Student Needs

My previous post was about the different cogs of differentiation and identifying the three parts of what makes your classroom work together. I wanted to focus a little more about each clockwork hub individually though because a paragraph can't sum up how each of these really helps build a differentiated classroom. The first one I'm going to focus on is the students needs. Maslow has researched needs of people in general and talked about until a human feels safe, or has a sens of belonging, any energy put into learning would be wasted. Tomlinson quotes"that if a child feels unsafe, threatened or insecure, the brain blocks off the pathways to learning and attends to the more basic human needs instead. I thought that my quote this week fit really well. It's from Bob Pletka and it reads:

"The quality of the relationship that students have in class with their peers and teacher is important to their success in school."




If students know their teacher wants them to succeed and that their fellow classmates are there to support them through anything, they are going to enjoy class and be willing to help other students out. Teachers are overwhelmed by the many things they have to teach and assess in class, but you have to know as a teacher if your students don't feel like you are there for them, you'll never be able to reach them!

There are different elements for each of the students needs that I think are important to know when teaching children and differentiating for those needs. When you are differentiating for a child each of these needs will be different, that's part of the point of differentiation. You have to know what will work for you as well as them.

Affirmation:

This is one of the students' most basic need, but do we really know what this means? We know that we like to be affirmed and that we need to feel needed/wanted, it's a basic human desire. How are you going to convey that to your students? How are you going to make them feel wanted within your classroom? How are you going to treat that child so that they know that they are your "favorite" even when you have 29 other "favorites" who feel the same way. Part of affirmation is for our students to feel like they are accepted for who they are and that no matter what their background is they will be loved and respected within the class that they are in. Students want to know that they will be listened to and that what they have to say is important and will be valued. I think a great way to allow kids to be heard is to have a sharing time and allow students to get things off of their chest. If they know that you are willing to listen to them and acknowledge what they are feeling they will be more willing to trust you and you will both learn more together. Students need to know that we believe in them and that we know what they are truly capable of. Please don't put a label on your students because then it becomes a stigma you start treating them differently and limiting what they are capable of. 

Contribution: 

When we help students recognize that they will be respected, loved, and listened to within a class they begin to want to learn. They are more attentive and more willing to take part in their own learning. We want students to be able to provide learning for themselves and become life-long learners and we can only do that when we support students in such a way that they take part in building that passion of learning. Students need to know that their strengths and weaknesses are unique and that they can help others in the class as well as allow others to help them. 

Power:

When your environment empowers your students the students will seek more power and when they see that you trust them with the power you have been giving them they begin to feel satisfied with themselves. If they don't feel like they are accomplished in your classroom or that they can accomplish anything in your classroom they will seek for opportunities elsewhere and then a reliable tool becomes lost to the whole classroom. 

Purpose:

Knowing why you have to do something or why you want to do something is a very powerful tool that teacher's can use to teach students why we do certain things. If we subtly show students what their purpose could be and allow them to fully seek out how they can best use that purpose in class, we are blessing them in other aspects of their lives. When we teach them that the choices they make reflect on who they are as an individual for specific reasons, we can teach them that making responsible decisions or choices enables them to have a very specific purpose about why he/she should care about the work they are doing and then education they are getting. 

Challenge: 

Students need to be challenged, there's no argument about that. However if the students are too harshly challenged with material, homework, or other various assignments you can't help them grow. This is again why differentiation is so important within a classroom. Help your students to find that challenge that will stretch their learning to what it could be, but not overwhelm them to the point where everything goes over their head and they don't learn anything. 

Please be aware that each of these needs that students have make them who they are. We shouldn't have to cater to them because that would not be differentiating, but we do need to realize that each student has different abilities that will help your class become closer, better, more of a family when you allow these abilities-be they strengths, weaknesses, talents, unique quirks come out in a way that builds your class. When students truly feel that they are getting their needs met, they are much happier kids and they are more willing to take part in their learning process. Please do not forget that we all have needs and we all want to feel wanted and your students are not any different then you. Put them in situations where their needs and met and their education/confidence grows to a level that helps them be the person you know they can be because you know of their potential and greatness.

Here are some websites that can help your students:
Challenge your students
Websites of activities
Empowering Students
Strategies for Empowering Students