Brittney Sawyer Competency A: Student Centered Instruction Regent University September 28, 20 !

Rationale: As I "ave studied in Regent University#s $%ementary $ducation program, it "as become more and more c%ear to me t"at students in today#s c%assrooms need a variety o& instructiona% tec"ni'ues( )o two c"i%dren %earn in e*act%y t"e same way, t"ere&ore it is necessary &or teac"ers to &inds strategies to "e%p t"em %earn in ways t"at are best &or t"em( +"is is especia%%y true i& a teac"er is wor,ing in an inc%usion c%assroom( It is "ere t"at di&&erentiation p%ays a critica% ro%e in t"e c%assroom instruction( -or my &irst student teac"ing p%acement, I "ave been wor,ing wit" a &ourt" grade inc%usion c%assroom( In t"is c%ass t"e ma.ority o& t"e students "ave specia% education needs and I$/s w"ic" means t"at t"ey need di&&erentiated instruction w"enever possib%e( 0owever, t"e c%ass sc"edu%e is so tig"t t"at t"e on%y time t"ey are ab%e to receive individua% instruction is during t"e guided reading time, w"ere every student is separated into t"e group t"at best meets "is1"er reading needs( +"us t"e c%assroom teac"er and I "ave been wor,ing toget"er to come up wit" ways to incorporate mu%tip%e %earning met"ods into t"e w"o%e group instruction &or mat", science, and socia% studies( 2ne %esson I was ab%e to do t"is wit" was in mat" teac"ing t"e students "ow to determine i& a number is odd or even( +"ere were two met"ods I taug"t t"e ,ids to use to &igure t"is out( -irst was t"at i& t"e number ended in 0, 2, 3, 4, or 8, t"en it was even( 0owever, t"e met"od I emp"asi5ed and spent t"e most time wor,ing wit" t"e ,ids on was grouping( I& a number is even t"en you can sp%it it up into even groups, but i& it is odd it eit"er cannot be sp%it into even groups or i& it is t"en t"ere wi%% be one %e&t as a remainder( -or e*amp%e, t"e number eig"t can be sp%it into two groups o& &our or &our groups o& two( 0owever, &ive wi%% "ave one group o& t"ree and one o& two, or i& it is sp%it into groups o&

two t"en it wi%% "ave one %e&t over( I too, two days to teac" t"is strategy to t"e students( -or t"e &irst day I "anded out notes on t"e grouping met"od to read over wit" t"e students( +"is not on%y provided t"em wit" materia% t"ey cou%d re&erence %ater i& t"ey "ad 'uestions, but it "e%ped t"ose w"o are ora% %earners( A&ter t"at I wor,ed out a &ew e*amp%es on t"e board to "e%p t"em %earn it visua%%y( +"e ne*t day I reviewed t"e grouping met"od by doing a &ew more e*amp%es on t"e board( A&ter t"at I incorporated a ,inest"etic activity using S,itt%es( I gave eac" student a 6ip%oc bag containing a di&&erent number o& S,itt%es( 2nce I "ad &inis"ed passing t"em out, I instructed t"e students t"at t"ey were to count t"e number o& S,itt%es in t"eir bag( +"ey were t"en to e*p%ain to me w"et"er t"ey "ad an odd or even number o& S,itt%es by using t"e grouping met"od and writing down t"eir answer on t"eir s%ates( A&ter t"ey were done I wa%,ed around to c"ec, t"eir answers( I &ound t"at t"is activity wor,ed great &or t"e students, especia%%y t"ose w"o "ad specia% education needs( By being ab%e to p"ysica%%y manipu%ate t"e S,itt%es it "e%ped so%idi&y t"e concept o& grouping in t"eir minds(