The textbook contains many metaphors that help me to understand differentiation. I will add here a metaphor that I helped to formulate for a group project in a different class. This metaphor also applies to differentiation just like the metaphor of the mother making gravy for her son, the bread maker becoming an expert bread maker, and the way we learn to ride a bike. This metaphor is about a gardener and is sung to the tune of "You are My Sunshine."
Teachers are gardeners of little children
They help them learn and stretch and grow
They may not know it, but they are learning
Please continue to help children grow.
A gardener helps plants grow by nourishing and nurturing the plants. The more the gardener knows about a particular plant the better able the gardener is to differentiate their care for that plant. Teachers are always learning, even if they do not always realize it. It is when the teacher applies what they are learning from the individual students that they are able to help children continue to grow and flourish.
You probably don't remember the book I read aloud in class on the first day, but it's exactly what you are thinking about... and it has wonderful "sub" analagies all of the way through it! MRS. SPITZER'S GARDEN by Edith Pattou. (3 pts)
ReplyDelete