As an educator it is important to understand that each child comes from a different background affecting the way they process new information and interact with peers. Teachers should make time to form relationships with individual students and design lessons that cater to each student’s needs. I addressed learning differences in the classroom by working alongside school specialists, making necessary modifications, and creating lessons that meet students where they were while pushing them to grow.
Forming a close relationship with school specialists, such as fifth grade special education teachers, allowed me the chance to bounce ideas off them while lesson planning and hear their suggestions. Together, we went through the weeks lesson and discussed ways to address all student’s weaknesses. The goal was for all students to feel helped and supported while still allowing for them to be challenged by the material.
Modifications are equally important to supporting learning differences. Being open to modifications can incorporate various elements such as making changes to lessons in the moment to address overall group needs and developing lessons that meet students on their level. Keeping students engaged can require taking up the challenge level or bringing the level back down if I previously miscalculated. I have included a picture of a challenge puzzle that higher level students completed that included exponents as they used order of operations to solve the puzzle and find the code. Other modifications used are graphic organizers, relevant songs, whole group review games, etc.
Class lessons had to be adjusted to meet the levels of each student within the class. Station work and small groups became incredibly helpful for meeting students’ needs as I was able to group students by strengths and weaknesses. This was, also, a great time to let students experiment with explaining topics to their peers and later to the class.