This video talks
about tips for meeting the needs of diverse learners. I found this video very
interesting because of the tone and content the video offered. It discussed at
the beginning that you cannot think that all students are the same and that
they all learn the same. After watching this video, I looked for articles as
well that went along with culturally diverse teaching. I found an article on
different tips for meeting the needs of diverse learners. There were different
strategies that this author used to talk about meeting the needs of diverse
learners. She listed different in the article. She listed 10 different ones,
but I am going to discuss the 5 I liked the most.
1. Tip One: Meet
as a team to closely read and learn from every student’s IEP.
-This
may sound like an obvious step, but I had never sat down with my grade-level
team to go through each student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP). A
team member who was more familiar with IEPs and our students guided us through
the process, and each educator who worked directly with that student completed
an IEP At-a-Glance sheet to use in our own practice. We discussed annual goals,
suggested modifications, and strategies that have been successful with each
student in the past.
2. Tip 2: Make a “cheat sheet” that shows
students’ IEP and/or ELL classifications and modifications.
One of my
colleagues and I created a one-page, color coded “cheat sheet” that lists every
student with special needs, and every student who is an English language
learner in the 7th grade. For us, that’s about 30 students. Across the top
(x-axis) are a series of modifications, such as:
• Graphic organizers
• Audio and/or visual aids
• Seating
• Guided or Cloze Notes
• Chunked Text
• Scaffolding/Break Down Into Chunks
• Word Banks
• Breaks
• Sentence Starters
• Small Groups
• Checklists
Down the side
(y-axis) are the three classes students are in. In the middle are all of our
students’ names in the respective spaces, based on the modifications that work
best for them. At the bottom of the page, in a separate chart, are the students
listed by their IEP and/or ELL classification.
This chart
sits on my clipboard and I refer to it as I’m planning lessons, assessments,
and groupings. It’s a helpful, one-stop tool for me to use to support my
students and their learning.
3. Tip 3: Create a one-page spreadsheet of students’ reading levels.
It seems like
there are a million ways to find out a student’s reading level. Our school
relies on a number of resources like iReady, Fountas and Pinnel (F&P), and
this year, the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project. One of my
colleagues created a very simple spreadsheet that includes the following
information for each student in each class:
• 6th grade ELA state test score
• F&P level at the end of 6th grade
• F&P level at the beginning of 7th
grade
• iReady level for vocabulary
• iReady level of comprehension of
literature
• iReady level of comprehension of
informational texts
I loved her
simple spreadsheet and created one for all of my reading classes. It helps me
to differentiate texts and have conversations with students about their
learning.
4. Tip 4: Train paraprofessionals in the room to conduct reading
conferences with students.
In one of my
classes, we are blessed to have four adults in the room — two teachers and two
paraprofessionals. At the beginning of the year, I wasn’t supporting the
paraprofessionals to serve as instructional support providers to multiple
students in our class.
Two days a
week, we have independent reading time where students get to enjoy a text of
their choice at their independent reading level. I trained both of the
paraprofessionals on how to conduct a reading conference and then split our
students up into four groups, so that the four educators in the room were each
responsible for conducting a reading conference with each student at least once
a week. Conference notes are taken and kept in a binder accessible to all of
us.
5. Tip 5: Share lesson plans with paraprofessionals ahead of time.
This
sounds so simple, but I got the email address of each adult in the room in
order to share lesson plans and an overview of the week with them. This way
they know what’s planned, what the week’s goals are, and what their role is. I
also print out a copy of the lesson plan for each of them so it’s accessible
when they come to class.
I found these
tips very interesting and see how I could use this for diverse learning in my
classroom. When I first read about this topic, I was confused until I watched
this video and read this article. These tips are explained thoroughly and talk
about how to be effective in your classroom.
