My final thoughts on DI by Ow Yeong Wai Mang https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19 Made with ♥ and deep reflection en-us 2021-04-04 10:22:03 UTC 2021-04-26 07:52:17 UTC hello@padlet.com Jayne https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1386888707 Two points that I found particularly interesting were 'Instructional Scaffolding' and 'Adaptation Strategies'.

The literature has enlightened me that the process of scaffolding for an entire class is actually a form of differentiated learning.  It could also be considered an art as the teacher scaffolds to meet students' needs and help them become independent learners.  

The adaptation strategies checklist has equipped me with a broad overview of various techniques that could be employed for SEN students but as a beginning teacher, I will exercise caution and handle complex cases in consultation with senior teachers and behavioural experts.]]> 2021-04-06 12:49:15 UTC https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1386888707 Karyn https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1390442591 There are many different ways to implement DI in the classroom such as collaborative work (e.g. group work or pair work). Sometimes, it can be DI only for that class (wrt the PE video where only that class was given special instructions). 

I felt that the overseas videos (session 7) were harder to implement in a primary school classroom as we have 1 teacher to 30-40 students. 

It takes a lot of time to plan these types of DI activities. No doubt it makes learning more enjoyable and beneficial.  
The best method to learn DI is by experiencing it and then being made aware of it (assuming that our teacher executes DI expertly that adult learners don't even realise it) and made to reflect upon our experiences. 

But I do like the big umbrella video as it gave a visual perspective to what DI is truly about :-) as we plan our lessons, and have been equipped with  resources shared during our PP lessons (and others too!), we become more adept at implementing DI (but with lots of trial and error!!!) until it becomes second nature.]]> 2021-04-07 07:58:15 UTC https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1390442591 Hanis https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1393595868 I personally feel that DI is a very powerful tool that teachers can adopt/ utilise when faced with adversities. This is especially so for students who are different, or special. I found the tips shared by my peers during the presentation quite enriching and helpful as well. For instance, when i has undergoing Contract Teaching, I had difficulties managing the foreign students. 

During the presentation, my peers shared how we can manage a foreign student. For instance, we could form a buddy system with a classmate of the same race, speaks the same language or even something as simple as gender. Apart from that, during lesson time, it would be helpful to repeat key terms and use more hand signals, or utilise the hands (for counting etc). It would also be good to incorporate familiar words these foreign students are used to, during lesson, whenever possible. ]]> 2021-04-07 22:56:07 UTC https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1393595868 Hazel leowsihoon https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1393680833 My final thoughts on DI - it is here to stay and would only be utilized more extensively over the coming years. I am glad to be able to learn about DI in school prior to our teaching career in schools. Some of my colleagues struggle with handling students of special needs since they were trained ages ago. The discussions held also broadened my perspective on how to carry out DI. I am now equipped with more knowledge that would come in handy when we go back to teaching. For example, the use of DI could be used through process, product.

I have learnt a lot about DI for SEN. I have learnt to understand their needs better and most most importantly, how to support them with their learning. The links shared and discussions held were impactful in helping me to think deeper into my role as a teacher for these students. I am now more aware of how to approach students with SEN which I am very glad about. For example, my most impactful take away that I wish I would always remind myself - students with ADHD cannot help themselves. I hope to remain a teacher that is patient and able to look at the larger scheme of things


]]> 2021-04-07 23:47:16 UTC https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1393680833 En Na kua_en_na2 https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1394948676 During my contract teaching, my school had heavily emphasized and advocated the use of DI in lessons. Many times, when DI was mentioned, the teachers will say, "wa, headache" because it means to think of alternatives to cater to children with different learning needs. Teachers are used to the idea of implementing a lesson that is the same for everyone in our classrooms, and preparing for DI means more thinking, more preparations and of course, this means more of our time goes into lesson planning. My mentor have always stressed to me that teaching comes from our hearts, and my VP said that it is a job of our conscience. When we choose to do DI for our class, the extent of DI we want to do, it all comes from our hearts - because we want to include them to help them experience the joy of learning. 

