Differentiating Instructionfor Parents

Chapter 7

Erica Phillips

Development

At what age did your child first crawl, walk and talk?Everyone learns at a different paceEach child needs different things at different rates to grow

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Getting to Know Your Child

In order to get the “big picture” of your child’s learning abilities, needs and preferences teachers use:– Parent surveys– Student observations– Student surveys– Formative assessments

Instruction

Planning with students in mind

Target strengths and weaknesses

Set individual goals and assess students based on these goals

Use a variety of grouping, tasks and opportunities for choice

Individualized spelling lists

What’s fair?

Fair is not always equal

Fair is modified instruction

Students will complete different work based on their needs

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Goals

To support independent learning and exploration

To ensure that all students grow from individual starting points

Utilize assessment-driven instruction

Advice to Parents

There is no growth without tension– Work is not more difficult or easier than

other students’ work– Students will complete work relative to their

skill level– Assignments are implemented with

success and challenge in mind

Advice to Parents (cont.)

Give students a voice– Listen to your child and to how they feel

about their level of work– What’s too difficult? What’s too easy?– Pushing students too hard to succeed can

be overwhelming and lead to self-doubt, confusion and frustration

Advice to Parents (cont.)

Building a relationship– Parent-teacher communication is key to

your child’s success– Listen to and offer suggestions– Share success stories– Create a partnership

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Advice to Parents (cont.)

Building a relationship– Parent-teacher communication is key to

your child’s success– Listen to and offer suggestions– Share success stories– Create a partnership

QuickTime™ and a decompressorare needed to see this picture.