Learning Differences

Learning Differences Standard:

             A teacher that has an understanding of students’ individual characteristics, diverse cultures, and multiple communities can create an all-inclusive learning environment. Not all students learn in the same way or at the same pace. Some students also have learning disabilities. My job is to be aware of these differences and accommodate projects to students’ abilities. The learning differences standard is essential to teachers in every classroom to ensure a full understanding by each student. 

Comparison of work:

The following two photographs are two different students’ artwork for the same project. This project is based on Keith Haring drawings (He is a renowned graffiti artist). The first photo is of a students’ sketch that has a learning disability but is still able to complete the project to a certain degree. I sat with the student and helped him think of an idea and told him where he should draw each piece so we could later cut them out and transfer them to the foam core board. I helped him cut because he has trouble using scissors. As a teacher, it is important to recognize that there may be students that need extra help completing a task.

 

This student 
was able to come up with an idea independently and cut out her own paper and start tracing her cut out on to her foam core board. This shows how wide of a range of abilities I could have in a classroom and that I may need to spend more time with individual students during guided or independent practice lessons to help them progress in their understanding.
 

Special Accommodations and Differentiated Instruction:

  This artifact is a snapshot from my two-week unit on Perspective. I listed accommodations for students and included levels of learning for advanced, average, and struggling learners. There are also students that are sensory or motor disabled as well as students that may not be able to handle social situations. As a teacher, I have made adjustments to accommodate students’ individual differences by including the section above in all of my lesson plans.

Accommodating for ELL Students with VSC:

        This artifact exhibits my tutee and I demonstrating the vocabulary self-collection strategy. She was born in Nepal and moved to the United States when she was young. She has been in ELL classes before but had shown proficient reading skills and tested out of ELL. The tutee had some comprehension issues but overall improved after several lessons. She also told me that it was difficult to adjust to school when she was younger. This shows that there are definite differences in culture and students will have various ways of approaching situations. Educators need to be aware of their cultural backgrounds in order to understand the student’s actions or behavior. That being said, showing an understanding of a specific student allows other students to see an example of how the community works, ultimately creating a community classroom environment.