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Synthesis - Heath Booth
Serving as an overview of [|differentiated instruction] chapter one in “Fair is not Always Equal” (Wormeli 2006) points out that we have been experiencing some portion of differentiated instruction for our entire education career. The basic idea is to do what’s fair for students, by providing students with the tools they need to succeed and these tools will vary from one student to the next. Differentiation should only be used on an as needed basis. This process does not make it easy for the student, rather gives them the tools needed to achieve at the same level as their classmates. In a differentiated classroom the teacher will be invested and share in the [|accountability]. = =

Shila Cook
This chapter was all about how to change instruction just a little bit to make each student get the most out of what they're learning. Wormeli gives examples like standing a little closer to a student so that they focus better, letting the student redo a test, or just grouping the chairs closer. These are little changes that most teachers do not really think about, they just do them because it is a natural thing that many of them do. In the very end of the chapter Haim Ginott says "I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom." This is the major thing that I took from this chapter. As a teacher I am the person that decides who succeeds to a certain degree, and how I use differentiated instruction could make all the difference.

Olivia Wandelear
This chapter solidifies the importance and value of differentiated instruction. Teachers must be fair to their students and provide them with choices and options in their instruction. I learned that differentiated does not necessarily mean individualized, but sometimes, there will be cases where the teacher must create personalized instruction for specific students. As a teacher, I will need to realize the balanced responsibilities of the instructor and the learners. A teacher who completely blames her students for performing poorly or missing the point of the lessons fails to be successful. However, a teacher who believes she is the most important member of a classroom is also wrong. Students are the people whom the government, communities, superintendents, and parents care about, because it is their learning shapes the rest of the world. Yes, teachers have the power to influence and facilitate this learning, and therefore must provide the best environment for this to take place, but student success is truly what is important.

Dylan Stefani
This chapter focused primarily on differentiated instructions. Basically recalling all the information that we have already read in UBD/DI, it still opened my mind to what we as teachers need to do for our students. It is one thing to help a student if he/she is having trouble with something, but to amplify the way one teaches in a way that all the students can understand and master the information on their own it is much more efficient. Students come to every class with the one tool that they need… their brains! Each is different in many ways. Some need visuals and others need lectures. A teacher is there to be the transmitter of information and every student has their own station (brain) that receives different information. The key to success is to be open to all forms of teaching so that when college or the real world comes, then you are prepared to take on the information presented.

Kay Sue Collins
This chapter gives a rationale for using differentiation and stresses the fact that it is not a new concept. Differentiation has always been used by the best teachers. Even the military uses differentiation in how it teaches the skills needed to be successful there. Differentiation is fair because it levels the playing field for students based on their learning styles the same way glasses do for vision. Even if the patterns are not continued in later grades or in college, it makes students more successful because the students understand their own learning strengths and are able to supply these for themselves. In addition, the increased understanding of the subject matter helps them with future learning that depends on the prior learning. This chapter really helped me understand more about how differentiation works and how it fits into a workable curriculum.

Courtney Burns
This chapter lays the frame work for the idea behind differentiated instruction, pointing out that while this type of instruction does provide support and scaffolding it is not in a negative manner that some presume it to be. Differentiated instruction is all about making education fair for all students, focusing on their strengths, rather than their weaknesses, in order to help them achieve goals. With this type of instruction all of students understand that they are at different levels of the learning process, however, because they understand that they all learn differently it doesn’t bother them. Instead students invest more energy in developing strategies and skills that help them learn best. My role as the teacher will be to know my students well enough to develop scaffolding techniques that will help them learn in ways that are best for them.

Dan Horne
 This chapters main focus was on the importance of differentiated instruction in the classroom. It talks about just making a varied lesson with different components to allow all the students a chance to learn equally. It also talks about some strategies to help students focus and do better in class. My favorite one was allowing students to re-take tests and quizzes because it allows them to see there mistakes and instead of being penalized for them allowed to learn from them and correct them so there overall grade does not suffer. While I was in the high school I suggested to my mentor to allow the students to correct their tests and quizzes to earn back half the points they lost so they could better understand the material, and better their grades at the same time. It showed when they took another quiz and the first time grades significantly improved for the entire class.

Erika Tingley
Differentiated teaching is all about giving students the tools they need to learn effectively. What stood out to me in this chapter was the way of thinking that it is what the students learn that matters and not what or how we teach. I understand this approach, but I am going to have to change my mindset in order to use it. As a teacher, I am going to need to look for ways to lead my students that they may become competent in their understanding of the subject matter. When I use this method my students should be more equipped to handle both differentiated and non-differentiated instruction, because they will be given the tools to learn.

Andy Shorey
Chapter one of Fair isn't always equal discusses differentiated instruction and how it is important in the classroom. It explains that differentiated instruction is doing something that is fair for the student. You should use differentiated instruction to give students ways to understand and complete tasks that are undifferentiated. However differentiated instruction does not mean that we make things easier for the student. Teachers should challenge the student but should make the instruction so that they can learn all the concepts that they need to learn in the unit. Even things in the real world are differentiated so for the people who say that differentiated instruction is wrong the book gives us examples as to how they are wrong. I think that I would use differentiated instruction in the classroom it can be as easy as just handing out scrap paper or being clear as to what a problem is asking.

