One of the strengths of the modern day educational system is the recognition that students learn at different paces and have different styles of absorbing information. One of my favorite classes at SUNY Geneseo was the History of Education class where we traced the journey of education from the theory of Piaget, to Religious Based education for education and the denial of formal learning to females, to the desegregation of schools leading to our current educational and legal climates. it was fascinating and ultimately shaped my teaching theory.
It’s unrealistic to expect that a classroom of 24-30 students is going to be learning at the same pace. So you would use formative and summative assessments to work with students in a small group. Then you form an organized rotation of those students where they are working independently, in small groups and with the teacher to gain the skills they need to meet the common core.
Additionally, I utilize the Understanding by Design curriculum methodology which allows for pacing withing the actual construction of the units of study. When you plan for understanding in line with current common core standards you can actually address a wide range of skills and abilities in your classroom because assessment is built right into your units.
Between consistent assessment and adjusting of groups based on results, you can individually and realistically address individual needs in the classroom. I would also describe my ability to address individual needs in concert with the parents is also a skill I’ve developed over my career. Success in the classroom is a three part effort; the student has to be invested, the curriculum has to be responsive, and the parents have to be involved. When all those aspects are addressed… the student can shine.
It would be remiss of me to not also include my experience with writing IEPs and Reports. I have an instinctive ability to marry the abilities I observe in the classroom as well as the data derived by testing. My ultimate goal is to integrate every skill I can, in a universal lesson where strengths are celebrated and each student can uniquely contribute to the conversation. Sometimes that takes coaching, sometimes that takes pre-taught skills (in classroom or resource room) or collaboration with parents where they can coach their own kids on the ideas before they are presented in the general classroom. Lets also not forget the students who have long understood the information and need to work on their collaborative and social skill and need a teacher; to coach them on the social skills needed to work with them on a level where you can be sure that learning has been transferred to their working memory.
Amanda Grace 