Learning Profiles and Multiple Learner Variances Essay

Differentiating According to Learning Profile and Multiple Learner Variances At the beginning of the school year, I suggested to the grade 6 teachers that we do a learning style inventory of the students we teach. They jumped at the opportunity to get to know their students better and to be able to provide their students with the best learning experience and the opportunity to be successful. We discovered many types of learning styles among the students, many of them having a combination of learning styles. As such I have helped them to incorporate strategies that will help to differentiate according to the students learning styles. For visual learners, for example, we have incorporated visual displays such as charts, videos, and handouts. During lectures and discussions they are provided with graphic organizers to help them organize the information. Dr. Tomlinson on the media video on Differentiating by Students Learning Profiles outlines that strategies offer choice to work alone, to work in an analytic way, to work in practical situations and to work in imaginative creative ways. Erica Mozzerall has incorporated most if not all of these strategies in the video on Classroom Demonstration. I thought that giving them the option to choose their own groupings was a good idea, she mentioned that by doing this they have unknowingly grouped themselves according to their own readiness level, she also allowed them to choose the question that they would consider to challenge them more; offering a choice also helps in differentiating according to their readiness levels. The rationale for differentiating according to multiple learning variances is that students need to be given the opportunity to learn and they should be doing so. This can be done through the implementation of differentiation strategies that take into account students learning profiles. In my lesson on students learning profiles, I will provide students with a variety options that will help address their learning styles. I am primarily a visual learner, therefore I tend to incorporate mainly visuals in my lesson, , my task is now to incorporate other strategies that will cater to the other learning styles within the class, which will take me out of my comfort zone however I am open to implementing other strategies that will help students be successful. References Laureate Inc. (2012) Classroom Demonstration. Mozzarell, E. Laureate Inc. (2012) Differentiating by Student Learning Profile. Tomlinson, C. A. Suggested website from cohort member http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/101043/chapters/The-How-To’s-of-Planning-Lessons-Differentiated-by-Learning-Profile.aspx