Reflective Journal: Learner Development, Learning Differences, and Application of Content

An important part of being an educator is reflection. Reflection is a learning process through which you use your experiences and knowledge to guide you in the future. Each week you will have the opportunity to use your journal to reflect on the content you have learned in this course and throughout your degree program. Specifically, you will reflect on the connections you see between each case study and two to three topics from the Program Comprehensive Exam. 

This week we will be focusing on learner development, learning differences, and application of content. As you learned from this week’s readings, understanding your students is critical when you are trying to meet their developmental and academic needs. In order to do this, you must differentiate your instruction. To learn more about differentiated instruction, please read the article Differentiating instruction in the preschool classroom: Bridging emergent literacy instruction and developmentally appropriate practice.
 
Take a few minutes to think about how the case study addresses these topics. The questions below may spark some ideas regarding learner development, learning differences, and application of content. You do not need to address all the questions; instead, write down your thoughts as they unfold.  

Reflect on the following in your journal:

• What do you remember about how your own teachers differentiated instruction in order to meet the needs of all the children in your childhood classroom(s)?

• How was this similar or different to what Mrs. Ashland did in the case study to meet the needs of Johnny, Jack, Maya, Caleb, Kayla, and Jane?

• What are some strategies that Mrs. Ashland used to meet the cognitive, social and emotional, language, physical, and moral development of her students?

• Do you plan to use any of the strategies that your teachers or Mrs. Ashland used?  Explain your thinking using justification, supporting details, and critical thinking.

Carefully review the Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your journal entries.

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