Joe Ames

21 February 2018
Reflection on InTASC 2: Learning Differences
The second InTASC standard, Learning Differences, focuses on the different types of

learners found in each and every classroom. This means that, as an educator, I must be able to

differentiate the content, process, product, and environment to best fit the needs of all of my

students. Variation among and between these facets of education will ensure that all of my

students are included and accounted for while designing a lesson or unit. For example, my

students will be of diverse cultural backgrounds, and the traditional literary canon that focuses on

Western Europe and North America will not fully represent my classes. Instead, I can provide

texts that originate from other cultures, ensuring that all of my students are represented. The

emphasis on diversity allows students of other cultural backgrounds to access their own prior

knowledge in the classroom, something white American students can do constantly. This

standard also accounts for those students who are still acquiring proficiency in English. In an

ELA classroom, I can scaffold the acquisition of unknown vocabulary by providing a list of

challenging or unknown words before reading a story. Students can then look them up and draw

pictures to visually represent meaning. The pictorial representation can serve to be a quick

reference during reading. To change the environment to benefit ELLs, I can label important parts

of the classroom and have sentence frames on the board with high frequency phrases like, “Can

you repeat the instructions?” or “Can I have some paper?” Understanding learning differences

and being able to effectively differentiate instruction is key. It is equity in the classroom.

Effective differentiation gives students access to knowledge that they have traditionally been

denied due to language barriers or learning styles that were underrepresented in the classroom.
For some students, differentiation will be the only thing stopping them from slipping through the

cracks.