
my classroom by allowing them to express themselves without feeling put
down. My plan to fight a discriminatory environment is to teach everything
from a multicultural perspective. I will have to work hard to learn
about the cultures and continue to grow in my own knowledge of my students'
cultural backgrounds. It is more apparent now than ever before that
we are a more diverse society and therefore my teaching must adapt to that.
One way to help bridge the gap between the various
cultures, genders, ages, races, and ethnicity's is to use cooperative learning.
I already use cooperative learning in my classroom and it creates a more
equitable environment. Students need information from each other
and therefore work better together toward a common goal. In cooperative
learning groups, students learn about other people and their differences.
Many students will naturally use the jigsaw strategy in these cooperative
learning groups and break off the work and come back together to share.
I can't wait to see how formally using the jigsaw method will spur on trust
between the different students and allow for the building of an more equitable
environment. Group investigation has a group of diverse individuals
combine toward solving one problem. Students will often forget their
differences when working toward the same goal.
Mastery learning is also important when looking
at diversity. Students often learn at a variety of speeds.
Although I may have trouble initially with using mastery learning, it is
a strategy that I am willing to try in my classroom. I am willing
to try this strategy because I see the need to help students learn at the
pace that is best suited to them. Students who are able to grasp
a concept easier need more enriching activities, students who are slower
in their learning process may need more help, and others are average and
need a regular program of education. Mastery learning provides for
each of these diverse patterns. In addition, mastery learning can
help with inclusion teaching. Special education students need to
be in an environment that is least restrictive, but at the same time they
require additional assistance at times. A program that includes mastery
learning allows for a self-pace that is often suggested for such individuals.
No matter what the learning level of the student a diverse program is necessary
for them.
Students also have different learning styles.
Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligence Theory breaks down the learning
styles into eight different styles. I love the idea behind teaching
students in an environment that is most suited to their learning style.
Gardner claims that there are a diversity of learning styles and that students
learn best in their learning style. I look forward to using more
of the MI theory in the coming years to allow for such diversity of learning
styles in my classroom. In this past year, I allowed students a great
deal of freedom in their cooperative learning groups to prepare a presentation
that was best suited for them. Some students acted and created songs,
other students wrote stories, some students wrote about their feelings
and responded internally. This year, I would like to set up some
selections for each of the eight learning styles to foster the learning.
My students are diverse in their learning styles and having the opportunity
to grow in their strengths and learn about other styles is important to
their acceptance of others.
Samples:
