In todays teaching the style of planning has changed drastically.

Instead of only looking

directly at curriculum, teachers are beginning to change their practices by looking at the needs of
the students as the driving force in education. Students have a variety of backgrounds which
results in various needs and skills that will require the opportunity to be developed within the
walls of the classroom. When I first started teaching I was allocated my grade and that was the
grade level and curriculum I taught. I no longer merely have a grade 6 classroom that requires
me to plan following just the curriculum. I now know that I need to accommodate for all
learners and support all learning needs and styles; this requires additional planning and is
something that must to be developed within my plans.
My classroom is diverse group of 28 students who learn in a variety of different ways.
They represent many different cultures and learning levels. I have 9 students new to Canada
from Ghana, Nigeria, Italy, Philippines, Ireland, China, Vietnam and Croatia. I need to plan to
meet the learning needs of each ELL students and balance it in a way to help support them in
learning English, helping them to feel confident and to be culturally aware and supportive. In
my plans I include time for these students to teach us their languages and share with us their
culture. I currently also teach 12 FNMI students for the Kainai Blood Tribe. For these students,
I want to include in my planning ways to encourage the heart of these students and have them
attend school regularly and to develop a love for learning. Included in my planning are elements
of their culture to make them feel proud and accepted. I want to be culturally sensitive to our
Aboriginal peoples history and this needs to be included in my planning in order for it not to be
neglected.
Diversity in learning levels is another reality in planning that takes place in my
classroom; I have a number of students who require additional support, time and understanding
to learn. I have 9 students that are on individual programs to support their learning disability as
well as a number of students are delayed in learning due to not attending school regularly. I need
to go back to basic skills of reading, writing, addition and subtraction for some of my students;
this type of differentiated instruction needs to be occurring and included in my planning practices
in order for there to be success. All of this additional planning goes surpasses preparation for the
grade 6 curriculum and really focusing on adifferentiated learning and supporting the individual
student.
I also plan to give students Voice and Choice and variety in my teaching and
instruction. I want them to have ability to choose what they are learning, when and how they
learn. I want students to develop the self-motivation to have choice during the day and to work
independently and collaboratively on projects that interest them. When given a choice, I want the
students to be prepared in order to know how to use this time and space effectively. In order to
be successful, Voice and Choice learning needs to be planned for and incorporated into the
learning day.

My administrative team and school district are very supportive in planning for the needs
of all learners. We are currently in the process of developing a common assessment for math and
ELA to help determine where are students are functioning to help guide our planning and
practices. They are open to giving students Voice and Choice and want to see us plan and
instruct in a different way. I feel that the more support that we receive in the classroom and the
awareness that diversity of learners needs to be taken into consideration, this would make a
difference in our planning and instructional practices.