Timothy Grivois
Chapter 1 discusses the overall parameters of a classroom utilizing differentiated instruction. The intricacies of the system are discussed with specific regard to how modern teachers can employ them. Perhaps the most important concept discussed is that differentiation of instruction creates a student-teacher dynamic based on focus; teachers are constantly looking to change styles and methods, keeping information they have discussed many times before fresh and relevant. Meanwhile, students of all different learning abilities and strengths are able to flourish and adapt because they are being afforded chances to succeed based on their proficiencies. Also, students with deficiencies in certain areas of learning or multiple intellects are forced to some degree to adapt to new methods. This will prepare them for situations later in life wherein there are no opportunities for differentiated instruction. Gradual introduction to this reality with the safety net of multiple chances to succeed will benefit all students. Differentiated instruction is not about making learning easier; it is about challenging students fairly to push them to thrive.

Josh
This chapter is an overview of what differentiated instruction means in a classroom. To summarize, it means providing the necessary accommodations to every student so they can learn. This chapter actually reminds the reader that by a classroom being a differentiated environment it is preparing a student better for the real world. In fact when the child moves on to his/her job they will be working in a differentiated manner. This is important to remember when I am teaching because it is not second nature for me yet. I find myself wondering if it is fair to do something for one student but not others. When I think about it I know that a teacher only provides what each student needs, they are not providing a cheat sheet to the information. It turns out that differentiating is not cheating for a student; in fact it is cheating a student out of an education if they do not receive differentiated instruction when needed.

Caitlin Alexander
Chapter one in the book //Fair Isn’t Always Equal// by Rick Wormeli is about differentiating instruction in the classrooms, and covers the importance of differentiated instruction. The author presents the idea that differentiated classes are fairer than undifferentiated classes because, although they provide extra opportunities for students who need more help, the help is offered with the hopes of helping the student understand the concepts offered to the level that the rest of the class understands them. The book presents the idea that differentiation is not hindering the students by creating a support system that will disappear in later years, but instead by preparing the students for those very classes by giving them the extra help that they need now. The author even presents the idea that undifferentiated classes create greater opportunity for failure, since the teachers present a black and white choice to the students, with no other alternative: fail or succeed. I think that by understanding about the advantages of differentiated instruction I might be better equipped to help my students, especially those who need exactly the type of scaffolding that the author is writing about. By offering this differentiated instruction for the students who are struggling in my subject area (social sciences), I might be able to not only help them grasp the concepts that were once difficult for them, but I might also be able to help them learn methods to improve their success in later years.

Kyle Rines
This chapter focuses on differentiated instruction and how it is used within the classroom. When I think of differentiated instruction I think of how I can alter my classroom and context to suit the needs of the class as a whole or to pertain to one student. Every student is different and each learns differently than the next. It is how the educator assesses each and adapts that makes the difference within the classroom. This effects me and my classroom by knowing that, especially in English, every student will write differently and read at another level than the last student. Incorporating my classroom context and activities around the skills of every student will be beneficial to myself as an educator and my student's education.

Tyler Brookings
Differentiated instruction in the classroom is the main topic of the first chapter of Fair Isn't Always Equal. The basic premise is that differentiating instruction not only helps your students learn better overall it makes the classroom a fair assessment rather than using undifferentiated instruction. The book suggests that by using differentiated instruction the student will be prepared for those later years when the support system in the classroom is not as strong, such as in a college classroom of 300 plus students. Using differentiated instruction is not even a question in my mind. Not only will it help me teach to the best of my abilities by using abstract teaching process it will allow the students better opportunities to learn from me.

Kasey Darnell
This chapter gave us more information about differentiated instruction, which we first learned about in UbD/DI. It gave several examples of a math class where the teacher practiced differentiation, and I found it helpful to have concrete examples of what that looks like. The teacher had alternate problems to work on, small group discussions about homework problems, and two students acting as assistants to others who were struggling. This was all going on simultaneously, and is a great example of what the differentiated classroom looks like. This model is something I will definitely try to use in my classroom. This chapter also touched upon the idea that some people may think differentiation means special treatment, or that students who get differentiated instruction have a ‘crutch’ to hold them up. Ultimately, differentiated instruction levels the playing field, and allows struggling students to obtain knowledge in their own way, and be successful in future classes as well. As an educator, I will try to provide differentiated instruction when it is needed and provide each student with the opportunity to succeed.

Ben Villeneuve
Chapter one of //Fair Isn’t Always Equal// serves to cement the concept of differentiated instruction in the reader’s head. It tells what it is, and gives examples. I like this, because it lets me see what differentiated instruction is all about not just in the context of my field experience, but also in other contexts. Reading this chapter helped me to understand that differentiated instruction doesn’t necessarily mean making something easier for a student; it just means adjusting the type of instruction so that it supplies a cognitively effective piece of learning. It doesn’t mean making work easier – it means making learning easier. This impacts my classroom immensely. Mr. Ryder has been giving me examples of differentiating instruction by being careful to always put across material in several different ways, and by always being receptive when a student approaches him when they have problems understanding. I will take these practices into account when I am in a classroom of my own.

Heath
The chapter addresses the concept that all students are individual and need different things to be successful. “The definition of differentiated instruction is doing what’s fair for students. “(pg. 3) Teachers must share in the responsibility for their student’s success. Support comes in many varieties and what works for one student may not mirror what the other students in our classes need. Our job is to determine what each and every student needs to be successful and do our best to provide it.