The ways of DI had been made clear to us in PP, in the many different ways we can do DI - content, process, product. In our lesson planning, we think of our learners' profile - are their readiness levels high enough? If not, how can we raise their readiness levels so that everyone can be ready for this new concept? That's when we can prepare additional resources for students with lower readiness levels. We can even use ICT, such as videos on SLS for them to look through before the lesson the next day. DI is to place everyone in their learning zone, such that everyone in our classroom can learn. We do flexible grouping, so we know what our students can do, and how we can support their learning or stretch their learning, to make learning fun for them. By pitching it to our learners' competence level, we motivate them to do beyond what they can, and that is the process and joy of learning. 

We cannot deny that DI is not something easy to be executed in class. We need experience, guidance and our constant reflection. Even if we do not succeed the first time when we enact our DI (which is not unheard of!!), we should reflect and try, rather than shun away from it.]]> 2021-04-08 08:39:45 UTC https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1394948676 Jerald https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1398440665 As our education moves away from streaming and more towards mixed ability classes, DI is becoming more relevant for us as educators. From the sessions on DI, I have learnt a lot about DI and how to implement it better in the classroom.

However, from my experiences in my contract school, I worry for the lower ability students in these mixed ability classes. While in theory DI has its benefits, but we all know that in practice it is very difficult to carry out. We have to strike a balance between catering to our lower ability students while at the same time not holding back the higher ability ones. I also noticed some lower ability students feeling discouraged when they are unable to perform at the same level as their higher ability peers. This mindset unfortunately stems from our results-oriented society which has also been ingrained in their parents. The proposed changes in the education system appear to be in a step in the right direction but if things do not change at home, it may not be as useful as we hope.]]> 2021-04-09 02:46:31 UTC https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1398440665 Nadzirah https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1402008082 DI needs to become a norm in all classes as we recognise that all students are different in their way and pace of learning. It can be purposefully done which requires more preparation from the teacher's side, but it can also be in the small ways teachers assign the activity or work. 

In my contract school, there is a lot of emphasis on DI and we had teachers share on their DI lessons. During the review lesson, many of them shared on the level of preparation needed especially when differentiating students' readiness. It requires teachers to assign a diagnostic test to group students according to their readiness levels of the topic. Even in online SLS lessons, there needs to be more preparation in creating different tasks for different groups. A teacher used a choice board as her way of letting her groups of students choose the tasks they want to do, but this will mean the teacher needs to prepare different difficulty levels of tasks that meet the learning objectives of the lesson. 

At the same time, I also saw teachers did impromptu differentiation in the class by giving the students a set minimum number of questions that they need to do and letting higher progress students do more questions in their worksheets or by grouping students from different progress groups so that the students can help each other. These small steps can make big difference in the lesson because it still caters to the different needs of students where the low progress students need more time to do internalise concepts instead of doing more questions while the high progress students need to be stretched so that they will not be bored in class. 

All in all, we just need to keep in mind that there is no one-size-fits-all approach in teaching a class and we should try our best to adapt to students who may need more help or students who are ready for more difficult tasks. ]]> 2021-04-10 04:22:13 UTC https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1402008082 Joseph https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1402351778 As our education system moves away from 'producing standardised robots' to honing individual talents and helping each individual child to prosper in society, teachers have a great role to play to help foster that growth. As much as it is not easy to differentiate instructions in class, especially in big classes, teachers have the responsibility to help meet the learning needs of each child to help them realise their full potential in class.

There are many ways to implement DI in the classroom. The approach to differentiate instructions will vary greatly, depending on teachers' preferences and students' learning profiles. Teachers need to be discerning to pick the appropriate strategies to implement DI in their lessons. 

