At the beginning of each school year, I make it a point to get to know my students. I spend time talking to each student to get an idea of their prior knowledge and understanding. I also ask parents to complete surveys about their child’s likes and dislikes, what they excel in, and what they may already know how to do. We also conduct a skills survey to measure student’s readiness for school. We measure students’ ability to identify letters, letter sounds, emergent behaviors, and ability to read kindergarten sight words. These assessments are used to build our guided reading groups which we usually begin in October. These actions are the grade level assessments that we use collaboratively in order to meet the needs of our students. If necessary we may move students so that they would be in a classroom where there are students that are performing on a parallel manner in a similar zone of proximal development.
Through our efforts with our groups’ differentiation station, I was introduced to several technological resources that can effectively be used in the classroom. They include the ability to create a webpage using wix.com, or funbrain.com to introduce students and provide opportunities for exploring concepts in a child friendly manner.
It is my goal to integrate technology in our learning and teaching processes. After getting to know each child I will work to meet the needs of all my students. We will explore students interests and encourage opportunities for students to display their learning through their learning preferences. Flexibility of choice will be incorporated in student’s choices. Flexible student grouping will help students learn together and from each other.
I also plan to continue to gain support from our schools administration, colleagues, and parents by involving each group in the students’ successes. By inviting participation, I hope to expand the inclusion of technologies in the primary classroom.
As part of my approach to teaching in the future, I will incorporate techniques from Universal Design for Learning such as looking for and removing intrinsic barriers that are often found in the traditional curriculum approach. This way I am addressing the needs of all my students. I will also continue to incorporate aspects of Differentiated Learning to meet the needs of all my students. Continuing to assess student’s readiness will continue to help guide instruction. Providing opportunities for flexible learning can help ensure that students are learning in a productive and encouraging environment.
