Myranda Michaud

How are the teaching and learning experiences differentiated in terms of information processing strengths? I have observed several teaching techniques in Mrs. Giards classroom that can be applied to information processing. First of all, Mrs. Giard breaks up the information. She only lectures for a short amount of time (if she does so at all). When she teaches, she finds different ways to get the information across to her students. She rarely gives away answers. Instead, she tries to get the students to come up with the answers themselves. Today, for example, the students were learning about adverbs. Before she began a discussion on the topic, she had the students write down the definition of an adverb. If they had no idea what an adverb was, they were allowed to use a dictionary. After they defined it, they had to write down an example. Next, the class discussed what they came up with for answers. Mrs. Giard then read a cute and humorous rhyming book about adverbs, and the students had to write down five adverbs (including one that did not end in ly) on their papers. After, the class discussed their answers. In terms of information processing, Mrs. Giard did not spend a large amount of time in one particular area. She had the students think for themselves first and then come together with the class to discuss their answers (and repeat). Mrs. Giard uses assimilation when teaching. She does not teach a subject one day and move on quickly to the next. Instead, she continues teaching it in different ways so that it is transferred from short-term to long-term memory.

Analysis: Overall, I have learned that differentiated instruction, brain compatible instruction, and information processing instruction are all intertwined. When using differentiated instruction, the teacher is also teaching to different brain preferences and also to different information processing strengths. I have learned that it is really important to know your students and to get a sense of the environment that you are working in. Every class is different. I have observed classes that are more self-sufficient and then classes that need extra guided help where Mrs. Giard had to break up the assignments into smaller steps. Getting to know the students strengths and weaknesses will help the teacher to know how to teach them and what will work best so that the students are getting the most out of their education.