What is differentiated instruction?

The reading What Is Differentiated Instruction? by Carol Ann Tomlinson (2000) claim that teachers must differentiate content, process, products or the learning environment in order to create  the best learning experience and that every single student success in the class. 

According to the author '' Differentiation consists of the efforts of teachers to respond to variance among learners in the classroom''.

4 Main ideas of the article and examples of them:

- Differentiation content: Using reading materials at diferent levels, Presenting ideas through both auditory and visual means, Meeting with small groups to re-teach an idea...

- Differentiating process:Providing interest centers, Developing personal agendas, Offering manipulatives or other hands-on supports for students who need them.....

-  Differentiating product: Giving students options of how to express required learning,  Using rubrics that match and extend students' varied skills levels, Encouraging students to create their own product assignments...

- Differentiation learning environment: Providing materials that reflect a variety of cultures and home settings, Helping students understand that some learners need to move around to learn, Setting out clear guidelines for independent work that matches individual needs....

5 Key Expressions:

1. Differentiation
2. Content
3. Learning environment
4. Tiered activities
5. Interest centers

This is one of the most helpfull readings of the practicum III. It is obvious that to plan a project or a lesson, we have to think  in all the students in class and in the different necessities that our students may have. And here we can fins a lot of examples or resources to develop it.

How dialogue with teachers helps children learn

The reading from Mercer, N. & Littleton, K. (2007) Dialogue and the Development of Children’s Thinking. talks about the importance of dialogue and how this can help our pupils to learn. The author claimed that questions is the most important part of a classroom because kids can express their ideas and also how teachers guide the pupils.


3 Main ideas of the article and why they are important for me:

-Ask children to verbalize their options: It is co common in class that just few students talk or that they don't know how to tell the class what are they thinking. It is important as teachers to underline the 

-The dialogue with the teacher enables students to appreciate the aim of the activities and how these activities make sense within a meaningful sequence: If the students understand why they are doing something then it will become meaningful and they would learn from it.

-They use dialogue to effectively establish and maintain a collective IDZ for the duration of an activity: When they are talking and expressing their opinions they aresharing with the rest of the class and that creates a feeling of group and a good atmosphera.

5 key Expressions:

1. Community of enquiry.
2. Dialogic teaching.
3. Scaffolding.
4. Intermental Development Zone.
5. Meaningful questions.

This reading helped me to understand better the importance of askkng kids. We worked on this with our practicum teacher at her subject and I think this is the best way to discover their previous knowledge.

BUTXACADES

The main idea in this reading is that it is a self reflection from a teacher of English who is having problems with her daily life class. She was having some problems at school regarding to students, she was frustated ans she was having missconceptions that did not help her to manage the class.

The main point of the article were the question we made out of it:

• What happens when you are in class and the class is not doing what you want?.
• What can you do to prevent this situation? What you can improve or what you can change?.
• Which one is the attitude we should show?

3 Main ideas of the article and why they are important for me :

• You can prepare the classes but if they are not as you expect you need to keep going.
• As a teacher you always need a plan B.
• Your pupils need to enjoy while learning and so you when teaching.
• It is important to be always updatet and never stop learning.

The Integrated Nature of CLIL: A Sociocultural Perspective.

The  article wants both to explore the integrated nature of content and language integrated learning (CLIL) and to advance a more in-depth understanding of this integrated relationship from a sociocultural perspective.

3 Main ideas of the article and why they are important for me:

- Learning within a community can thus be regarded as a process of ‘appropriation: As a human beeings we need a community to understand us and to learn what is meaningful for us.

- The integrated nature of content and language integrated learning (CLIL): “to provide learning outcomes in the chosen subject … at the same level as the standard mother tongue curriculum; and, to provide learning outcomes in the L2 which exceed the standard curriculum” (Masih, 1999:8)."

- Integrated relationship from a sociocultural perspective: This means that one subject that is leaning from the society. He will become dynamic, interactive, thinking active through the guidance of the teacher and the relationships of his sorroundings.

5 Key Expressions:

1. Mediating the construction of knowledge and understanding.
2. Sociocultural pedagogical model for CLIL.
3. Exploratory talk.
4. Social nature of learning.

 Personally, I think that this reading it is better to read it in the middle of the semester, because it is a good way to learn about CLIL and to meditate about what we have been learning before.

Promoting plurilingualism in the majority language classroom - MARILLE

The text by Alto, Tatjana, Boeckmann and Lamb developes new ideas and approaches in the area of plurilingualism in the language classroom  and claims that this is an important issue for most teachers all around Europe.

MARILLE is a project and wants to develop the majority language classroom into a more plurilingual kind of. It  was, from the beginning, planned as a project that should collect the practical knowledge and the classroom experiences of teachers from different countries and provide structure to this knowledge.

Main Ideas:

- In many classrooms, the learners do not share a common linguistic base: Everyday more we live in a multicultural world plenty of different languages and we can share our own experiences and culture at class.

-  It is needed an environment in which learners can be proud of their own plurilingualism and an education which promotes plurilingualism concerns all learners and also all subjects.: Nowone must think it is better than the others.

- A multilingual group brings along both challenges and resources for majority language classrooms: the classroom requires inclusive, diferentiated practice and language diversity management in the classroom.

- Language teachers, rather than perceiving themselves as just teachers of one specfic language, should see themselves as general language experts prepared to promote all language development: Teachers must learn constantly not only on the language they are teachers but also in all the subjects they can be involve. It is desirable to know as much as you can.

8 Key Expressions:

1. Language of instruction.
2. More inclusive ‘majority’ language classroom environment,
3. Cultural backgrounds.
4. Plurilingualism.
5. Sense of esteem and respect.
6. Pedagogical thinking.
7. Language-oriented lessons.
8. Virtual networking opportunities.

Child-centered Education

The study from the Köck Private Fundation about Children-centered education gives us a general idea of why learning is intinctive for children and how they learn by playing, by being inquisitive using their own needs and desires and through discovering their own reality.

The article claims that the basic principle of this kind of education is to discover and potenciate the optimal development of a child's personality and education.

5 Principles of Child-centred education:

1. Orientation on the needs of the children.
2. Active self-regulated learning.
3. Well designed learning environment.
4. Social learning as a method and a goal.
5. Broad understanding of performance and ability.
6. Adressing performance assessments in an encouraging manner.
7. Conductive school comunity.

3 Main ideas of the article and why they are important for me:

1. Active self regulated learning: The child-centred education helps the children to develop their personality and competencies and also, his needs and individual requirements from theirselfs.
2. Social learning as a method and a goal: This is goog to learn how to share their ideas and how to learn asking help if needed when  doing an exercise in class.
3. Adressing performance assesment in an encouraging manner: If a kid know why he is doing something wrong and the way to solve it in a positive way he would not be afraid of trying.

5 Key Expression:

1. Capable of enabling independent.
2. Sensitive growth stages.
3. Class advisory board.
4. Development of independent and meaningful strategies instead of mechanic-receptive learning.
5. Judgmental evaluation.

During my years of education as a teacher and pupil, I could not see any child-centred learning. I think it is really a good way to envolve our classrooms and to teach English.