Monday, February 4, 2019

February 4, 2019



When you walk into a good preschool classroom, you will see varied learning areas; a variety of opportunities for students to explore their developing skills playfully. Youwill see materials that have more than one way to be used and children who are engaged with these materials. Most importantly you will see a teacher playing with her students. What you may not see but is present in a good preschool classroom is a teacher carefully selecting the materials, to fit the students’ specific developmental levels. You may not see that when that teacher is playing, he is shifting how he speaks, what questions he asks, and how he models using the materials based on the child using it. This is differentiation in preschool.


Differentiation means adjusting or changing the lesson and its goals based on the specific needs of the learner. In a playful preschool environment, differentiation is subtle and takes some practice to do well, but once you get in the habit, it’s second nature.
                               


WHY DIFFERENTIATE?
“…just because there is a predictable pattern to growth, and a predictable season for blooming, doesn’t mean that every flower on the plant will bloom on the same day.  Each flower opens at its own rate within the growing season.  For a flower, the season for blooming may be a matter of weeks or months.  In child development, some seasons may even last a few years.” – Amanda Morgan Not Just Cute

Children are simply not ready for the same things at the same time. As preschool teachers, we should be meeting our students where they are at with an eye to the next stage. Our job is to be thinking of how we can support, not force them to get there. In any preschool class no matter what school, geographic area, or socioeconomic class you will find a wide range of abilities, this is normal. Differentiation allows you to provide a rich experience for all your students.

Differentiation may seem like a lot of work, but it makes your job easier, I promise. When the materials and activities are differentiated, they fit your students’ needs. And that fit equals better engagement, less frustration, and less boredom. You can probably guess what this means… WAY better behavior, giving you as a teacher more time to focus on connecting with the students through play.

Enjoy,
Ms. Nora Sierra
EC Assistant Principal
Discovery School