One approach I have learnt and liked from my contract teaching experience was the use of collaborative learning in class, where students work with one another to solve problems together. This way, students are able to learn from each other, learn how to work with others and gain social skills (on top of academic content knowledge) along the way as well. The weaker students get to learn from their strong peers, and as the stronger students teach and explain concepts to their classmates, their own understanding is sharpened and strengthened as well.]]> 2021-04-10 10:58:27 UTC https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1402351778 Korina korina_shalini_d_o_manogaran2 https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1403270933 DI is a powerful tool that allows students to explore and learn at their own pace without worrying about their achievements in comparison to their peers. It gives them the opportunity to experience small successes and gives them intrinsic motivation to challenge themselves. However, I believe that DI is something that requires a lot of planning and attention to what students need and how DI can be used to aid their learning. Sometimes, not meeting the LO may frustrate us, but if it doesn't work why can't we change the LO according to their terms and work our way up (PE teacher's train of thought)

The presentations from my classmates also equip me better but eventually, I would need to first asses the readiness, interest and profiles of my students before employing these techniques. Dealing with low progress learners last year and currently helps me also grow in compassion and understanding towards their needs and struggles.]]> 2021-04-10 23:24:00 UTC https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1403270933 Jia Rui https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1403549644 As the student profiles in mainstream schools become increasingly diverse, differentiated instruction becomes more relevant and essential in our classrooms. Even with subject-based banding and other ways of categorization of students, no amount of "streaming" can produce a homogeneous set of students. They can differ in so many ways especially in their interests, learning styles, and family background - things that cannot be discerned simply based off of a child's academic abilities. While the easy way is to be constant with the approach to teaching, as teachers, it is ultimately our responsibility to help the children realise their potentials, academically and beyond. We often see DI as a way to simply help the slower students and stretch those that are faster, but it could also be used as a tool to engage students and keep them interested in the process of learning. This can be done through "Learning Stations" where different types of learners get to engage in different styles of learning. The teacher as the facilitator and observer could alter the teaching approach to match the class profile in terms of their interests and preferred modes of learning as they are probably more engaged when they are interested. 
Finally, while we can always see DI as a tool to implement in the a mixed ability classroom, if this  is normalised in every school environment, there will be many more who will benefit as their interests are acknowledged and are catered to when learning. Even in our regular lives, we don't interact with everyone in the same way and thus we should not assume every child to learn the same either.]]> 2021-04-11 05:42:02 UTC https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1403549644 Saj https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1403806720 The series of sessions of DI has made me realise that diversity in the classroom is a norm of today. Learners, no matter how different have the potential to succeed academically given the right environment and levels of support appropriate to their progress levels.

Personally, I feel DI requires a lot more work and effort on the teachers' part however it is necessary to cater to the differing needs of the children. 

With a little bit of planning and foresight this could be achieved in small ways through the instructions we give the children. We could allow for flexibility, for instance getting some of the students to work in pairs while others can work individually would help the children to achieve their own potential. ]]> 2021-04-11 09:06:52 UTC https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1403806720 Georgy georgy_mathew_kurien3 https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1403951996 The lectures on DI has made me realise that there are many ways we can differentiate instruction in a classroom. The videos that we watched, deepened my understanding of DI and ho it could be applied in a practical classroom setting. It is a very important and powerful tool that we, as teachers, can utilise to create an inclusive classroom environment.

However, DI requires careful planning by the teacher and a positive classroom environment is a must. It is possible for DI to do more harm that good if a positive classroom environment is not present.

I recently had to opportunity to observe a lesson where the teacher incorporated differentiated instruction into a simple classroom task of crossword puzzle. Students were allowed to gauge their confidence level in the topic and the teacher provided visuals and helping letters for the weaker students. I was truly impressed by how DI could be incorporated into such a simple classroom activity.]]> 2021-04-11 10:41:53 UTC https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1403951996 Kai Siew https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1404025737 DI is not something that is easy to implement and plan but it is a strategy that can benefit our students as we work around our students' needs and cater to them accordingly. 

