Differentiated Instruction

Last week I finally had my first chance to get into a Canadian classroom. 

I went in to a grade 7/8 class at Jack Miner Elementary School as a representative of Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary. I was presenting a brief history of the site and what to expect on the field trip later in the week. 

My co-teacher, Peter, and I arrived about 10 minutes before we were expected and waited to be welcomed by the class teacher. Our nerves were running high, but we had mapped out what we would say, when to switch roles and really were pretty well prepared. The lesson was to last 50 minutes.

As soon as we met up with the teacher she had some instructions. The class technology was an important part. One of the students had just been diagnosed with hearing loss. He had been tested at pre-school age which showed slightly below average. Only recently, when retested because of increasing difficulty in class, the found that he is "living in a world of whispers." This day was the first day they were going to use a new headset that would ensure this student could hear the teacher by piping the sound around the class. She briefly, candidly explained the situation and the tool to the class. I was really impressed with how mature the students were and the matter-of-fact manner in which she laid out the situation for them. 

She handed over the headset. There was only one though. I gave it over to Pete, since he was scheduled to speak first. As the class got rolling however, I soon forgot to get the headset back when it was my turn to lead. The teacher whispered to me, "Please speak from the front of the class so he can read your lips." This is completely opposed to my regular teaching style, which is to kind of wander through the class. 

When I got back to the front, it was clear the student was grateful and relieved to be able to follow. I felt so awful for neglecting his needs. It became immediately clear to me how challenging it must be for students to provide differentiated instruction for students' specific needs. 

Making sure you know them and their needs is one thing, but making sure you make accommodations for all is another. Many of my classmates were in classes where all students were on IEPs. Figuring out how to meet the needs of all of the students seems like a full time job in itself aside from lessons and extracurricular.