Running head: Student-Centered Instruction 1

Student-Centered and Differentiated Instruction

Sarah Zajac

Regent University
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Introduction

One of the things most looked forward to by children is the chance to grow up and be

independent. “I can’t wait until I can do this on my own” is a sentence that teachers and parents

hear all to often. Students, even those in the primary grades, want to be able to do what they want

to do and not what they have to do in school. So why not hand over the rains to them a little?

Giving students the choice of which worksheet to do during centers or how to present a project in

no way diminishes the educational value of the work. It can only increase the student’s

perception of making their own decision about their work and the differentiation of the product

being turned in allows the students to work on what they are most interested in.

Rationale for Selection of Artifacts

My first artifact is a RAFT activity that I made. Students were given the choice to write

from four different points of views to four different audiences in four different formats. The first

choice was to write as a lion to the rest of the animal kingdom in a newspaper article to tell them

why they should be king or queen. The second choice was to write a letter to Santa as an elf

asking for a summer break. The third option was to write a “wanted” ad for monsters to scare

their sibling. The fourth option was to write a poem as a food item about why someone who is

looking for a midnight snack should choice them over another piece of food. If the students

choose to one of the first three options they had to write three paragraphs with four to five

sentences in each paragraph. If they did the poem choice, then they had to write at least a ten-line

poem of their choice. The students really enjoyed getting to choose what they wanted to write

about. Many students even wrote more than what they had to. I was impressed with everyone’s

final draft.
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My second artifact is a picture of a worksheet the students did after we introduced In and

Out boxes in math. The students did a fantastic job with this subject and after doing their quick

check that they turned in, they were to do a worksheet as extra practice. The worksheet included

extra In and Out boxes that were more challenging and on the back of that page were some

empty In and Out boxes so they could try to create their own. I liked this page because the

students could really challenge themselves by creating their own boxes and make them as tough

as they could. I told them they could work on either side or do both. It allowed the students to

work on whichever side they felt most comfortable doing. They could continue practicing with

premade boxes or they could try their own. And If they did their own, they could keep it to

something they knew they could do or they could challenge themselves.

Reflection on Theory and Practice

It is not feasible to be able to give students choices in everything they do during class.

Some assignments every student needs to do. But allowing students to have the choice whenever

possible puts them in a position to put effort into the work that they may not necessarily be their

favorite type of work (Rutherford, 2012). Students will put in the energy needed to get past the

work they do not enjoy in order to get to the assignment in which they know aligns with their

own interest. In order to differentiate assignments by content, process or product, teachers need

to be able to “acknowledge, understand, respect and respond to the differences in and needs of

the learners” (Rutherford, 2012, p. 199).

A positive teacher-student relationship is really helpful in finding that perfect thing that a

student really connects with. This relationship sheds light on a student’s intelligence type and

learning style and can ultimately lead to a student working on an assignment that appeals to their

strengths (Bergin & Bergin, 2012). Students are usually aware of what their strengths and
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weaknesses are. When they focus their efforts on something they excel at, they feel more

positive and become more invested in their work (Radford, 2013).

It is okay to allow students to become more independent. They know what they are good

at and they enjoy showing off a little. Giving students a choice on how they want to present an

assignment allows them to not only learn the content but also enjoy it. Even the younger students

would enjoy and feel a since of pride turning in something that they choice to work hard on. This

lesson in independence isn’t just the learning the content, but this will be a skill that they will use

their entire lives. The teacher needs to allow the students to see that she trust them to make their

own choices. Not only that but when students see that their teacher included something they are

interested in, the students will realize that their teacher really cares for them. As a Christian, it is

important to me that I encompass and express qualities such as trusting students to make their

own choices, compassion for those who end up not making the best choice and showing the

patience and understanding to then uplift those students. And who knows, a teacher might even

learn a little bit from the choices her students make like it says in Galatians 6:6 (New

International Version), “Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share

all good things with their instructor. ”

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References

Bergin, C. C. and Bergin, D. A. (2012). Child and adolescent development in your classroom.

Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Radford, C. P. (2013). Strategies for successful student teaching: A guide to student teaching, the

job search and your first classroom (3rd ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education,

Inc.

Rutherfod, P. (2012). Instruction for all students (2nd ed). Alexandria, VA: Just ASK

Publications and Professional Development.