Running Head: STUDENT-CENTERED AND DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION

STUDENT-CENTERED AND DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION

Student-Centered and Differentiated Instruction

Olivia Martin
Regent University

In partial fulfillment of UED 496 Field Experience ePortfolio, Spring 2015

STUDENT-CENTERED AND DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION

Introduction
In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, Paul discussed the importance of the different gifts given to
the body of Christ. He explained that one body has feet, hands, ears, eyes, etc. the body of
Christ, similarly, has people gifted in different ways that create a complete and effective
extension of Christ in the world today. What does this have to do with the classroom and
differentiated instruction? Everything! The students in todays classrooms all are gifted in
different ways. Their brains are wired differently, and they are impacted more efficiently when
teachers can scaffold instruction directly to their learning styles and comprehension levels.
Teachers do not exist to hear themselves talk and write on a white board and hope that somehow
the students absorb the knowledge. Teachers must focus their instruction on the learners and
differentiate accorder to their needs and gifts.
Rationale for Selection of Artifacts
During my first week of instruction at Rosemont Elementary, I was tasked with teaching
the math principle of making change. After a day of whole group instruction, including a preassessment, the next days were made up of guided math groups. These groups are created by
analyzing the pre-assessments and formatively assessing students in the first day of instruction
and grouping them together according to their level of understanding the math concept. The two
artifacts above are examples of two methods of differentiation within the same unit. These two
artifacts hit multiple learning styles and accomplished tiered instruction. Students completed
hands on activities, took part in visual presentations and were a part of whole group discussion
and instruction. The problems and instruction targeted each level of understanding and were
planned with the students in mind.

STUDENT-CENTERED AND DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION

The first artifact is a lesson plan that explains the tiered instruction given to the students
at each level of learning during guided math. The groups rotated through sitting with me at the
guided math center, doing remediation through a worksheet and iPad math games at their desks,
and at a hands-on station: MathDonalds. While at the table with me, students were given direct
instruction review the procedure and practicing the concept of making change. The lowest group
still needed help using the formula, identifying key words in the question, walking through the
process and building those parts together to solve the problem. This was done using single step,
up to one dollar equations. The next two groups fell between novice and mastery instructional
levels. They briefly reviewed the process and went through many guided practice problems. The
third group, the highest level of understanding, briefly reviewed the single-step concept and then
their time was used to extend instruction by introducing multi-step equations.
The second artifact above is a few pictures of the students at the hands-on remediation
center for the unit on making change. MathDonalds allowed students to participate in both the
roll of customer and cashier. The customer had to order an item, and while waiting for the
cashier to give them the correct change, had to solve the problem themselves to check the
cashiers answer. The students were able to use play money and their slates for computation.
This center was modified for every group that passed through. The lowest group chose one item
to purchase, the item was under two dollars and they worked in pairs. The middle groups could
purchase one item that cost up to five dollars, but they worked in groups. The highest group
began with buying one item that could cost up to five dollars and worked individually, but they
could move on to multistep problems after practicing a few times with single-step problems.

STUDENT-CENTERED AND DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION

Reflection on Theory and Practice

Since beginning courses at Regent University, it has been made clear that the job of an
educator is to meet the needs of the students, in their learning styles and instructional needs.
Differentiated instruction is a teacher really trying to address students particular readiness
needs, their particular interests, and their preferred ways of learning (Rebora, 2008).
Differentiated and student-centered instruction is very purposeful and makes learning meaningful
to the students. It is not just worksheets or trying things at random. My instructors have
encouraged me to really take the students into account as I plan my lessons. Throughout my
courses, the various methods of differentiated instruction were discussed and modeled by my
professors. This greatly helped me to begin thinking outside of the box when it came to
preparing my own lesson plans. In classes, we discussed the importance of differentiation and
brainstormed different ways to incorporate it into every area of our lessons. This concept of
differentiated instruction deals with the issue of students various needs by keeping kids
together in the context of high-quality curriculum but attending to their readiness needs, their
interests, and their preferred ways of learning (Rebora, 2008). Through my studies, I have
learned that differentiated instruction is the most responsible method of teaching because it
focusses on what the students need to succeed and giving them the tools to do so.

STUDENT-CENTERED AND DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION

References
Powell, S. D. (2012). Your introduction to education: Exploration in teaching. (2nd ed.) Boston:
Pearson Education Inc.
Rebora, A. (2008). Making a difference. Education Week, 2(1), 28-31.