Module 5b Reflection

This module has helped me think about self-directed learners and the role of differentiation in the following ways…

It makes sense to differentiate when you teach students. No two people are alike, therefore they don’t learn alike. Everyone has different strengths and different ways they process information. I have to read or experience something for myself to really get it. You can lecture to me all day, but if I don’t write down what I hear, there is little chance of it sticking in my head. You can tell me how to do something, but until I try it for myself, I won’t have a really good grasp on it. Conversely, my youngest son learns best when he listens, or when he reads information aloud to himself.

Using differentiation in the classroom is definitely the way to go. I’m still a little iffy on the implementation, though. You can’t teach 5 different ways at one time. I guess the best way to handle it is to present the material in multiple ways, giving each student a chance to learn and practice it in the way he learns best. This might require a bit of change each year as the makeup of a classroom changes and the students have a different set of learning styles. This is definitely something to think about and plan for.

This leads well into self-directed learning. Living and working in the real world requires independence and the ability to work on your own, and often the need to assess whether the results of your work are up to standard. Students need to learn self-assessment from an early age, gaining practice and more sophisticated techniques as they advance in school. Appealing to the students’ strengths and learning styles will help them learn how they will best function in the real world. Allowing them to be an active part of their instruction rather than a passive part will help them as well. Teaching them to assess each other and themselves is a skill they will need in most job situations.

I love that these modules keep coming back to real world application. I feel very strongly that part of our job as teachers is to prepare students for life after school.