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Children do not all learn at the same levels or speed. Each child is their own individual person with their own specific set of skills, and these skills develop quicker or slower than others all depending on who that child is and what their interests are. As a teacher, it is my responsibility to ensure each child is being taught in the ways that are best for them as an individual as well as in a whole group. Keeping this in mind, teachers need to be able to adapt their lesson plans according to their students, and have the ability to change in a moments notice if their students are not learning the lesson as well as initially planned. It is not uncommon for students of the same age to be on different levels from each other. Children understand things differently, they may not comprehend the same lesson exactly the same as one of their peers. Differentiation is a method of teaching that is designed to meet all of the needs of students in a classroom. This method allows for students to have their learning needs catered to so that they are still able to learn at their own pace while staying with the curriculum. Starting slow is the first step to ensure that every student will be able to engage in the lesson. Student-centered curriculum are always a good idea to start with as it allows the students to decide what they want to work on for that day. Allowing students to pick between two or three assignments that they want to finish by the end of the day will give them a sense of confidence that they will do well on the assignment. It also allows the students to feel in control of their learning, and will provide those who are a little behind their peers to choose what they want to work on as well. Allowing the students to help in deciding on what to do for their lesson is more empowering than a teacher could ever imagine. It is a good idea to give students the chance to choose how they will learn with their peers, whether it be individually, in groups, in pairs, or just as a whole classroom. It is even possible to allow the students to choose how difficult they want their lessons to be by deciding on which content they wanted to study that day. If the students want to watch a movie, read a book, do worksheets, create a presentation, allow them to decide. This decision lets each student get a chance to try something different to help themselves better understand the lessons. One of the most important parts of having a classroom with varying learning abilities is to keep the learning environment open, friendly, welcoming, and encouraging. These four steps will help students to feel that they are in a learning environment that wants them to be there, as it will encourage all learning types no matter how different they are. Students typically do not like to be singled out, especially in the early learning years, as they may feel inferior to each other. Keeping the classroom integrated to keep each child engaged in the activities will allow for the best learning opportunities to present themselves to each student. When a student feels important in their classroom, they end up feeling much more encouraged and energized about learning.
