Resultados Experimentales

Individual or differentiated instruction has been well documented as a way to customize instruction to better fit the academic needs of one child. All six of the teacher participants affirmed these findings that they are more effective as a teacher when instruction is tailored to improve students’ achievement due to various reasons that are unique for each student. Teachers have found that students come into their classrooms from all walks of life with many different backgrounds, cultures, experiences, or socioeconomic situations. All of these circumstances influence students’ ability to learn and progress in school. Even though there is a state mandated curriculum, teachers found it necessary to approach some students differently to reach them.

Mrs. Shay recognized that all students do learn differently and a “one size fits all” approach never works. She stated that it certainly seems like you care more and it makes you more effective when you are tuned in to different learning styles. She expanded on this theme of individual instruction:

Well, I think you're always more effective when you differentiate in some way because you meet kids where they are. I think kids learn best or anybody learns best when you meet them where they are. You know, where are you? I tell my kids all the time, it doesn’t matter to me where you are. We're going to take you where you are and move you that step forward. So when you differentiate, you find out where they are and you find ways to customize instruction, whether it be different reading material, different reading level, whether it will be a seating arrangement, or small group versus whole group. Maybe you have to bring in some pictures instead of just words. What is it that you have to do to meet that goal?

During my observation, I observed Mrs. Shay customize instruction during a Reader’s Workshop focusing on being an “authentic reader.” After her mini-lesson, students dismissed to meet with their book clubs for three minutes to set their next reading goal. Next, most of the students returned to their desks and five of them went to the back table. Even though they were sitting as a group, they each had different books and Mrs. Shay circulated among them

individually. She quietly spoke with each one, suggesting, complimenting, and drawing attention to self-awareness of their improvement. Some of her comments were: “Good job,” “That’s awesome,” “See how that helped you?” and “What I might do…”

Another fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Burnes, had similar feelings to Mrs. Shay because she said “without question you are more effective when you differentiate because no two students are alike. So you can’t expect a one size fits all in your classroom.” Mrs. Burnes has found an

effective way to customize individual instruction by allowing the students to make decisions about their learning. Often, students are allowed to work on a choice board offering different ways to show the same thing. Mrs. Burnes explains:

I do a whole lot of choice boards like you saw when you observed. In those choices I generally will have a couple of choices that will cater to the audio learner. Then I'll have a couple that will foster creativity. So I do a lot of the choice boards to differentiate by learning styles and ability.

I was able to observe Mrs. Burnes’ students using the choice boards when she told them about their next science project and passed out the sheets containing the choice board. The board contained six choices and two were required but three would give you extra credit according to Mrs. Burnes. She allowed the students just a couple of minutes to decide which ones they would begin to start on that day. All the choices were a different way to learn about the same content- human cells and their functions. Choices including making a PowerPoint, creating a test with answer choices and drawing a poster. All of them seemed very excited about starting a new project this way except for one student who was unhappy that she could not be one of the first ones to use one a classroom computer.

Just prior to Mrs. Burnes’ Science lesson, when I first entered her room, she had just finished showing a few slides from a PowerPoint about how WWI began. She then asked the students to “continue their learning” in their readers’ response journals with a sketch or drawing with labels. The students were sitting in table groups of six and quickly went to their seats and started their drawings. One student asked if the drawing could be “like a comic?” She said, “Absolutely, very creative idea!” Mrs. Burnes walked around, bending down to individual students helping and commenting on their work. Both of the activities, choice boards and

sketching in the journals, allowed students to show their learning according to their own abilities and styles.

Mrs. Sperry started teaching in the 1970’s and she realizes that individual instruction has not always been around and she sees its benefits in today’s classroom:

I can go back and think about earlier when I had first started teaching. You had the spelling book, you had the English and the math book. You really were responsible for going through the first part, QCCs (Quality Core Curriculum). We didn’t have any standards then you know that drove our instruction. Our instruction was that textbook. I think I'm more an effective teacher now because I realize that teaching is not cookie cutter. You know what’s going to work for Johnny, is not going to work for Susie and so to find those learning styles, the strategies, you have to differentiate to find success.

These teachers reported that individual instruction is still somewhat new to experienced educators who used the same textbooks in the past to meet the instructional needs for all students in their classrooms. Whole class instruction did not seem to meet the wide ranges of levels in each classroom however personal, customized instruction was more effective, motivating and increased chances of success.