Chapter 2 "The Rationale for Differentiated Instruction"

Students come to our school disengaged for a variety of reasons.  Just like the examples listed in this chapter, our students are preoccupied with disheveled home lives, learning disabilities, bored and not given enough of an intellectual challenge, language barriers, social and emotional struggles and/or they express their frustration by displaying poor behavior. Teachers here work hard to create personal relationships with their students and caregivers of their students. By keeping the door of communication open the teachers understand the students needs better and the students feel they have an ally to guide their educational journey.
Our school has implemented the "Leader in Me" program. This gives the students important, universal "tools" to meet personal and academic goals. The teachers at our school use the same terminology from "Leader in Me" (the 7 Habits) to promote the idea that "every child is capable. We set Goals: for the whole school, for each classroom, and for each student. The goals are assessed through out the school year and either adjusted or new goals are created according to teacher's and student's reflection. We have teachers who offer tutorial time before and after school. We have incentive programs to encourage both advanced and struggling learners like the 1,000,000 Word Reader and individual AR classroom reward systems. Each grade level assigns special projects to further the depth of study of a subject and to allow for individual creativity. These projects are then put on display for all the student body to observe and appreciate. These are just a few examples of what we do in effort to engage all our "learners."


I remember one year I had a student who was not engaged in the learning process at school. I scheduled a conference with his parents. This proved to be most valuable in my ability to connect with this child. Both the parents and I created a list of ways to help their child be successful in his academic environment. This student went from struggling and uninterested to excelling and desiring to learn more! From the Parent / Teacher conference, we uncovered a child who really was an advanced learner and a teacher who was willing to re-think how to engage more students.
I think the book does a good job addressing ways to effectively work with disengaged learners (whether advanced or struggling). I really like "The most effective teachers spend a career meticulously cultivating their appreciation for children not so easy for them to automatically embrace, while continuing to draw energy from those student whom they more automatically find delightful."  -pg. 15







Chapter 2 states that we cannot reach those students whose minds we don't engage. Discuss who are the students in your classroom/school that remain frequently disengaged? What efforts in your classroom/school are consistently made to engage these learners?
In what ways does your experience affirm or refute the possible pitfalls of advanced learners in schools? What advice would you add to the chapter's suggestions for working effectively with these students?