Assessing and Differentiating
Instruction Based on Student
Individual Differences
Analyzing Students' Individual Differences –
Differentiated Instruction
Individual Students' Learning Preferences
To determine the individual students' learning preferences, the teacher
would observe them and see how well they do with a variety of different
instructional techniques. The teacher does not want to label the students,
but instead prefers to teach each lesson in multiple ways. By observing the
students, the teacher can note how the majority of students learn and
identify how each of the others best learn, so that the teacher can
incorporate these methods into the instruction. However, the teacher will
not use these learning preferences solely, as the goal is to activate the
students' brains to learn in a variety of ways.
Intelligences
The teacher does not want to label the students, but believes it is beneficial
to understand the various intelligences in the classroom to better
comprehend the dynamics. The teacher would continue to teach in a
multitude of ways to engage the students' whole brain and encourage
growth across the intelligences. To measure the students' intelligence, the
teacher would observe their strengths and weaknesses in varying areas, and
provide opportunities for them to tell stories, write creatively, solve
problems, and work creatively.
Interests
The teacher plans to use the strategy of the "1-3 bags" on the first day of
school, as suggested in the article "Getting to Know Our Students: The
Heart of Differentiation in the Balanced Literacy Classroom" (Policastro et
al., 2019). The students will be asked to bring in three items that would tell
their classmates the most about them. The teacher will take pictures of the
students with their items and jot down notes about each student's special
interests.
Student Learning Profile
The student, Jillian, is an 8-year-old female in the 2nd grade. Her academic
background and current achievement levels are as follows:
Reading level: Above grade level (2.8 grade equivalent)•
