Differentiated Learning

While I have had experiences in every nearly every secondary grade level, I have found the middle school levels to be the area where my strengths truly shine. I feel I have a very special understanding of the middle school student as a scholar and a person. My rapport with my students (and their parents) over the years has been exceptional. I know how important it is for the students to feel important and accepted. I take every opportunity to tell them how unique and special they are. I believe if you hear good things about yourself enough, you will begin to believe them. Middle school students need to be reminded daily of how terrific they are to those around them.

Technology is integrated into daily lessons to prepare students for the ever-changing and expanding information superhighway. In addition to developing a variety of technological skills, students are provided the opportunity to gain mastery in IMC research by utilizing Infotrac, Internet, News Bank, as well as Readers Guide and Microfiche. Students are taught to select sources, determine which sources contain the most recent and accurate information, and eliminate the excess. Throughout lessons, students are asked to reflect on the thinking skills and process each of us use during activities that require analysis, decision making, synthesis, and assessment.

I also encourage and often require students to incorporate some form of technology into class projects and presentations.

For instance, a WWII interdisciplinary unit focusing on art, poems, literature, essays and articles written during the war, require students to create a Power Point presentation rather than a term paper.

There is a strong emphasis placed on state learning standards and new assessments in New Jersey schools. It was a requirement of all districts to build lessons and units around the standards and utilize rubrics and other forms of assessment provided in state manuals. It has become second nature to use the state standards as a basis for ALL of my lessons and units. I have crated a lesson plan format that includes references to the particular standard(s) that is/are the emphasized the lesson. I believe this to be very effective in preparing the students for the regents without feeling as though I am "teaching to the test." The standards provide a framework for a well-rounded and complete curriculum. I see no reason not to use them as a basis for lessons.

I have made it a point to thoroughly compare and contrast NJ and NY state standards and assessment to pinpoint the areas I need to make myself familiar with. To my advantage, the states have very similar standards and the rubrics and assessment styles are nearly identical. I will continue to read the material and update my knowledge on the NYS website.

Students are assessed through a myriad of written, oral, and comprehensive tasks. They become very familiar with a series of rubrics concurrent with state standards. Rubrics are used for self-evaluation, peer evaluation, as well as teacher-student evaluation. It is important for them to know exactly what is expected of them. By having copies of the writing rubric, students can check his/her writing against the rubric and identify their own mistakes.

Students will also keep a portfolio of writing pieces in order for them to assess their growth over the course of the year and target areas in need of improvement. They will also be involved in peer evaluations where they will learn through teaching and critiquing the writings of other students.

Students also create original rubrics designed for specific activities such as role play presentaions, cooperative activities, or skits. By creating their own criteria for success, they are learning to raise the expectations of the group and/or themselves

It is my belief that immediate feedback is crucial to learning. Immediate feedback and assessment intensifies the desire to identify errors made, create methods of correction, and share realizations and newfound knowledge. When a student applies knowledge and teaches others, we know learning has taken place.

In addition to teaching a section of English designed to enhance the reading and writing skills of (targeted) students with difficulties meeting the ELA standards, I make it a point to offer students opportunities to attend extra-help sessions during lunch as well as after school.

My experience in teaching classes with mainstreamed students has conditioned me to be able to reach the students, regardless of their abilities, on many different levels. I believe one of my strongest attributes is my ability to help students to understand, make connections, and become critical thinkers. When a student has