Giving feedback
Giving feedback is another integral part of teaching delivery which has a compelling influence on learner achievement. Generally speaking, feedback is any response regarding students’ performance, behaviour or attitude in class and it can take many forms (verbal, written or gestural). At Vinschool, the importance of effective feedback in every lesson is emphasized as it is stated in the classroom observation rubric that teachers are expected to offer “effective feedback to different groups of students, motivating them while at the same time making it possible for them to identify the areas they could improve on.” Besides teachers’ feedback, students are also encouraged and empowered to provide feedback on their friends’ and their own performance. Peer feedback and self-assessment are common practices to be observed in ESL classes at Vinschool.
What is differentiation?
Differentiation is usually presented as a teaching approach where teachers think of learners as individuals and learning as a personalised process. According to Alyce Hunter in Differentiated Instruction in the English Classroom “Differentiated instruction is a recognition that students vary in their needs, interests, abilities, and prior knowledge. It's a springboard from which students work toward the same ends, but they use different content, processes, and products to get there. It's all about successfully teaching each student. And it can be done in the regular English classroom.”
Differentiation is predominantly supported in the following ways:
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Role of the learner
Understanding individual learners is vital for successful differentiation. In order to be effective, figuring out what the individual already knows or can do is a vital step in the process.
Getting to know learners is, however, more than just finding out what they know. It is also about a broader understanding of learner difference. Learners and their learning can be different for a number of reasons: they may have different levels of interest in the topic; they may have differences in their levels of motivation, their ability to remember information, their confidence, the accuracy of their handwriting, their levels of vocabulary acquisition.
Having knowledge of the individual helps teachers to plan for learning rather than teaching, and ensures that they are always supporting progress. In a differentiated classroom, teachers and learners collaborate in learning and learners have ownership and responsibility. Offering choice can encourage ownership of individual work and learning, creating a learning environment in which learners ‘have no fear’ and apply effort.
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Differentiation at Vinschool
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