Teacher’s Response Part II

Teacher's Response II

Last post I only covered one part of the teacher’s response but I feel like it was critical for all teachers to know how important that will help you with a successful class. These others are still important as well and will most definitely benefit you to building a differentiated classroom.

Opportunity: 

Teacher must respond for the students’ needs of opportunity by:

-having important things for them to do that day

-letting them know the things they are doing are worthwhile things

-informing them that the tasks are sometimes daunting but doable

-letting them know that the things you ask them to do open new possibilities up to them.

-having important things that allow them to become all that they can be.

-give them maximum opportunities in roles that make them more efficient and effective.

I love this quote from the book because I think it explains all of us very well! “Genuine opportunity may be frightening because it seems out of reach but it is seldom stultifying. Opportunity requires hard word, but it is work with a purpose-it is work in pursuit of a dream.” I think we all become afraid of the opportunities that we are given and we miss out on a lot of them because that means we do have a bigger potential to live up to. Never let your students be afraid to take new opportunities. Teach them that opportunities allow us to grow and stretch beyond our means.

Investment:

-Let your students know that you work hard to make their classroom

work for all of them.

-the classroom is a reflection of the whole class and the progress they are making

-it shows anyone who walks through our door who we are and why we are a special class.

-there will be new paths to succeed and we will all get there by listening to each other

Invested teachers are personally engaged in what they ask the students to do. That is, invested teacher word hard at learning, spend free time in pursuit of knowledge, think and puzzle over problems, and get excited about new ideas. Become an invested teacher for what you teach and who you teach because you’re students will notice a difference if you’re invested as much as they are.

Persistence:

-Let students know that as they are learning they are growing, but the learning doesn’t stop there. The things that they learn in your class will help them as they get older.

-Giving up is not an option, if something doesn’t work one way there are many other ways that can be tried.

-There are no excuses here, but there is support!

-There is no finish line in learning.

Persistent teachers are always willing to change to get better and become a greater teacher. They don’t think that they are exempt from growing like the students are. The more you persevere the more you learn about yourself and your abilities. Be that teacher that shows her/his students that there is never a time to give up, just find another way that works for you.

Reflection:

-I use what I learn to help you learn better.

-I try to see things through your eyes.

-I continually stop to ask how is this working.

-I continually ask how can I make this better.

A differentiating teacher is one who is constantly reflecting on his/her teaching and making adjustments accordingly. It’s important to realize you will never teach a perfect lesson, but you can come close when you have multiple entry points for your students to all take a bite out of the learning that you’re offering.

We must come to know our students on a very different level than many teachers have before. We must be willing to see them for the unique individuals they are and in order to do that we must bond with our students. We must reach out to them and help them to feel that they are special to us. They may even feel like the favorite in the class, but we want ALL of our students to feel that way and not just some. In order to do that we’ve got to be invested in every student, persistently pushing them to new heights by pushing ourselves to find new ways to help them, we’ve got to reflect on our teaching and make sure that we are truly lifting our students confidence and not spoon-feeding them the answers, and we need to give them every opportunity we can to show their knowledge to solidify what they are learning. By doing these things we will become a teacher that really knows her/his students in such a way that teaching will take on a whole new meaning.