Specific Teaching Strategies to Differentiate Instruction

Research shows that one of the most effective ways to meet all learners needs is to differentiate instruction. Many teachers use differentiated instruction strategies because it allows them to engage their students by accommodating each students unique learning style. However, when you have a large group of students, it can be tough to keep up with each child’s individual needs. It takes time to come up with, and implement differentiated activities.  To help keep the workload manageable, teachers have tried a variety of strategies, from tiered assignments to choice boards. Here are a few more teacher-tested teaching strategies to differentiate instruction in your elementary classroom.   Choice Board Choice boards are activities that give students options as to what activities to complete to meet class requirements. A great example of this comes from a third-grade teacher named Mrs. West. Mrs. West uses choice boards with her third-grade students because she feels it is the easiest way to differentiate instruction while keeping her students engaged. While choice boards can be set up in a variety of ways (student interest, ability, learning style, etc.) Mrs. West chooses to set up her choice boards by using the Multiple Intelligence Theory. She sets up the choice board like a tic tac toe board—in each box she writes a different activity and asks her students to choose one activity from each row. The activities vary in content, product, and process. Here is an example of the types of tasks she uses on her students choice board. Choice Board for Multiple Intelligences: Verbal/Linguistic – Write instructions on how to use your favorite gadget.Logical/Mathematical – Design a map of your bedroom.Visual/Spatial –   Create a comic strip.Interpersonal-   Interview a friend or your best friend.Free ChoiceBody-Kinesthetic - Make up a game.Musical – Write a song.Naturalist – Conduct an experiment.Intrapersonal – Write about the future. Learning Menu Learning menus are much like choice boards whereas students have the opportunity to choose which tasks on the menu that they would like to complete. However, the learning menu is unique in that it actually takes the form of a menu. Instead of having a nine square grid with nine unique choices on it, the menu can have an unlimited amount of choices for the students to choose from. You can also set up your menu in a variety of ways, as mentioned above. Here is an example of a spelling homework learning menu: Learning Menu for Homework: (Students choose one from each category)Appetizer - Sort spelling words into categories, choose three spelling words to define, highlight all vowels.Entree - Use all spelling words to write a story, write a poem using five spelling words, write a sentence for each spelling word.Dessert - Write your spelling words in ABC order, Create a word search using at least five words, use a mirror to write your spelling words backward.   Tiered Activities In a tiered activity, all students are working on the same activity, but the activity is differentiated according to ability level. A great example of this type of tiered strategy is in an elementary school classroom where kindergartners are at the reading center.   An easy way to differentiate learning without the students even knowing it  is to have the students play the game, Memory. This game is easy to differentiate because you can have beginning students try to match a letter with its sound, while the more advanced students can try and match a letter to a word. To differentiate this station, all you have to do is have different bags of cards for each level, and direct specific students to which cards they should choose from. To make differentiation invisible, color-code the bags and tell each student which color he/she should choose. Another example of tiered activities is to break the assignment into three sections using varied levels of tasks. Here is an example of a basic tiered activity: Tier One: (Low) - Describe how the character acts.Tier Two: (Middle) - Describe the changes the character went through.Tier Three: (High) - Describe the clues that the author gives about the character. Many elementary school teachers find that this differentiated instructional strategy is an effective way for students to reach the same goals while taking into account each of their students’ individual needs. Adjusting Questions Many teachers find that an effective questioning strategy is to use adjusted questions to help them differentiate instruction in their classroom. The way this strategy works is simple—you use Blooms Taxonomy to develop questions starting with the most basic level, then moving towards the more advanced levels. Students at varying levels are able to answer questions on the same topic, but also at their own level. Here is an example of how teachers can use adjusted questing to differentiate an activity: For this example, the students had to read a paragraph, then answer a question that was tiered to their level. Basic learner - Describe what happened after...Advanced learner - Can you explain why...More Advanced learner - Do you know of another situation where... Flexible Grouping Many teachers who differentiate instruction in their classroom find flexible grouping an effective method of differentiation because it provides students with the opportunity to work with other students who may have a similar learning style, readiness, or interest as them. Depending on the purpose of the lesson, teachers can plan their activities based on a students’ attributes, then use flexible grouping to group students accordingly. The key to making flexible grouping effective is making sure the groups are not