Raise or Raze?

The thing that causes some tension for me is the same thing that I am eager to learn more strategies for: differentiating in the classroom.

Schools aren’t what they used to be. The population of California is growing exponentially. Classrooms are filled to the brim and school budgets are being cut beyond usage. Programs are being cut, teachers are being asked to do way too much spending of their own money on supplies. On top of all of this, the higher ups continue to change teaching requirements and expectations! Now we have Common Core to learn and master.

What is most striking to me is the diversity of the student body at any given school. Children and families are moving in great numbers, moving to new schools, new countries, new states, new homes. With so many different backgrounds represented, I find it amazing that we are supposed to teach all of these children using the exact same methods. Or are we? Something tells me that this isn’t the case, but what I’ve seen so far IS the case. No teachers are teaching one way to group A, while they teach another way to group B, etc. The teachers teach one way to one group: the whole class. I know that I lost out because this is how I learned. I was not afforded the same economic or educational opportunities as my peers and so learning was difficult for me – I had to begin fresh in college…to make up for what I did not have.

I can only imagine how frustrating it is to learn in a particular way that just isn’t reaching for you. And because this happened to me, I think I am hyper aware of it. But what to do about it is a whole other issue. We have limited time with students per week and so in an effort to get through the required materials, we do the best we can. But maybe the answer is to include some additional activities that may reach different learning styles outside of the classroom time: incorporate some on-line writing/blogging; include some online research and student interactions to blogs. This may be a way to turn the tables on differentiation given all of the constraints we have on our time in class.