Curriculum and Instruction

The Vehicle for Addressing Student Needs

IMPORTANT, FOCUSED, ENGAGING,

DEMANDING, SCAFFOLDED 

Curriculum that is important will help students know what we study:

• Is essential to the structure of the discipline

• Provides a road map toward expertise in the discipline
• Is essential to building understanding in the discipline
• Balances knowledge, understanding, and skill

Curriculum and instruction that are focused will cause students to understand that whatever we do in class:

• Is unambiguously aligned with stated, essential learning goals
• Is designed to get us where we need to go
• Both the teacher and students know why we are doing what we are doing
• Both the teacher and the students know how the parts of the work contribute to a bigger picture of knowledge, understanding, and skill

Curriculum and instruction that are engaging will help students come to understand that:

• They will most often find meaning in the work
• They will most often find the work intriguing
• They see themselves and their world in the work
• They see value to others in the work
• They find that the work provokes their curiosity
• They find themselves absorbed by the work

Curriculum and instruction that are demanding include the following:

• Guide students in working and thinking like experts
• Place the level of difficulty of work just beyond the reach of the learner
• Make student growth nonnegotiable
• Establish high standards for work and behavior
• Eliminate “loose” time

Curriculum and instruction that are scaffolded include the following:

• The teacher teaches for success
• Criteria for success are clear to students
• Criteria for classroom operation and student behavior are clear to students
• Varied materials support growth of a range of learners
• Varied modes of teaching support a variety of learners
• Varied avenues to learning support a variety of learners
• Small and large group instruction focuses on varied learner needs
• Varied peer support mechanisms are consistently available
• The teacher uses modeling organizers, and other strategies to point out success

The Cogs of Differentiation

Now that I have read and learned about the three cogs to differentiation; what the students seeks, the response of the teacher, and curriculum and instruction, the vehicle to learning, I see the need to incorporate all three elements. In order to differentiate in a classroom, it is vital to have all three cogs working simultaneously with one another. When both the students and teacher have a clear understanding of their responsibilities in the classroom, and where their needs are being met the teaching and instruction can have the attention in which it requires.