static. Its important that teachers continually conduct assessments throughout the year, and move students among the groups as they master their skills. Often time’s teachers tend to group students according to their ability at the beginning of the school year, and then forget to change the groups, or do not think they need to. This is not an effective strategy and will only hinder students from progressing. The Jigsaw The Jigsaw cooperative learning strategy is another effective method to differentiate instruction. In order for this strategy to be effective, students must work together with their classmates to complete an assignment. Heres how to works: Students are divided into small groups and each student is assigned one task. This is where the differentiation comes in—each child within the group is responsible for learning one thing, then bringing the information that they learned back to their group to teach their peers. The teacher can differentiate learning by choosing what, and how, each student in the group will learn the information. Here is an example of what a Jigsaw learning group looks like. Example of a Jigsaw Cooperative Learning Group: Students are divided into groups of five students. Their task is to research Rosa Parks. Each student within the group is given a task that suits their unique learning style. Here is an example. Student 1: Create a fake interview with Rosa Parks and find out about her early life.Student 2: Create a song about the Montgomery bus boycott.Student 3: Write a journal entry about Rosa Parks life as a civil rights pioneer.Student 4: Create a game that tells facts about racial discrimination.Student 5: Create a poster about Rosa Parks legacy and death. In todays elementary schools, classrooms are not taught with a â€Å"one size fits all† approach. Differentiated instruction allows for teachers to meet the needs of all learners, while still maintaining high standards and expectations for their students. Whenever you teach a concept in a variety of different modalities, you increase the chances that you will reach each and every student.

The Black And Black British Diaspora - 2184 Words

Critically examine the ways through which the Black British diaspora has been imagined and represented by the theorisations of Paul Gilroy and others. Why does Gilroy (and others) suggest his notion of ‘The Black Atlantic’ as useful for re-imagining black identities? Introduction This essay will analyse the concept of ‘The Black Atlantic’ by sociologist Paul Gilroy. Written almost 20 years ago, it is an important concept which has been celebrated as instrumental in the re-imagining of black culture. Its framework will be examined by referencing its history and exploring some of its influences from other theorists such as Stuart Hall. Following this contextual background, its impact will be discussed on its significance to the black†¦show more content†¦Challenging the taboo between the integration of white and black, it theorised a new modernity of hybridity in culture over the transatlantic space, shaping a new ‘transnational’ concept. Gilroys theory aimed to get rid of the sociological imagination of ‘race’ and instead appreciate the cultural heritage and influence of people. This spawned new arguments, theories and research, which helped to combine areas in a new age of interdisciplinary subjects; influencing the study of sociology, geography, politics, anthropology, art and many other areas. Gilroy specifically shows a very deep connection to music and creativity, demonstrating how these traits make a profound transformation in society. For example, the evolution of music represents how the deep-rooted pain of black culture has mixed with the romanticised white culture in a hybrid form to create something new. This expressed interest focused on a select few avant-garde individuals, who connected to this African transatlantic blackness and these intellectuals inspired his main concepts such as W.E.B. De Bois’ theory of double consciousness , which Gilroy has added as a subtext to his book. Concentrating on his influence on the state of the black british diaspora, Gikandi (2014: 242) believes that ‘Gilroy provided his readers with a paradigm for thinking about cultural relations outside the

Environmental Management Control Systems

Question: Discuss about the Environmental Management Control Systems. Answer: Introduction: Every business organization is different and the decision making process and organizational structure is also different (Shepherd Rudd, 2014). Evaluation of decision making process of any organization is not possible without observing the context of the organization. Contextual variables play a crucial role in organizational decision making process (Armstrong Taylor, 2014). Contextual factors encompass the strategies of the organization, organizational culture, policies, environment and risk factors and so on. Optus is second leading Telecommunication Company of Australia. It was founded in 1981.Headquarter of Optus is situated in Sydney, New South Wales (Optus, 2017). It is known for its fixed telephony service, mobile telephone service, internet services, pay television service, data transmission service, strong network service. Optus is renowned for its efficient and powerful service (Palacios-Marqus at a., 2015). The following article discusses about the contextual factors of O ptus and how these factors are affecting the decision making process of Optus managements. Optus is considered as the second largest telecommunication company of Australia. It provides strong mobile and cable network service to its customer. Optus management is well-known for their unique services (Elbanna, Child Dayan, 2013). Although the rise of two