In Tomlinson's book she states that "curriculum and instruction is the vehicle for addressing student needs." Teachers must agree to form a bond with the student and it becomes a contract that as a teacher I hope you want to fulfill. In a previous post I talked about tools you can use to help you differentiate with because as teachers we are meant to teach! That's our job, that's what we are supposed to do. However that doesn't mean that we don't have other job descriptions that get grouped in with what a teacher actually becomes for all of his/her students. We have specific tools of our trade though and that's curriculum and instruction.
We all know that there are things are students must be taught because we have a common core to teach from. Most, if not all states, have come up with a state core that they want their students to know based on the grade that they are in. In order to teach this curriculum to our students we must know them so that we know how to instruct them. Through all these posts I've written, are you catching the drift that it's IMPORTANT to KNOW your students?
Tomlinson goes on in this chapter stating that she had teachers that knew the curriculum well and knew the subject they needed to learn, but only one teacher took the time to teach her as a student and not just teach the subject that she knew. When we really teach to who our students are Tomlinson said: "curriculum and instruction become the medium through which the teacher shows students the power of knowledge, the power of self, and the inextricable links between the two." Isn't that powerful? Don't you want to be that kind of teacher? I know I do! I want to inspire my kids to believe in the power of knowledge that they are gaining. I want them to know that they are smart in their own way and that I will help them in whatever way possible achieve a high level of knowledge than they previously had.
We need to teach curriculum that is important, focused, engaging, demanding, and scaffolded. We know what we have to teach because curriculum has been mandated but the way you do it is up to you. You want what you are teaching to be things that students will be able to use outside of school and inside of school to build on concepts they will learn later in different grades. Also you want the instruction you give to be focused and by that I mean specific! Going back to the hallmarks you, as the teacher, need to know what you're teaching and teach with clarity. Knowing that we have to know what we are teaching also affects how we are going to teach it. We need to find everything we teach our students exciting as well, even if we are not that thrilled about it. Students can tell when teachers are unsure about what they are teaching or when they don't find the subject that exciting to learn about. We as teachers want our students to be engaged as we are teaching them. The more they are engaged, the more they actually learn! However after a while if you just have engaging "fun" work your students begin to become bored. So we have to add the element of demanding where it challenges our students in just the right way so that they are stretched to grow, but not pulled too far. Of course when keeping all of these things in mind we don't want to try and feed all of our students with a fire hose. We need to remember to scaffold for all of our students. Even the students that are more "advanced" are not going to appreciate everything being poured down their throat at once, but if we scaffold for our students on their level and allow them to be challenged with engaging work that is specifically tailored to them, you'll have some amazing turn outs! Don't forget that curriculum and instruction is the vehicle, but you're the driver and you need to do what's best for your passengers on the journey with you.
Here are some websites that can help you with curriculum and instruction:
Differentiated Instruction
Meeting Students Where They Are
Supporting Continuous Growth
One Size Does Not Fit All
Amen.
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