With DI, the students will be doing different types of work but we have to always keep in mind that even though the process that each student go through is different, the lesson objectives that every student in the class has to achieve should be the same. ]]> 2021-04-11 11:35:40 UTC https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1404025737 Nars https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1404375967 Knowing the merits of DI and implementing them are 2 different matters. 
Even without the increasing numbers of students with learning difficulties, classrooms have always had diversified students. I wonder why this hasn't taken off even then? While subject-based banding has reached primary schools, there is still no one-size fits all. After I went to observe a remedial session of the LAs, I asked the teacher if she would consider DI and the response was, they are already at the bottom, what else is there to DI? DI only works when there is a range to cater to. 
I think it's a matter of balance. While many recognise and want to do DI, there is the increased need to (1) profile the students (2) make adjustments - either in content, process or product. These all take time and effort. Many who have advocated DI also suggested that this be done as a collaboration with several other teachers. It implies that it is too much to do alone (for learning centres). However, some DI can still be achieved.
That said, the same teacher came to me and told me, do not short-change the students. They must be taught the syllabus. This brings to mind a gamut of thoughts about differentiating content.
End of the day, despite what everyone says, I think it's still up to each of us to pick up that starfish and throw, slide, catapult, push it back into the sea.]]> 2021-04-11 15:25:13 UTC https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1404375967 Yan Ting kwok_yan_ting1 https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1404472578 You can say this is an obvious trait of Differentiated Instructions but it is something like an AHA moment when I realised that DI in the classroom does not just help all pupils, it helps the teacher too. 

Truth be told, it is difficult to execute DI. However, consciously believing in the merits of DI translates into active planning for it. 

DI encourages all pupils to stay meaningfully engaged in lessons; that tends to mean that pupils are not disruptive, class moral is high and everyone is learning. This then  has a positive carry-over effect that, teacher is better able to facilitate learning effectively and collaboratively, teacher is not burnt out; not dreading and wasting time over remediation actions. 

Spending time and effort towards DI allows the teacher to save time and effort in many other aspects of teaching and learning. 

]]> 2021-04-11 16:18:37 UTC https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1404472578 Beth https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1404754769 At the beginning, DI was a daunting task. I think I saw many videos of DI done in other school systems (like US or the Netherlands) and it seemed impossible to bring the same ideas into the Singapore classroom. However, the videos of both Singapore context and western context, as well as what I am observing in school now during TA, I realised that DI is actually very possible. It just requires more effort on the part of the teacher to design the lesson with the various learner profiles in mind.

That said, it is still easier said than done. While the merits of DI are very evident, and it does seem like the results outweigh the cost in the long run, I wonder about the sustainability of DI for some teachers. Personally, I am not confident in creating interesting alternatives all the time for varying groups of learners each topic. And with each new class filled with 30-40 new unique students, I can only imagine the differences that I will likely have to accommodate for each year. I feel that I might be prone to burn out. I suppose it will take practice and experience to find that balance for myself. I wonder if there can be shared resources for teachers in the future for DI to ease some of our burden and load :")]]> 2021-04-11 18:56:53 UTC https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1404754769 Janice janice_koh_chning_chning2 https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1405207648 Before NIE,  DI was a daunting task.  When I was trying out group discussion during contract teaching,  I would run into an anxiety fit when preparing for the lesson.  Somehow it was really difficult to get the groups to stay on task.  Even when I tried to manage small group teaching for the weaker students, I felt that strong classroom management techniques were essential too. 
Now in NIE and learning new strategies, I still feel that DI is a daunting task.  But at least, I am equipped with more strategies I can use.  For example, even they way we mark the students' work and feedback is also DI!  And at the end of the day, DI is a lot of hardwork and heartwork.  :-)]]> 2021-04-12 00:28:49 UTC https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1405207648 Kelvin https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1405240381 DI is extremely important but not an easy task to implement. The teacher has to understand every students' learner profile and try and cater to them. The teacher also has to think out of the box and be creative in delivering the lesson, in order to grab the students attention. 

The teacher also needs to be flexible and change accordingly. What works for one class may not necessarily work for another. It really depends on the students and how they are responding to the lessons. 

During my TA I observed how my CT tries to implements DI by setting different expectations for students. This allowed every student to participate and contribute during lessons, since the questions asked were catered to the students' learning ability. She could only achieve this because she understands her students and knows their personality.]]> 2021-04-12 00:43:28 UTC https://padlet.com/elizabeth_owyeong/vpzxoe0k3zkhxn19/wish/1405240381