Meeting Diverse Needs in a Classroom

Having observed inside a kindergarten classroom for a couple of weeks thus far, it has already become apparent to me the plethora of diverse needs of the children within a single classroom. Not all students are alike. They differ in how they learn, how quickly they pick up and absorb information, how they comprehend the meanings of things etc. While meeting these diverse learning needs in a single classroom can be very challenging for a busy teacher, it must be done in order for all of the students to advance to the next level. I feel that it is important that a teacher be flexible with the methods by which he or she teaches students material. Adjusting the method from time to time gives learners who are having trouble with one presentation style the possibility of being able to make sense of the ideas being portrayed. Also it is important to alternate from individual lessons to group lessons to class lessons to allow for the diverse strengths and weaknesses of the students to be accounted for. In the particular classroom that I observe, the teacher does a good job of meeting the diverse needs of the students. Lesson by lesson, she alternates from doing hands on activities to verbally giving children the information. This allows for students with auditory strengths along with those students possessing visual strengths to get a chance to make sense of the material. She goes out of her way to make sure that every child's way of learning is being accounted for in one way or another. She will not move on to a new lesson until she alters her instruction enough times so that every child understands. This is very important in a kindergarten classroom when children are at such a young age. If we don't provide differentiated instruction, those students whose way of learning is not being accounted for may become frustrated and give up. We can not afford for children to feel this frustration at such a young level in their education. It is important, especially today, that the diverse needs in a classroom are met. With the No Child Left Behind Act, teachers hold complete responsibility for the advancement of each and every one of there students. If a teacher feels that he or she has alternated instruction and given individual attention to a student and the student still does not seem to be able to make sense of material, it is important that the teacher does not give up. It is their responsibility to get the child up to the correct level. I feel as though a teacher is never out of options. If they feel that they are at a lose for ideas as to what to do for a child, the teacher can always refer a student to a private tutor or work collectively with other teachers to try to come up with a solution. For a child that seems to be bored with the material because he or she catches on very quickly, a teacher can provide for that student but giving him or her more challenging work. However, a teacher must be careful to not just be giving this child busy work that is not challenging or advancing them in any way. Meeting the diverse needs of students is increasingly becoming more and more of an issue in schools today with the mainstreaming of special education students into regular classroom. We must work harder to provide for the diverse needs of students because I feel that if we do, the special education students will not even be distinguishable from the regular education students. This would be a huge achievement in the field of education and I feel that through differentiated instruction and a lot of focus and attention on the issue, it can be done.