tire service providers has given the organization a tough competition, but Optus has set an example in the telecommunication industry of Australia. The success story of Optus reflects the strong organizational structure. According to Allen Lew CEO of Optus, they believe in hard work and innovation (Eitle, DAlessio Stolzenberg, 2014). Optus always maintain a strong relation with their employees and maintain a healthy atmosphere within the organization to boost the employees to participate in establishing a better future for the organization. In this competitive era, it is not easy to survive in the race and beat the rivals. Every organization requires a powerful and efficient leader who can show them the right path. Being on e of a major brand in the telecommunication industry of Australia, Optus possess a large work force and it has strong team of leaders to guide the organization towards the right direction. The leaders are committed towards the organization and they lead the organization to achieve the organizational goal. The leaders of Optus make sure that every employee is aware of organizational objective and structure. Leaders of Optus often play the role of friend, philosopher and guide for their employees. They guide them towards the right direction. The primary objective of Optus is to provide quality service to their consumers. The management of Optus is determined to bring revolution in telecommunication industry. They believe in innovation and singularity. In order to be unique, Optus provide their consumers a mix of frequency division duplex (FDD) and time division duplex (TDD) (Kolling, Wittmann Rushworth, 2014). Optus has a strong organizational structure which helps the management to achieve their organizational objective smoothly. Optus always maintain strong governance within the organization. The management of Optus is responsible for maintaining the organizational culture. Healthy relation with the employees, peaceful work environment, strong and efficient leadership, following a strategy to communicate with the employees are the part of their rich organizational culture. Innovation and unity is the major strengths of Optus. Telecommunication companies of Australia are giving tough competition to each other. Two biggest competitors Optus are Telstra and Vodafone. Every organization is embracing new technologies and strategies to defeat their competitors. They have concentrated on increasing demand of their consumers. They are trying hard to match the expectation level of their consumers. All most all the companies are providing 3G and 4G service and managements of all the telecommunication company claim to cover the ninety nine percent geographic area (Van Iddekinge et al., 2016). In recent time, tow tire service providers are giving tough competition to all the leading telecommunication brand of Australia. It is considered as one of the major challenge for the leading organizations to survive in the world of telecommunication. It has become very tough to beat the two tire service providers in the competition. Modification in the service charges is not possible. It may put a negative impact on the consum ers. Optus must enhance their internal qualities like efficiency, innovation to draw the attention of their consumers and survive in the competition. In spite of being leading telecommunication industry, there are many risks that Optus often faces. Some of them are as follows: In this modern era, technologies are evolving every now and then. This is one of the biggest risks for Optus. The management must be concerned of all the new technologies. They need to realize the importance of embracing new technologies. Telstra and Vodafone are the two major competitors of Optus always give tough challenge to Optus (Pondeville, Swaen De Rong, 2013). These service providers are using all the new techniques to enhance their productivity and increase the market demand for their services. The consecutive growth of these two competitors and rise of two tire service providers is considered as one of the biggest risk for Optus. The business network of Optus is restricted to urban areas only. Due to the lack of proper infrastructure Optus management is unable to reach to their buyers of rural areas. This is one of the major risks for Optus. Another biggest risk is environment. Being a leading telecommunication industry, Optus often faces various environmental challenges. People always blame telecommunication companies for the rapid growth of global warming and acid rain. It can be harmful for the organization (Kuipers et al., 2014). Optus is well known for its fixed telephony services, mobile telephony services, cable television network, internet service, leased line and data transmission. Optus offers a wide range of products and services to its consumers. It has set a unique example by providing a mix of frequency division duplex and time division duplex. Optus provides fixed telephony service to the residential as well as commercial plots. Optus is well known as strong network service provider. Optus has covered Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane by its cable television network. Optus provides both 3G and 4G network to their consumers. The efficient and effective service has made Optus the second largest telecommunication network. Optus provides its retail services by phone, internet and retail shops like Optus World, network communications, Telechoice and so on (Sharma, Mithas Kankanhalli, 2014). Optus preserves a strong infrastructure that helps the management of Optus to perform all the business activities pr operly. Optus possesses their own network infrastructure to give network service to their consumers. Optus plays dual role in providing