Module 5: Professional Learning Community
- kawaljit3
- Nov 6, 2023
- 4 min read
Updated: Nov 16, 2023
Goal: Using school wide data to accomplish differentiated instruction in senior math classes for greater learning outcomes.
Learning Needs: Students in all classes differ in many ways. The purpose of differentiated instruction is to engage students of different needs in instruction and learning in classroom. By gathering data using assessment, teacher can understand students’ mathematical learning needs and can modify the instructions/strategies to cater those needs.
Four “A”s:
Assumptions: Asking questions wisely to the students and talking to student’s parents can help teachers understand the learning needs of their students
What do you agree with? Knowing students emotional and learning needs using assessments and data, are keys for differentiated instructions.
What do you want to argue? In a big classroom setting, is it possible for the teacher to identify the needs of all the students, to know where to begin and then differentiating instructions as per their needs.
What do you aspire to? Developing a community that respects diversity and creating a Learning Environment that cater the needs of diverse group of students.
Resources:
Resource 1: Differentiated Mathematics Instruction
The resource is a part of Capacity building series and explains various strategies that can be helpful in differentiated instruction in math.
Resource 2: Consideration for Program Planning
This resource is part of Ontario Ministry policy about curriculum and resources and this talks about various instructional strategies.
Resource 3: Differentiated and Personalized Instruction
https://www.theprincipalsplaybook.com/instructional-leadership/differentiation-personalized-learning
This resource is based on the research of Dr. Carol Ann Tomlinson's "The Differentiated Classroom", Dr. Howard Gardner's "Multiple Intelligences Theory, and Vygotsky's "Zone of Proximal Development"
Resource 4: The Five Dimensions of Differentiation
Differentiated instruction is based on modification of four elements: content, process, product and learning environment. This resource explains about these 4 elements.
Resource 5: Differentiated Instruction: 7 Key Principles and How -Tos
This resource has quick tips for differentiated instruction.
Resource 6: Key Elements of Differentiated Instructions
As per this resources, five dimensions of content, process, products, classroom organization and management, and the teacher’s own commitment to differentiate into a learner as well as a teacher provides a method to differentiate instruction.
Resource 7: 5 Ways to Differentiate instructions
This resource discusses about 5 ways that can be used as differentiated instructions for successful learning experience.
Teacher Collaboration
Teacher collaboration not only creates an enriching and effective learning environment for the students but also promotes sense of community among educators.
For me, a very first collaboration always happens during PD days before the start of semester when teachers of previous semester discuss about the strengths and weakness of the students as well as the strategies which worked for them. The feedback gives teachers opportunity to roughly plan their lessons and assessments using differentiated instructions and differentiated assessment. During this meeting, we also work on course plan by backward design where subject teachers of same year as well as teachers of different years participate.
During semester, teachers of same subject and year group as well as teachers of different subjects collaborate for horizontal and vertical alignment. I always collaborate with the special education department to get updates on IEPs which are at developing stage. These meetings are official or casual based on the necessity of the situation. In Formal and informal discussions, we share resources, teaching methodologies, strategies and also align curriculum and expectations. These help me to support my struggling students, getting red flags beforehand, tailoring my lessons based on students’ needs, finding solutions as a group and building supportive environment within school community where teachers and students both feel supported.
Teaching Practices in Senior Math Classroom
Pin Heading | Annotation |
Talking Inquiry Learning Goal and Success Criteria | Effective teaching of math establishes clear goals for what students are learning. It is detailed, related to topic, in student friendly language and should fit in learning progression. |
Designing an Inclusive Math Space | Designing an inclusive math space and culturally responsive environment is an effective teaching practice for math classrooms. |
How To Promote Flexible Thinking and Risk Taking In Math Class | Promoting flexible thinking by asking high level math questions makes students risk takers. |
10+ Ways To Use Technology In Math | Incorporating technology tools, educational apps, simulations and online platforms to reinforce mathematical co Promoting flexible thinking by asking high level math questions makes students risk takers. |
100 Questions That Promote Mathematical Discourse | Asking purposeful questions to assess and advance student reasoning about mathematical concepts and ideas is another effective practice. |
8 Teaching Habits That Block Productive Struggle In Math Students | Effective teaching of mathematics includes giving multiple opportunities to students and engaging them in productive struggle. |
Bloom’s Taxonomy Verbs for Critical Thinking | Teaching critical thinking is an important teaching practice. It promotes mathematical reasoning and problem solving using varied solution strategies. |
Giving Meaningful Feedback | Meaningful, descriptive and timely feedback is one of the effective practice. It gives student opportunity to learn from their mistakes and also give teacher opportunity to adjust the lesson as per student needs. |
Assessment FOR Learning | Formative assessments are more critical than summative assessments. It provides better information about how students are doing and what needs to be improved. Formative assessments prepare students for summative assessments. |
Real Life Application | Relating mathematical concepts to real world applications is an effective teaching practice as it demonstrates practical relevance of senior math. |
Formative Assessment Tools | Some important formative tools are listed in this pin which are quick but provides information about students learning. |
50 Strategies For Differentiated Instruction | Differentiating instruction is another effective practice to tailor lesson as per the needs of the students. |
Reflection
In this module, we read an informative resource - Parents in Partnership which explains the support of parents contributes to the children learning at home and at school and also the strategies to remove barriers of parent involvement. The resource also shed information about how parent involvement affects students’ performance and their decisions in educational pathways.
This module also discussed the importance of being life-long learners. World is changing very fast and so do the teaching methods and strategies. Staying updated with the technology advancement related to math are necessary. I will keep myself updated with computational methods and new software tools that can enhance students’ learning experience in class. Reflecting on personal learning goals and maintaining a proactive approach to learning are crucial for life-long learners.
PLC was a new concept for me. PLC is student centred and is a collaborative process. Creating and executing PLC at school wide platform is hard but achievable and the effort is worth trying.
Thank You Note
I want to express my gratitude for your support and all the help you provided me throughout the course. Your choice of the topics, valuable resources, interactive and challenging activities created a positive and engaging learning environment. Well-organized tasks with clear explanation of expectations enhanced my learning experience. Encouraging us to incorporate technology in our teaching practices made learning more interactive. I actually learned so many new strategies, educational policies, best practices and interactive platforms like Canva, Pinterest, Google drawings etc. which I will certainly include in my classroom.
I truly appreciate your professionalism, constructive feedback, invaluable insights and dedication throughout the course. Working with you was an incredibly positive experience and I really enjoyed it.
Thank you for being a source of inspiration, knowledge and support.
Hopefully our paths will cross again at some point and would love to meet you in person.
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