Meeting Diverse Needs

         To be considered proficient in this CAP Element, a teacher candidate must "use appropriate practices, including tiered instruction and scaffolds, to accommodate differences in learning styles, needs, interests, and levels of readiness, including those of students with disabilities and English language learners" (Guidelines for the Candidate Assessment of Performance). 

         Not every student learns the same way. In order to allow all different types of learners to succeed in the classroom, we have to include practices that speak to all types of learners (i.e. auditory, visual, and kinesthetic). Although you cannot cater to every single type of learner t every moment of the day, diversifying your instruction ensures that students have options when it comes to how they are able to process the content and information. It is important to include and address all types of learning in your lessons. Failure to do so can lead to students feeling unseen, unsupported, and lost. 

​

          For all five classes I taught, the students ranged in grade level. This made it even more difficult to differentiate instruction because sometimes I mentioned concepts that some students weren't exposed to yet. This was compounded by the fact that remote learning has set many of our students back a year or two, content-wise, when it comes to their math skills.  For example, many of my CADD students did not know the difference between the radius and diameter of a circle. A big part of meeting my students' diverse needs was also determining what they did and didn't know. However, the longer I taught, the better I was able to pick up on the different nuances of each class. 

          For instance, my A block CADD I class was very reserved and did well when left to their own work. They usually only required a simple class explanation of the AutoCAD commands before they got right to work on the computers. This makes sense because the class consisted of mostly upperclassmen or mature first-year students. However, for G block CADD I class, I had a lot of first-year students who required more constant attention and re-explanation. For this class, it helped that each student had an AutoCAD Cheat Sheet of Notes to refer to. Not only would I go over the material and commands multiple times as a class, but the students were able to refer to the Cheat Sheet while waiting for me to get to them. Like with all of my classes, I walk around during independent work time to check in on my students and help answer questions or concerns. Doing this every class has allowed me to figure out how each student responds to certain ways of explaining things. I am able to better tailor my explanations to them when they need help. 

​

          Seeing as Wachusett is a predominantly white school, it was important to me to be able to expose the students to underrepresented groups and persons in STEM (i.e. women in STEM, BIPOC scientists, and engineers, etc) they would not have learned about otherwise. For the few BIPOC students in my class, I hope that by showcasing scientists and engineers that looked like them that they were better able to see themselves represented.

​