Differentiating Math Instruction

          Once again, this week has proven to be a great learning experience; extending our knowledge in the realm of mathematics. To begin, this week started with reviewing the Capacity Building Series document on differentiating math instruction. As educators, it is our responsibility of being aware of the needs of our students. Each class we are placed in will have a variety of learners. Whether your students are visual, kinaesthetic,  linguistic, musical, etc. learners, teachers must suit the needs of all students. According to the Capacity Building Series document, "differentiation is an organized yet flexible way of proactively adjusting teaching and learning to meet kids where they are and help them to achieve maximum growth as learners." During my placement last year, I was able to see first hand how my associate teacher was able to accommodate and modify her teaching whether the student had an IEP or not. Specifically for math lessons, students who required some extra assistance had the opportunity to use their iPads to help them take pictures of notes, using manipulatives to complete problems, and/or being given fewer questions to complete. As we continue to grow each an every week, we will be able to become more comfortable as educators modifying our teaching to suit the needs of our students.

           To follow, time spent in class and with the online modules surrounded around the idea of creating activities that involved parallel tasks. One of the prominent approaches being praised is using a variety of open-ended questions for your students. Parallel tasks involve two open-ended questions which are structured in the same manner but use different numbers or levels of difficulty for students. The students will then get to choose what question they would like to complete based on what they believe they are capable of. Each class has a wide range of learners; achieving academic success at varying levels. Therefore, it is of the upmost importance that teachers provide students opportunities to demonstrate their understanding using their own skills. It would be beneficial for students to have the activities structured in a way that would suit their learning style. These different ways of differentiating will help educators foster a growth mindset among their students as they learn new mathematical concepts. It will help students see what level of difficulty they are comfortable with; and whether or not they would like to further challenge themselves by picking a harder question. To further explore examples of parallel tasks, please visit the link below:

In addition to constructing parallel tasks, the most important aspect of creating open-ended problems are the questions that are to be asked prior and after completion of the question. Common and scaffolding questions are the root to the consolidation and retention of concepts in student learning. Questioning promotes student generated ideas. When the focus is shifted to students, as opposed to educators supplying students with the ideas and answers, students are more inclined to stay engaged in the material they are learning. However, deciding on what questions to ask may be the most difficult part of the process. When completing this activity in class, I found comprising common and scaffolding questions to be slightly difficult due to the significance of these questions. Despite it's difficulty, I found the activity to be of great use as it is great practice into formulating questions for being out in the field.       
                                                                                      
Pagliaro T. 2017

          Lastly, one new addition to this week was our class webinars. This week, I was responsible for leading the first webinar for my group on math inquiry as a teaching strategy. I found the webinar to be very resourceful for myself; further exploring a topic that is very prominent in the teaching world today. The webinar also provided an engaging outlet for which colleagues can collaborate to learn about new teaching strategies to implement in the classroom. As a way to help consolidate information, I chose to display my curated resources on a Pinterest page. If you would like to explore my resources, please visit the page at the following link:


Overall, this week has proven to be an exciting exploration of new strategies into helping foster a growth mindset among students as they extend their learning of mathematical concepts. 


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