Teacher Candidate
MEETING DIVERSE NEEDS
CAP Element 3
CAP Element Decription
Uses appropriate practices, including tiered instruction and scaffolds, to accommodate differences in learning styles, needs, interests, and levels of readiness, including those of students with disabilities and English language learners.
Overview
I grew up in a suburban Connecticut town just a few minutes outside of Hartford. My high school population was mostly white, and especially in the honors classes I noticed fewer minority students. We had traditional class structures, with 8 periods a day, one period for each core class with some electives or a study hall. Worcester Tech looks completely different from my high school experience. Not only are the student populations wildly diverse, with most students bi- or multilingual and identifying with many ethnicities, but they have a very different school structure. Students also have a trade or vocation which they are passionate about. They have a variety of perspectives and focuses that are brought in to the classroom every day. Each student is a sum of their experiences, background, interests, and abilities, all of which make very different people. Each student thus requires different attention and support from a teacher.
Various Formats of Information
In my lessons, I included a variety of representations of new knowledge. When I presented notes, I would include clear text, visuals, and white board drawings of concepts. Many students responded well to visuals, especially videos. One of my biggest realizations as a biology teacher, and as a student taking biology courses, was that students can learn biology best when they can visualize a complex biological concept. Most of the biology units I covered in my practicum were at a microscopic level. I taught biochemistry, which includes information about carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins, and cell biology. All these things are difficult to visualize from traditional teaching techniques. Diverse learners need lessons with a variety of techniques to teach these seemingly abstract ideas. When teaching the cell and cell parts, I wanted students to immerse themselves into the cell’s perspective. I created lessons that would allow students to access information in various delivery methods. Take a look below at my class powerpoints to see the ways I encorporated visuals into my instruction.
Many of my students responded well to instructional games or activities too. This format of instruction feels less like instruction and more like fun, which was one of my goals the entire time teaching. A common game we played in my classroom was Kahoot, which is a platform to create competitive quick quizzes where students compete against each other anonymously. Another successful game was the headband vocabulary practice game I played in my class. Take a look below for more details.
Headband Vocabulary Guessing Game
Students practiced vocabulary words in groups in this activity. One student started by placing a card with an unknown vocabulary word into a headband worn on their head. The other students in the group had to describe the term or provide specific examples. This game was fun and effective for students. They identified words they didn't know how to describe, and learned from other students who did know the words. Each student was engaged and active since everyone had a turn to either guess or wear the headband.
CLASS POWERPOINTS
Below is an example of the presentations I used to help students take notes in class. I included many visuals and minimal text on slides. Note that key words that students must know are bold, red, and underlined. This was consistent throughout each of my presentations.
Students with Special Situations
I had many ELLs and Special Education students in my class which needed special accommodations in each class. I was able to address their needs by designing lessons from which each student would be able to best learn. For my students with special accommodations, I would make sure that each student with preferential seating had the opportunity to sit close to my white board. I often rearranged my classroom and moved the location where I projected my lesson so students would be able to see. Many of my students have vision issues and will come to me after class and ask “will you post the notes on Schoology? I couldn’t see the board today.” In my lower level class with many Special Education and ELL students, I found myself utilizing more tools to teach not only content but also language. I addressed every student by developing language standards each day, which often involved students describing the relation between structure and function. Another one of my language strategies was to create a glossary and a prefix and suffix page with my students in each of their notebooks.
STRUCTURED NOTE SHEETS
To help students build their skills of note-taking at all levels, I developed note sheets catered to my specific lessons to engage and support student learning. This tool helped students stay on task and self-regulate by identifying areas they may have missed during class.
 water properties guided notes |  protein functions |  enzymes reference sheet |
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