Week 8 Reflection

The Differentiation Station is a different type of social network for me. Before starting this class, I used to view social networks as nothing more than just the standard MySpace and Facebook type sites. I never realized the potential for professional collaboration until I joined Google Groups with my Differentiation Station members and began working closely to share resources and ideas. As the class progressed and our group members became more comfortable with each other, it was nice to get some constructive criticism about projects and ideas. Its hard to criticize someone you really don't know, but as we worked together more and more, helpful criticism was much easier and effective. Overall, I really enjoyed the Differentiation Station experience.

As a result of the this experience, my teaching practices will change a little this year. Differentiation using technology seems so feasible and attainable now. I am currently looking into purchasing word recognition software for my ELL students and have already started differentiating some of my lessons for the beginning of the year. I've always tried to present content across different modalities and I always tell my students that there is more than one way to solve any problem. The one thing I will change is I will give my students multiple options for products they can complete to demonstrate their understanding of concepts taught in the classroom. I feel these options will motivate students to want to learn and keep them engaged to ensure another successful year.