3. Planning for Differentiated Instruction

I created this artifact while I was student teaching at Downers Grove Christian School in a second grade classroom in the fall of 2022. It is a word search made up of vocabulary words from the Magic Tree House book Civil War on Sunday. I led a small reading group in doing novel studies. This word search was created for one of our last meetings about this book to review the vocabulary. This group of students was the higher level reading group. There was also a lower level group that worked with the reading specialist, and a group that worked on bettering their comprehension.

This artifact shows that I have met Knowledge Indicator 3D which states that the competent teacher, “understands when and how to adjust plans based on outcome data, as well as student needs, goals, and responses.” Throughout leading this small group, I adjusted my plans so that our discussions could better facilitate their learning and growth as readers. It also shows that I have met Performance Indicator 3Q which says that the competent teacher, “develops or selects relevant instructional content, materials, resources, and strategies (e.g., project-based learning) for differentiating instruction.” I created this word search by myself through the use of technology. I selected this material specifically for this higher reading group of students so that they could be pushed in their vocabulary knowledge.

Through making this artifact, I learned how to design my instruction based on the students’ knowledge. I had to have the specific students in mind and I had to think about how I could best teach to their needs as they were the group of students who were at a higher reading level. I see that it is important to build time into my lessons that can be differentiated for students’ unique learning levels.

This artifact is my calendar invite to a TAP meeting held on October 11. I student taught at Timothy Christian Schools, and during my time there, I had the opportunity to participate in an important meeting regarding a student. A TAP plan stands for a Timothy Accommodation Plan, which is Timothy Christian’s version of an IEP. This student’s IEP was converted into a TAP plan during this meeting with the mother of the student, a member of the educational support staff, the student’s teacher, and me.

By participating in this meeting, I have met Knowledge Indicator 3F which states that the competent teacher, “understands how to co-plan with other classroom teachers, parents or guardians, paraprofessionals, school specialists, and community representatives to design learning experiences.” That is exactly what I did, I planned with these people ways to create meaningful learning experiences for the child in order to best serve his needs. It therefore also shows that I have met Performance Indicator 3P, which says that the competent teacher, “works with others to adapt and modify instruction to meet individual student needs.”

Through participating in this meeting, I learned that collaboration is important when differentiating instruction for students’ unique needs. I learned how important it is to collect and interpret data in order to make informed decisions on how best to serve a student. When working together, all of the people involved can surround the student with support and plan for ongoing student growth and achievement.