Trying to put all the pieces of the puzzle together

Throughout the process of pursuing my Master's degree, I have learned about many various forms of technology that can be integrated in the classroom. During the courses that I utilized podcasting, Jing, and wikis I had envisioned using them as something that everyone in the classroom would be engaged with at the same point in time. As I began this class, I envisioned that differentiated instruction was providing different lessons for every child in the classroom and I imagined that would be the opposite of having a class using the technology tools I had learned about previously. What I have discovered is that actually the technology will support the instruction and will enable me to differentiate more effectively with the diverse learning styles in my classroom.

One struggle that I have faced as I began implementing the differentiated instruction in the classroom is that changing of the focus in the classroom from being teacher focused to student focused. It does require giving up some degree of control, although for many students, as their engagement increases so does their motivation. Additionally, I have been able to add to the number of computer work stations available in my classroom to assist with the integration of technology in the classroom. Last year as the school year ended I had one student work station, when the year began I had two workstations, and as of last Friday I have two desktop computers for students and three student laptops to utilize in my classroom. This is going to enable me to integrate the technology tools I have learned about without moving the entire classroom environment to the computer lab. Students will now be able to complete stations that do and do not involve technology in the same environment.

In implementing my differentiation lesson, I have only had time to implement the first part with students working on examining the various maps and questions for the Oil in the Middle East stations. Students have done well so far and the level of engagement is at a greater level than what students would have for a typical PowerPoint presentation about oil resources in the region. Students were having great discussions on topics and were engaged in using the resources to determine the population distribution patterns. Students will continue with additional research of the countries this week.

The use of the differentiation station wiki assisted my knowledge of differentiated instruction and universal design for learning because a great variety of resources were all accessible to the group. Additionally, as I am working to incorporate a variety of different activities in to the classroom I will be able to refer back to the wiki and look for different project and activity ideas. This will enable me to use my time more effectively and to incorporate more differentiated learning on a consistent and pervasive basis.