According to the Differentiated Instruction Educator’s Guide, “Effective differentiated instruction requires that educators take thoughtful and deliberate actions to address the particular needs of students. Differentiated instruction allows us to see learning from a variety of perspectives and provides countless, unexpected teachable moments that we may otherwise miss. “ (p.1) As a 21st Century Mathematics teacher, it is essential to engage and empower all students by providing a creative and positive math environment that promotes a growth mindset. An empowering math teacher knows her students, and provides differentiated instruction that enables learning for all students. Her math classroom must include a stimulating problem-based program and a balance of shared, guided and independent learning opportunities that build a community of learners, (Mathematical Profile, DDSB, p.1) as well as respecting the diversity of each student. Not only is it possible to do this in a regular classroom, but it is necessary: our students are becoming a more diverse group every year and as teachers, we must be ready to respond to these changes in order to make our classrooms inviting and engaging for every student.
One way to empower our students, regardless of their current ability or achievement in mathematics, is to foster a classroom-wide focus on “growth mindset”. This means that teachers are encouraging students to see their mathematics achievement as fluid, not fixed, and to view their intelligence as something that is constantly evolving as they learn and pick up new understandings. Carol Dweck writes, that “when students and educators have a growth mindset, they understand that intelligence can be developed. Students focus on improvement instead of worrying about how smart they are. They work hard to learn more and get smarter.” (www.mindsetworks.com). In the session 2, part 4 video lecture of her Stanford Online course, “How to Learn Math” for teachers, Jo Boaler explains that “there are serious implications of mindset work for equity,” and that when faced with racial or gender stereotyping that could affect achievement, students who had a growth mindset, rather than fixed, were able to persevere through the challenges. The implication here for the classroom teacher is that if we can focus our efforts on developing a growth mindset with our students then they will have a higher chance of success in the future, regardless of the learning environment. Recently, I began teaching my students about “changing their mindsets” towards learning and math. We created a wall titled “Change your Words, Change your Mindset” that encourages students to replace thoughts like “I can’t do Math” with “I’m training my brain to solve Math problems”. The culture in our classroom has changed over the course of the year as we have really instilled this idea through our math programming. Collaboration with teaching partners and numeracy coaches have also been a fundamental key to success in planning with “growth mindset” considered. To me, this is an integral part of creating an inclusive environment.
Making math accessible is a key component to creating an inclusive environment. This entails a high quality math program for all students, which includes problem-based learning, and 3-part lesson style delivery that activates prior knowledge and empowers students by allowing them opportunities to work at their own level within the parameters of the curriculum concepts. (Making Mathematics Accessible for All Students Webcast) In this webcast, expert Marian Small explains that positive attitude is critical, and is encouraged by teachers who focus on the understandings, communicate using precise language, provide engaging tasks and hold high expectations of their students. While we are working through curriculum expectations and creating tasks for students, the differentiation must be built in through parallel tasks and open-ended questions that allow multiple entry points. “Honouring children’s starting points enables educators to build on students’ mathematical knowledge with an inquiry-based approach, developing purposeful and meaningful mathematical experiences in the classroom.” (Capacity Building Series, Special Edition #22). Students feel successful because they are able to work on a problem with their peers and come up with a viable answer.
Differentiation in mathematics keeps the focus on the big ideas, and has a focus on assessment for learning. Diagnostics assist teachers in creating a program that has personalized direction for all students. Differentiation involves an aspect of choice for the student: “in terms of the details of the learning task, the ways the task can be carried out and how the task is assessed.” (CBS, S.E. #22) The most important aspect of diversity is meeting students where they are academically. “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.” (Carol Ann Tomlinson, 1999) Resources such as Leaps & Bounds, from Marian Small, can provide a starting point for teachers to plan for differentiated instruction that includes small groups, guided math and targeted practice for key concepts. While we can continue to adjust our teaching to include diverse topics that encompass our students’ cultural and socio-economic backgrounds, and other topics that teach students about the environment or, especially in Ontario: Aboriginal values, the most critical thing is that each student feels confident in accessing the learning.
Our greatest challenge as teachers is to provide accessible programming for every student. I believe that with mindful planning and attention to inclusion that combines the curriculum concepts with cultural, social, and ecological topics and differentiated instruction, we can provide an engaging classroom that empowers our students to believe that they can learn.
One way to empower our students, regardless of their current ability or achievement in mathematics, is to foster a classroom-wide focus on “growth mindset”. This means that teachers are encouraging students to see their mathematics achievement as fluid, not fixed, and to view their intelligence as something that is constantly evolving as they learn and pick up new understandings. Carol Dweck writes, that “when students and educators have a growth mindset, they understand that intelligence can be developed. Students focus on improvement instead of worrying about how smart they are. They work hard to learn more and get smarter.” (www.mindsetworks.com). In the session 2, part 4 video lecture of her Stanford Online course, “How to Learn Math” for teachers, Jo Boaler explains that “there are serious implications of mindset work for equity,” and that when faced with racial or gender stereotyping that could affect achievement, students who had a growth mindset, rather than fixed, were able to persevere through the challenges. The implication here for the classroom teacher is that if we can focus our efforts on developing a growth mindset with our students then they will have a higher chance of success in the future, regardless of the learning environment. Recently, I began teaching my students about “changing their mindsets” towards learning and math. We created a wall titled “Change your Words, Change your Mindset” that encourages students to replace thoughts like “I can’t do Math” with “I’m training my brain to solve Math problems”. The culture in our classroom has changed over the course of the year as we have really instilled this idea through our math programming. Collaboration with teaching partners and numeracy coaches have also been a fundamental key to success in planning with “growth mindset” considered. To me, this is an integral part of creating an inclusive environment.
Making math accessible is a key component to creating an inclusive environment. This entails a high quality math program for all students, which includes problem-based learning, and 3-part lesson style delivery that activates prior knowledge and empowers students by allowing them opportunities to work at their own level within the parameters of the curriculum concepts. (Making Mathematics Accessible for All Students Webcast) In this webcast, expert Marian Small explains that positive attitude is critical, and is encouraged by teachers who focus on the understandings, communicate using precise language, provide engaging tasks and hold high expectations of their students. While we are working through curriculum expectations and creating tasks for students, the differentiation must be built in through parallel tasks and open-ended questions that allow multiple entry points. “Honouring children’s starting points enables educators to build on students’ mathematical knowledge with an inquiry-based approach, developing purposeful and meaningful mathematical experiences in the classroom.” (Capacity Building Series, Special Edition #22). Students feel successful because they are able to work on a problem with their peers and come up with a viable answer.
Differentiation in mathematics keeps the focus on the big ideas, and has a focus on assessment for learning. Diagnostics assist teachers in creating a program that has personalized direction for all students. Differentiation involves an aspect of choice for the student: “in terms of the details of the learning task, the ways the task can be carried out and how the task is assessed.” (CBS, S.E. #22) The most important aspect of diversity is meeting students where they are academically. “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.” (Carol Ann Tomlinson, 1999) Resources such as Leaps & Bounds, from Marian Small, can provide a starting point for teachers to plan for differentiated instruction that includes small groups, guided math and targeted practice for key concepts. While we can continue to adjust our teaching to include diverse topics that encompass our students’ cultural and socio-economic backgrounds, and other topics that teach students about the environment or, especially in Ontario: Aboriginal values, the most critical thing is that each student feels confident in accessing the learning.
Our greatest challenge as teachers is to provide accessible programming for every student. I believe that with mindful planning and attention to inclusion that combines the curriculum concepts with cultural, social, and ecological topics and differentiated instruction, we can provide an engaging classroom that empowers our students to believe that they can learn.