Differentiated instruction in student learning environments

¶ … differentiated instruction necessary in the math class?

The reasoning behind endeavoring to find different behaviors for the math classroom education is to address the individual difficulties to learn math and differentiate the math learning disorders such as discalculia. Dyscalculia (i.e., mathematical blindness) is a specific learning disability in comprehending mathematics. The disorder could be classified as; (1) developmental dyscalculia (DD), generally described as a disorder in mathematical abilities, presumed to be due to a speci-c impairment in brain function or inherited from the family, (2) post lesion dyscalculia, caused by brain damage and head injury, (3) Pseudo-dyscalculia, environmentally caused mathematical inabilities for example uncomforting environment, having been instructed incorrectly. Most of the children and adults suffering from DD have normal social functions and abilities to deal with other subjects and succeed in the life. For example, Einstein had early difficulties with arithmetic. Benjamin Franklin passed all the subjects but mathematics during his early education (source www.dyscalculia.org). Samantha Abeel is a writer who graduated with honors from Mount Holyoke College. She described her inability to deal with daily simple acts as finding the directions to the classroom, remembering the locker room and the combinations of locker along with her inability to learn mathematics whereas she was a very sharp student in all other aspects. She also mentioned that the best intentions of the teachers and family members not to accept her disability caused her to suffer from anxiety attacks. The statistics showed that 93% of American school age population has been suffering from mathematical learning disabilities. Although the statistics show different values for the children suffering from dyscalculia because of the rarity of diagnosed cases the dyscalculia resources organization of U.S. (www.dyscalculia.org) reported that only 6% of children in U.S. suffer from true DD. Statistics suggest that 88% of the pupil population can be taught using differentiated instruction for individuals. For that reason the differentiated education is very important and an urging topic of American Education System.

Newman, R., M. (1998). The dyscalculia syndrome Master of Science thesis. Retrieved from http://www.dyscalculia.org/thesis.html

How can a teacher differentiate instruction?

To differentiate the instruction group specific or individually the teacher needs to observe the pupils. Although it differs from a teacher to the other there are certain ways to understand the differences between pupils while they are conducting to the mathematical problems.

Carol Ann Tomlinson (1999) addresses the answer for the question how can a teacher differentiate students pointing out "one size doesn't fit all." She highlights that although the grade level is defined by the age students are the individuals and it is very important to consider their readiness to learn, their interests, and their learning style. The school curriculum tells teachers what to teach but the differentiation by content, process, and student products provides the success of teaching. To improve the learning of pupils it is very important to make connections between the curriculum, the individual student's interests and previous learning experiences. In addition, the working groups should be flexible giving opportunities to the student to select different working groups for different topics. Latter would be provided by ongoing assessments and frequent observations.