Differentiated instruction is an educational concept. Colleges teach the basic tenants of differentiation by recognizing learners are different and instruction should take these differences into account. A very simplistic definition for what can be a challenging instructional concept.
I think differentiated instruction begins the day children join the world of siblings! As a parent, I confess how different my children were. They didn't seem to learn the same lesson or respond equally to consequences given. One student -oops I mean child, was so sensitive the simple elevation of my voice gained an immediate response. On the other hand, my risk taker loved to take to me to the edge and back. Understanding their differences helped me to instruct them. However, I expected them to think for themselves, ask questions of me and engage in the family process.
Isn't that what education is about ... teaching them to think for themselves, ask questions and be a part of the process?
Be a stake-holder in your child's education. Help them identify their strengths, guide them through their weaknesses and partner with their teacher(s) to help them reach their potential.
Differentiated instruction is more than an expanded lesson plan. It is understanding each child for their uniqueness and helping them become rooted in the plans and purposes Christ has established for them.
Blessings,
Deb Blanker
Monday, February 8, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
What's Different?
People often ask me to define what is different about TCS ... I always find myself searching for words which do my explanation justice. How can I convey what keeps me moving forward with the same passion I had when I started teaching here 20 years ago. It is our differentiator........
Tri-unity Christian school is NOT a 'me-too' christian school! Oh, we offer the same core classes every other school offers. We have students who 'forget' their homework and don't study. And there is the occasional discipline problem .....However, what speaks most strongly to my heart is the tangible over-arching presence of the Holy Spirit in the entity we call Tri-unity Christian School.
Last week I had the pleasure of 'informally' interviewing an alumni of TCS. She said (and I am paraphrasing), when she was at TCS she felt like she was in a bubble - albeit a good bubble. She went on to say her plans were to graduate, leave town asap with an ultimate goal to travel and teach in another country. However, the influence in the 'good bubble' has brought her back home with a desire to teach at her school and influence others for Christ.
The tangible presence of the Holy Spirit is evidenced everyday by a teacher praying a blessing over a class, a secretary who stops to lay hands on a small child or a parent who says' Lord pick me for such as task as this'... and then there is a fifth grade class who earned money for their Kids Feeding Kids program and donated $500.00 of it to help provide water in Haiti.
I am not sure these few words even begin to quantify the essence of daily life in 'the TCS bubble' of the Holy Spirit. What I do know unequivocally is the presence of the Holy Spirit and the opportunities we accept because of Him, differentiate us from all the rest.
He will teach us of His ways and we will walk in His paths .. Isaiah 2:k KJV
Blessings,
Deb Blanker
Tri-unity Christian school is NOT a 'me-too' christian school! Oh, we offer the same core classes every other school offers. We have students who 'forget' their homework and don't study. And there is the occasional discipline problem .....However, what speaks most strongly to my heart is the tangible over-arching presence of the Holy Spirit in the entity we call Tri-unity Christian School.
Last week I had the pleasure of 'informally' interviewing an alumni of TCS. She said (and I am paraphrasing), when she was at TCS she felt like she was in a bubble - albeit a good bubble. She went on to say her plans were to graduate, leave town asap with an ultimate goal to travel and teach in another country. However, the influence in the 'good bubble' has brought her back home with a desire to teach at her school and influence others for Christ.
The tangible presence of the Holy Spirit is evidenced everyday by a teacher praying a blessing over a class, a secretary who stops to lay hands on a small child or a parent who says' Lord pick me for such as task as this'... and then there is a fifth grade class who earned money for their Kids Feeding Kids program and donated $500.00 of it to help provide water in Haiti.
I am not sure these few words even begin to quantify the essence of daily life in 'the TCS bubble' of the Holy Spirit. What I do know unequivocally is the presence of the Holy Spirit and the opportunities we accept because of Him, differentiate us from all the rest.
He will teach us of His ways and we will walk in His paths .. Isaiah 2:k KJV
Blessings,
Deb Blanker
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