I have so much information to share about the non-categorical resource model implemented at my school this year. There have been many highs and lows. Some days, I worry that we are not providing the level of support our colleagues need to differentiate instruction in an engaging and meaningful way for our students. Our primary goal this year was to join colleagues in the classroom and support them by creating a combination of teacher directed, teacher selected activities, as well as learner centered, and learner selected activities.
One thing I do know is that it all begins with a great leader. I am very lucky this year to be in a school where our leader cares about each and every student. Within the last month, she has challenged us on our beliefs about differentiated instruction and teaching in an all-girls school. She asked us to think about differentiation not as a curriculum but as a way of thinking about teaching and learning. As Carol Ann Tomlinson says, "differentiated learning is just good teaching." At our all girls school, we are challenged to think about what we want the girls to know, understand, and be able to do? In addition, we are also challenged to think about how the girls benefit from learning in an all girls environment. What are we doing instructionally to get our girls to achieve their goals as well as the prescribed learning outcomes? How are our girls showing what they know? Do our girls persevere and know what to do when things get tough? Are they flexible in their thinking? Can they work successfully with others who learn and understand differently from them? Most importantly, how is the learning engaging for our students?
All of our girls spend most of the day with their peers in the regular classroom. We know that our students differ in so many ways... from interest and learning profiles, to ability levels, medical needs, talents, gifts, learning styles, etc. It makes sense for our resource team to work collaboratively with our colleagues. We have begun to see some beginning successes:
1. We have documented increased academic learning and can show how we are trying to make the curriculum accessible to many of our identified students.
2. We see the girls continuing to develop increased confidence and willingness to take risks and persevere when things get tough
3. We are teaching girls with identified needs the skills they need to become good self-advocates at any age
3. We get to observe how the girls think, learn, and create in different ways -- it is truly wonderful to see and is most natural when they get to learn together.
In my next blog I hope to share student examples from Kindergarten to Grade 12. I would love feedback and see if there are other resource teachers who are trying a similar model.
