Hypothetical Class Profile for Differentiation
Here is a class I have hypothetically constructed in order to practice meeting the needs of diverse learners that could be present in my class throughout this unit plan:
My Grade 9 class consists of 30 students from all different backgrounds and abilities including:
- Four Native Spanish Speakers- need reinforcement with writing skills and to be challenged with other activities.
- Two Students coded with ADD
- One student in a wheelchair
- One ELL learner who is at an intermediate English language proficiency level.
- One student with Type I diabetes
Strategies for Differentiated Instruction
Through my teaching methods I plan to engage all learners in my classroom.
To assist the four native Spanish speakers I will:
To assist the two students coded with ADD I will:
To assist the student in a wheelchair I will:
To assist the ELL learner I will:
To assist the student with type I diabetes I will:
Understand The Needs for Type I Diabetes:
Hypoglycemia: may be caused by not enough food, too much insulin, being more active or emotional than usual. May often occur suddenly and student can pass out if untreated.
Symptoms: blood glucose level (BGL) under 4.0, shaky, fast heartbeat, sweating, dizziness, anxiousness, hunger, blurry vision, weakness or fatigue, headache or irritability.
Intervention:
1) Check blood glucose.
2) If low BGL treat with drinking 4 oz. of fruit juice or ½ can of regular pop.
3) Check BGL again in 15 minutes. If it is still low, treat again. If symptoms don’t stop, call your healthcare provider.
Hyperglycemia: may be caused by too much food, too little insulin, illness or stress. Often starts slowly but may lead to a medical emergency if not treated.
Symptoms: extreme thirst, need to urinate often, dry skin, hunger, blurry vision, drowsy, slow-healing wounds.
Intervention:
1) Check BGL.
2) Provide insulin if needed.
3) If BGL is higher than normal for 3 days without explanation, call the healthcare provider.
Furthermore:
1. Meet with the student and parents early in the school year to discuss how the school can support this student's needs related to Type I Diabetes. This could include finding out about:
2. In collaboration with parents and health care professionals, develop a written management plan that aligns with school and jurisdictional policies and protocols. This plan should include specific information, such as:
3. Collaborate with the parents and student to consider if, and how, they would like to share specific information on type 1 diabetes with peers. If they wish to do this, consultation with health care providers, such as school or community health nurses, may be helpful.
4. Develop a system for sharing information with relevant staff members about the student's condition and successful strategies.
To assist the four native Spanish speakers I will:
- Provide them extra reading, oral and listening challenges.
- Expect more in-depth work than their peers who are still learning the language.
- Provide lots of formative feedback with writing skills.
- Provide direct instruction for written skills that may not have been inductively learned.
- Have them help be Spanish models and demonstrate the use of the language for their peers.
- Have Native speakers work with students who struggle with the language.
To assist the two students coded with ADD I will:
- Allow physical movement breaks/water breaks/fresh air breaks for these students when they are struggling to concentrate and need to clear their minds before they can re-takle their learning tasks.
- Encourage parents to send students healthy foods to eat during the day to keep their brains focused and strong. Also, have healthy snacks on hand in case student needs nourishment.
- Provide engaging activities that stimulate their minds and interests in order to complete a task.
- Many tasks involved interactive partner/group work.
To assist the student in a wheelchair I will:
- Seat this student close to the door with ample space to manoeuvre around, while still being able to work easily with students.
- Make sure the classroom design allows this student to move with ease to all spaces.
- Ensure student can enter and exit the classroom and school at all times. Have ramps set up wherever needed.
To assist the ELL learner I will:
- Ensure to partner them up with students who are advanced in English and higher level Spanish to help them develop both languages.
- Provide support and guidance through most classroom activities.
- Offer decoding assistance during spelling.
- Offer reading support-with an adult or a peer.
- Provide visuals whenever possible to facilitate better understanding.
- Provide models or examples of expected work.
- Provide language adjustment or visual cues to facilitate further comprehension.
- Provide extra materials for further practice.
- Provide positive support when contributing to in depth classroom discussions.
- Adjust required length of expected work when needed.
- Allow for extra time provided to accomplish certain tasks.
- Allow for oral product vs written product if needed.
To assist the student with type I diabetes I will:
Understand The Needs for Type I Diabetes:
Hypoglycemia: may be caused by not enough food, too much insulin, being more active or emotional than usual. May often occur suddenly and student can pass out if untreated.
Symptoms: blood glucose level (BGL) under 4.0, shaky, fast heartbeat, sweating, dizziness, anxiousness, hunger, blurry vision, weakness or fatigue, headache or irritability.
Intervention:
1) Check blood glucose.
2) If low BGL treat with drinking 4 oz. of fruit juice or ½ can of regular pop.
3) Check BGL again in 15 minutes. If it is still low, treat again. If symptoms don’t stop, call your healthcare provider.
Hyperglycemia: may be caused by too much food, too little insulin, illness or stress. Often starts slowly but may lead to a medical emergency if not treated.
Symptoms: extreme thirst, need to urinate often, dry skin, hunger, blurry vision, drowsy, slow-healing wounds.
Intervention:
1) Check BGL.
2) Provide insulin if needed.
3) If BGL is higher than normal for 3 days without explanation, call the healthcare provider.
Furthermore:
1. Meet with the student and parents early in the school year to discuss how the school can support this student's needs related to Type I Diabetes. This could include finding out about:
- The student's strengths, interests and areas of need
- Specific symptoms that may affect the student at school
- Strategies used at home or in the community that also could be used at school.
2. In collaboration with parents and health care professionals, develop a written management plan that aligns with school and jurisdictional policies and protocols. This plan should include specific information, such as:
- The role of the school staff in managing diabetes
- Signs and symptoms of low and high blood sugar
- Procedures for checking blood sugar levels
- Steps for treatment when the student's blood sugar is too low or too high when and/or what emergency measures should be taken.
3. Collaborate with the parents and student to consider if, and how, they would like to share specific information on type 1 diabetes with peers. If they wish to do this, consultation with health care providers, such as school or community health nurses, may be helpful.
- In consultation with student and parents, develop a sanitary disposal and clean-up routine.
- Reading, asking questions and talking to qualified professionals will build your understanding and help you make decisions to support the student's success at school.
- Collaborate with the school and/or jurisdictional team to identify and coordinate any needed consultation and services with community health care professionals.
4. Develop a system for sharing information with relevant staff members about the student's condition and successful strategies.
Sources:
Alberta Education (2011). Diabetes Type I. In Alberta Education (Eds.), Medical/disability information for classroom teachers. Edmonton, AB: Author. Retrieved from http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/inmdict/html/diabetes.html
Alberta Education. (2014). English language learners (ell). Retrieved from https://education.alberta.ca/media/1234005/12_ch9 esl.pdf
Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals. (2014). How to keep well with diabetes. Retrieved from http://www.novonordisk.com/diabetes/public/diabetestools/livingwithdiabetes/keepingwellwithdiabetes.asp