Describe some factors you would use in planning for instruction for your current placement. What experiences or difficulties have you had in lesson planning?
What methods have you used or observed to differentiate instruction?

I chose to reflect on these questions because when this assignment was given to me in Education 400, I did not have decent answers to these questions. I had difficulty with these questions because I have never actually made any sort of lesson plan nor have I had lesson plans described to me in detail. I did have an assigment to write a lesson plan for a Kindergarten Art class but because our class had no previous experience with lesson planning, the professor never provided feedback on our final assignment.
If I did have the opportunity to plan for instruction for my current placement, I would have to consider many factors. Of course, and most importantly, I would need to consider the students' ages and grade level. With that knowledge, it would then be a great idea to look up the West Virginia CSOs pertaining to the subject I wish to plan for. I would also need to consider the students' strenghts and weaknesses, the students' diversity in learning and behavior, and I would also need to consider different strategies in which I can perform the teaching. Once all of this information is gathered, I would also like to incorporate group lessons, technology, and assessments into the plan for instruction.
Differentiated instruction is a great way to get students involved in groupwork and it also helps teachers monitor and assist students with their strengths and weaknesses. I have not used or observed differentiated instruction since I have been in elementary school myself, but my host teacher is gratefully going to show me her differentiated instruction period on Monday. My host teacher, Mrs. Koski, has her Kindergarten classroom set up with tables in a U shape. This is a great way to have the students sitting in groups in a unified manner. I also believe that in these groups the students are placed according to strengths and weaknesses, which is a form of differentiated instruction. From my education classes at WVU I do know a lot about differentiated instruction, but I believe I will gain much more knowledge on Monday when Mrs. Koski shows me her different stations and groupings of the students.

Peer Question:
Have you experienced differentiated instruction in your current placement and if so, what did you learn that was different from what you already know about differentiated instruction?