DIVERSE LEARNERS

I am lucky to have many opportunities to work with diverse learners in my class. Differentiation is a key part in teaching today and I have had the chance to cater to each child's individual need so far this school year. I have a child in my class with Autism, a child that struggles with motivation, and many different abilities in reading. It is important to keep in mind how you can differentiate for your diverse learners but still keep your other students engaged. My student that has Autism gets really excited about dinosaurs and dragons, I have tried to bring resources into the class that relate to the lesson at hand but keep him interested. This seems to be the only way to get him to stay engaged and focused on the task at hand. He also loves to draw so I try to include drawing in as many lessons as possible without turning my class into the art room.

My student that struggles with motivation has problems getting on task and completing anything at the same pace as most of the students. We have given him a silent clock to help him gage his time and also have worked with his mother to create a binder with pictures that help him when it comes to brainstorming for writing. This is something that really keeps him motivated, and we try to always hold him accountable and give constant praise. It is important to learn about your diverse learners and really figure out what makes them tick. Usually it just takes a little digging to figure out what might help them in a different way than other students.