If you care, they will learn!

I was a substitute teacher for YEARS!  I adapted to the teaching styles of those teachers every time I did a long term sub position.  What I learned by subbing was so valuable because I could take all their teaching styles, see which ones worked the best, create some of my own, and use it in my own classroom.  One style of teaching that I observed to be most effective to have students behave and become motivated in their own learning is building student relationships.  Here are some steps to use to build those student relationships...

6 Strategies for Building Better Student Relationships

I would say #5 is the main key in building those relationships.  In every classroom I have taught in, this has proven to be true.  It is not just in elementary school, this concept is still true for high school students too.  In How to Differentiate Instruction by Carol Ann Tomlinson it concurs that: "Most students need to feel cared about before they will care about academics" (pg. 39).  I see a change in my students when they feel that the classroom is a safe place for them.  They start to be a little more brutally honest but they also start to grow, come out of their shell, and bloom.  To continue to have my students bloom, I use a differentiated instruction model so my students can learn at the same time, in their own way, and reach their own potential.

Differentiated Instruction is a difficult concept to adapt in teaching at first but I just takes baby steps to get it down.  I have had many teachers ask me: "what can I do with the advanced students in the classrooms that finish early?"  I tell them, this is why we differentiate.  And then I get a blank stare.  And the next questions is usually, "how do I do that?"  This is not just a 30 second solution I can give as we pass in the hallway.  It's a method that needs to be integrated into the teaching style.  Teachers feel like it's overwhelming to differentiated but "Differentiation doesn't suggest that a teacher can be all things to all individuals all the time.  It does, however, mandate that a teacher create a reasonable range of approaches to learning much of the time, so that most students find learning a fit much of the time" (pg. 35).  Teachers are already using all the instructional models like direct instruction, cooperative learning, inquiry based learning, etc.  We need to change it up so students can learn in different ways so one way will be a perfect fit for one student and another instructional model might be a perfect fit for another student.  

When I plan my lessons this is where I've learned to differentiate.  I think of each student and how this lesson will impact them.  Where can I extend their thinking, how much time will this group need, should I hold a small group after my direct instruction?  Like in the book How to Differentiate Instruction we need to look through the eyes of  the advanced learners, learners who struggle, English language learners, and learners "in the middle" (pg.14).  

Differentiated Instruction

I focus on the advanced learners.  Since we meet in small groups I still go through these steps and differentiate because even though they are identified as gifted and talented.  Each student learns differently and that includes gifted students.

With my gifted students I put an emphasis on growth mindset.  We have lessons to teach my students that failing is ok, it's part of learning.  These students are so use to having all the right answers in class that when they do fail, it's difficult for them to keep going, it can be crushing.  I want my students to: "fail to reach self-efficacy...stretching yourself to achieve a goal you thought was beyond your reach" (Tomlinson, 21).  This is an introductory video I share with my students every year for growth mindset.

Another part of Differentiating is to create a certain environment in the classroom.  In Tomlinson's book it mentions strategies for managing a differentiated classroom.  One is to study your students, which I mentioned earlier.  Another one, that is important to me, is to make sure this happens in my gifted and talented groups is to give students as much responsibility for their learning (pg. 72).  This goes with their growth mindset too.  They can fail as many times necessary to find success and in that process they have taken their learning upon themselves, they have taken on responsibility that they want to learn this, they have that motivation.  I have seen this take place when my students are working on an inquiry based project or various other forms of projects.  In Invent to Learn by Sylvia Martinez and Gary Stager, Ph.D., they suggest 8 elements of a good project.  One of them is "connection".  The student and the project have that connection where the student is involved in their own learning, not matter how much time has passed the result is their interest in learning (pg. 72).

I know my students love to learn when it is something that interests them.  But they need that differentiation and relationship with their teacher.  I know teachers who struggle with differentiating instruction because they think it will create too much work.  But it can be done!  Start making those small changes that you think you can do in your lesson planning.  You will start to see how you can adapt to each students needs within the lesson as time and practice go on.  I'm not an expert on differentiation but I continue to work on mine and it's getting better each time.

References

Instructional Methods, Strategies and Technologies to Meet the Needs of All Learners.  Granit State College. https://granite.pressbooks.pub/teachingdiverselearners/chapter/differentiated-instruction-2/ 

Martinez, Sylvia Libow, & Stager, Gary Ph.D. Invent to Learn.  Construction Modern Knowledge Press, CA.  2019.

Tomlinson, Carol Ann. How to Differentiate Instruction.  ASCD, VA.  2017.

Woodard, Cecily.  6 Strategies for Building Student Relationships.  Edutopia.  August 7, 2019.