network service. Optus acts as a direct service provider as well as wholesaler. Optus is considered as the largest satellite wholesaler of Australia. Optus has taken some remarkable steps in to serve the society. Optus is known for its sustainability practices. Optus provide several supports to the community. As a responsible citizen, Optus avoid all kind of unethical practices. They always pay attention to cyber safety issue. They have implemented various strategies to help their consumers to stay safe from any kind of cyber crime. The contextual factors of an organization play a crucial role in decision making (Turner, 2014). Organizational structure of Optus, especially committed leaders influence the growth of the organization. The development of any organization is highly dependent on creating strategy and implementing those strategies within the organization. Leaders of Optus assure that every employee must participate in the growth of the organization and give their best performance to achieve the desired target of the organization. Leaders often communicate with their team members about the change management process and new strategies. They give their employees a strong platform to share their opinion over an issue. Such practices often produce creative ideas for the betterment of the organization and help employees to accept the change easily (Kaplan et al., 2013). Group discussion helps the management of Optus to take efficient and effective decisions and makes easier for the leaders to implement new s trategies. Communication is considered as one of the most efficient tool in modern business world to maintain healthy atmosphere within the organization. Almost all the leading organization follows the method of communication to build a strong relationship with their employees. Such practices of Optus help them to retain employees for long period as it makes the employee feel as an important part of the organization and increases their loyalty towards the organization. Optus always embraces the new and innovative techniques. It helps them to beat their rivals. The adoption of new technologies enhances the productivity of the organization and matches the expectation level of their consumers. Well maintained organizational structure and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives helps the organization to gain reputation in the society and it promotes their brand name among the consumers of network services (Perlaviciute Steg, 2014). As per the pervious discussion, it can be concluded that Optus, being a leading telecommunication strategy possess some unique quality that helps the organization to achieve the organizational target and maintain the bright organizational image among the consumers, such as- active communication with the employees, effective team leaders and determination to achieve the organizational goal, adoption of new and unique technologies to fight against rivals. Optus possess a strong organizational structure and governance within the organization that helps the employees and leaders to avoid any kind unethical practices. Contextual factors of Optus have a great influence in decision making and implementing new strategies. Reference: Armstrong, M., Taylor, S. (2014).Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers. Eitle, D., DAlessio, S. J., Stolzenberg, L. (2014). The effect of organizational and environmental factors on police misconduct.Police Quarterly,17(2), 103-126. Elbanna, S., Child, J., Dayan, M. (2013). A model of antecedents and consequences of intuition in strategic decision-making: evidence from Egypt.Long Range Planning,46(1), 149-176. Kaplan, H. C., Froehle, C. M., Cassedy, A., Provost, L. P., Margolis, P. A. (2013). An exploratory analysis of the model for understanding success in quality.Health care management review,38(4), 325-338. Kolling, N., Wittmann, M., Rushworth, M. F. (2014). Multiple neural mechanisms of decision making and their competition under changing risk pressure.Neuron,81(5), 1190-1202. Kuipers, B. S., Higgs, M., Kickert, W., Tummers, L., Grandia, J., Van der Voet, J. (2014). The management of change in public organizations: A literature review.Public Administration,92(1), 1-20. Optus, S. (2017). Optus.com.au. Palacios-Marqus, D., Soto-Acosta, P., Merig, J. M. (2015). Analyzing the effects of technological, organizational and competition factors on Web knowledge exchange in SMEs.Telematics and Informatics,32(1), 23-32. Perlaviciute, G., Steg, L. (2014). Contextual and psychological factors shaping evaluations and acceptability of energy alternatives: integrated review and research agenda.Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,35, 361-381. Pondeville, S., Swaen, V., De Rong, Y. (2013). Environmental management control systems: The role of contextual and strategic factors.Management accounting research,24(4), 317-332. Sharma, R., Mithas, S., Kankanhalli, A. (2014). Transforming decision-making processes: a research agenda for understanding the impact of business analytics on organisations.European Journal of Information Systems,23(4), 433-441. Shepherd, D. A., Williams, T. A., Patzelt, H. (2015). Thinking about entrepreneurial decision making: Review and research agenda.Journal of management,41(1), 11-46. Shepherd, N. G., Rudd, J. M. (2014). The influence of context on the strategic decision?making process: A review of the literature.International Journal of Management Reviews,16(3), 340-364. Turner, M. E. (2014).Groups at work: Theory and research. Psychology Press. Van Iddekinge, C. H., Lanivich, S. E., Roth, P. L., Junco, E. (2016). Social media for selection? Validity and adverse impact potential of a Facebook-based assessment.Journal of Management,42(7), 1811-1835.