Blog Post #2

1) After reading the text, the definition of differentiation that makes the most sense to me starts on page 2 and ends on page 3. It speaks of differentiated instruction as "responsive" instruction. It also states that this happens as teachers become increasingly proficient in understanding their students as individuals, increasingly comfortable with the meaning and structure of the disciplines they teach, and increasingly expert at teaching flexibly in order to match instruction to student need with the goal of maximizing the potential of each learner in a given area.

I like how this definition uses the word flexible. I think that for a teacher to be able to have differentiated instruction, she needs to be extremely flexible as to accomodate all the differences that exist among his/her students.

2b) An insight that came from the reading this week has to do mainly with the students trait of accent within a classroom. I think this particularly struck a chord with me because I was one of those students that didn't really know where my place was in school, or in the classroom. Under this category it said that a teacher in a differentiated classroom attends to student emotions or feelings as well as to student cognition. In fact, the two are inextricably bound. I totally believe this to be true and often overlooked. A student, or really any person in any type of social setting, will not be successful in their endeavors until they "feel good about themselves, their work, and the classroom" (or society as a whole). This statement confirmed the importance of morning meetings in the classroom as it is an opportunity to build community within a class, but also for each individual to feel loved, and accepted as part of a group.