Meet Karen Miele. Karen has been teaching English in Massachusetts for the past 13 years at both the middle and high school levels.
She has also worked with Teaching Channel as a course evaluator and most recently as a subject matter contributor on a course we hoped would assist Massachusetts teachers with license renewal. But a great thing happened during the development of this course: It became obvious that Course 5151 isn’t only for educators in Massachusetts. This course is relevant to educators everywhere because it helps teachers use differentiation to meet each student where they are and improve educational outcomes for all. This is exactly what is needed to accelerate learning!Â
I asked Karen a few questions, and I would like to share her responses with you. They are quite insightful and may even be the reason you’ve been waiting for to register for Course 5151: Maximizing Learning for All through Differentiation.
Keely: What is the one most important concept you hope course participants understand and apply to their teaching from the course?
Karen: I think that the most important piece of learning that educators will take from this course is that they can reach all of the students in their classrooms if they make the necessary adjustments to their instructional techniques and curriculum. All of our students can reach our high expectations; we need to think about how to help them get there and how we can ask them to show us what they have learned and what they can do.
Keely: What was your favorite resource and why?
Karen: The CAST website and its UDL resources are wonderful. If educators are looking for ideas about how to adjust instruction or how to ask students to show what they know, this site gives them a lot of ideas about how to do that to meet the needs of the students in their classrooms.
Keely: What advice would you give teachers right now (COVID times and moving forward) related to differentiation and/or unfinished learning?
Karen: The most important thing to remember is that all students learn differently and have different strengths, but they are all capable of learning and growing. If we can think proactively about how to reach our students as we are planning our lessons, we are going to find much more success and see much more growth in our students.
Free Resource: Slide deck: “Gradual Release of Responsibility”
This was a slide deck I built for new teachers, but I also use it in the course as an instructional method. The gradual release of responsibility model ensures that students are taught a new skill with explicit modeling and teaching and given time to practice it in whole group, partner, and individual situations.
Course Information
Title: Course 5151: Maximizing Learning for All Through Differentiation
Graduate Credits: 3 semester credits
Grade Level: PreK-12+
Course Description: Today’s learners have differing strengths, individual interests, divergent learning styles, and varying needs. Differentiation provides an avenue to meet each student where they are and improve educational outcomes for all. This course includes an overview of the pedagogy surrounding differentiation. Read More >>
