Chapters 3 and 4

Chapters 3 and 4
"I want to be a leader in creating a place where each of you becomes more keenly aware of the possibilities in yourself, the people around you, and the power of knowledge." This quote helped me really catch the vision of differentiation because it sums up the end result of differentiating. I like the three things that it focuses on, possibilities in your self, the people around you and the power of knowledge. I personally believe that if students and teachers have to ability to be aware of the great things they can accomplish we will all be amazed at the products we can come up with. I think that as humans we are very resistant to the idea of "letting go" and just being creative. I don't mean just in a craft or in the arts, I mean being creative in solving a math problem or a reading strategy. It is hard to put your self out there, however, if you are aware of your possibilities, you would know that they are endless! Next, being aware of the people around you is a very good skill to have in differentiation, again with the teachers and the students. I like to think of this like networking in a sense. I know that in the Elementary Education program that we have naturally networked and I expect to network in a school that I teach at. There are strengths and weaknesses in each person and classroom. Being able to maximize the strengths in a class will be very beneficial to differentiating a classroom. From a pre-service teachers point of view, I could see myself having different students show their strategies of solving a math problem because one could be a more strait forward answer while another student has a more abstract approach. Knowing what the people around you are capable of is a great strength in a class, however, I would have to do a lot of scaffolding to introduce this because it's not that John is better at math then me, it is more like, I bet John could explain that better to me. Third, which is my personal philosophy is the power of knowledge. I know that my life is better because I have obtained and education. I know that if student catch the vision of learning they will be able to have more success in their lives and have a higher quality of life. I feel that when students take a hold of their education and really own it, they will know that power that it holds. I think that it is our job as teachers to help students understand why education is so powerful and great.
The Teacher Responds Cog had a lot of great ideas in it. I won't list them all but here are some that I liked the best.

• I have respect for who you are and who you can become
• I want to know you
• I love to find new paths to success
• you have specific roles that make us all successful

I found that chapter 4 had some great management strategies. I like that the author of this book has real life senarios and doesn't paint an unrealistic picture. Starting with the classroom enviornment and paying attention to the details. Just like in the Oprah video, she was so focused on the details and that it showed she cared. I would like to incorporate that into my own classroom. Making room for all kinds of learners is very important to me. I have been thinking about having centers in my classroom and I know that I need to incorporate hands-on, written, and spoken approaches along with many others. The last thing that really caught my attention in regards to having a classroom of my own was celebrating success. I feel that it is so important to make everyone feel successful. I want students to feel accomplishment and to feel the class behind them in celebration. I think of this as the "hearts" in Hearts and Wishes.