Running head: STUDENT CENTERED AND/OR DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION

Student Centered and/or Differentiated Instruction

Shelby Kelley
Regent University

STUDENT CENTERED AND/OR DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION

Introduction
A teachers ability and motivation to cater to each students individual needs must be
strong in order to provide a safe and productive learning environment. A good teacher knows that
one size does not fit all, and she plans with ingenuity and creativity to give each child a fair
chance of succeeding in the classroom. Differentiated instruction involves teaching with an
individual in mind instead of assuming that all children are on the same academic level and have
the same learning style. In my inclusion classroom specifically, I learned to use my own data an
d the resources provided by the Special Education department to teach responsively, catering to
differing learning styles, strengths, and struggles, thus providing a richer learning environment.
Rationale
Below, I have included a writing lesson plan that I worked together with my cooperating
teacher to create. The students were supposed to get ideas for their own writing by reading
poetry; we read them a poem from Being a Writer, and we asked them to be thinking about ideas
for similar poems that they could write. The poem was read aloud for our auditory learners, and
it was displayed on the Promethean Board for our visual learners. Afterward, we told them that
they would be writing a similar poem to the one that we had read them. I explained to them that
they would be writing Im sorry for on about fifteen lines in their writing journal, followed by
something, fictional or true, that they thought would be a funny or heartfelt thing for which to
apologize. For my visual learners, I wrote a few sample lines on the board.
While this task was developmentally appropriate for our age group, we had observed in
the past couple weeks that some kids got frustrated when they were asked to write what they
thought was too much, or when they had to write the same words multiple times. Because the
point of the activity was to engage them in coming up with original ideas for their writing and
not necessarily to write Im sorry for, we thought it appropriate to provide some students with
Im sorry for already typed for them on multiple lines of a piece of paper so that they could

STUDENT CENTERED AND/OR DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION

focus solely on generating imaginative ideas. I have included as an artifact a sample of writing
from a students writing notebook, on which the student wrote out each full sentence.
Additionally, I have included a one students poem that he wrote on one of our typed-up sheets. I
am certain that this seemingly-small implementation of student-centered differentiated
instruction prevented at least one, if not more, fits of frustration from some of our students.
Reflection
During an open house that was held that week, a parent perused her daughters writing
journal, and upon seeing her daughters poetry, the parent thanked me for fostering her childs
creativity. I felt that my cooperating teacher and I were able to identify the important aspects of
the lesson and differentiate instruction in a goal-oriented way, and this parent was grateful to us
for considering her daughters needs. As an inclusion teacher, it was important for me to
remember that differentiated instruction does not involve teaching different children different
topics, but helping each child accomplish the objective in the most effective way possible. At the
end of our Being a Writer lesson, each child had accomplished the I can statement by reading or
listening to poetry to get ideas for their own writing. In this instance, we had shaken up what
goes on in the classroom so that students [had] multiple options for taking in information,
making sense of ideas, and expressing what they learn[ed], just as I had practiced doing in my
undergraduate education classes (Tompkins, 2005, p. 41).
In my UED courses at Regent University, the professors put a great deal of emphasis on
differentiation. Portions of my classes were devoted to understanding and appreciating multiple
types of intelligences. Regent professors made sure to note that favoring linguistic and logicalmathematical intelligence...has shortchanged those students whose talents lie in other forms of
intelligence (Partin, 2009, p. 155). I came into my teaching education with the desire to
maximize overall student success, but after my time in Regents IDS courses, I have learned why

STUDENT CENTERED AND/OR DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION

it is important differentiate instruction to boost the performance of each individual learner.

Thanks to the modeling of specific techniques and examples of various differentiation strategies
provided for me by my professors, I have been given the knowledge and tools to know when and
how to implement differentiated instruction.
As a Christian, I believe that every person is gifted with their own set of talents and
abilities and that each individual has the potential for greatness in one area, allowing them to
contribute meaningfully to society. As Paul puts it, there are many parts, but one body (1
Corinthians 12:20, New International Version). As an educator, I have been given the
responsibility to identify each childs strengths and modify my instruction in a way that taps into
his potential. If I do not do all that is in my power to further the success of each child, I am not
doing my job as a teacher, but I am also failing live up to my own personal standards.
Differentiation is and will be a priority in my classroom throughout my career.

STUDENT CENTERED AND/OR DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION

References
Partin, R. (2009). Creating successful lessons. In Classroom teacher's survival guide: Practical
strategies, management techniques, and reproducibles for new and experienced
teachers (3rd ed., p. 155). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Tompkins, G. (2005). Teaching and Assessing Language Arts. InLanguage arts: Patterns of
practice (Eighth ed., p. 41). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Merrill/Prentice Hall.