First Week

by Kacy Smith

First Week: Preparation and Perspiration

            How do you set up classrooms for a year of differentiated instruction?

My goal for this year is to design, deliver, and modify instruction to meet the diverse needs of my students. I teach 8^th grade Humanities (an English/Social Studies integrated class) at Whitford Middle School in Beaverton, Oregon. I have students all over every continuum—readiness, willingness, ability, interest, and/or language. It is already very apparent, even on the first day of school. These differences have made getting to know the students interesting and enjoyable, but teaching them difficult.

            The other factor for the first week was the heat.  Summer had not shown up in Oregon until school started, and every day the first week was in the 90’s. In addition to first week jitters, there was no air conditioning and rooms full of sweaty 8^th graders! There are only some many times one can say, “Is it hot in here or is it just me?” or “Yes, correct answer. You’re on fire. Ha!”

            Against this backdrop of warmth, I introduced the students to Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  I have already prepared preliminary student groupings for readiness/ability for each class based upon:

·      State Reading scores

·      State Writing scores

·      TAG designation

·      ELL/ELPA score

·      SPED designation

·      Anecdotal information from previous teacher

I also plan on using some on-demand writing pieces, student self-reflections, and other assessments to modify these groupings in the coming weeks.

How did this information affect the first week in my classroom? I’m better prepared for the students who may need more support and more challenge.  I already had different versions of a reading assignment and was more ready to assist students.

      I did discuss differentiation with each of my classes. I told the students that sometimes the whole class would work together, other times in groups, partners or alone, and that sometimes their assignments or reading material would be different. There were a lot of nods, but no questions or comments. My hope is that the students will ultimately expect flexible groupings or different versions of an assignment as what happens in my room. My fear (or one of my fears, really) is that students will be comparing themselves or being frustrated/upset by being placed into a lower group.

      Next week promises to be cooler (hooray!) and more challenging as I delve deeper into the curriculum.