Cultural & Linguistic Diversity in the Differentiated Classroom:
In OTL 565 - Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in the Differentiated classroom, I was excited to learn about some of the ways we, as educators, can differentiate instruction to meet the needs of EVERY learner. According to our text, Mastering ESL and Bilingual Methods: Differentiated Instruction for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) Students, Second Edition, by Socorro G. Herrera and Kevin G. Murry (2011), "...we advocate the use of the term culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) student when referring to a student whose culture or language is different from other grade-level students" (pg. 7). This might include the student who is not a native English speaker, the student whose family embraces a culture other than the "dominant culture," the gifted student, the learning-disabled student, the deaf or hearing-impaired student, or any differently-abled student. In today's times, our classrooms continue to become increasingly diverse and educators must rise to the challenges of providing exceptional instruction that helps each of our students to succeed. In this area of my website, I have created a toolkit of some of the approaches, methods, strategies, and techniques I've been introduced to during this course that I've found useful in meeting the needs of the diverse learners that I one day hope to serve.
I found some excellent resources by Colorin Colorado on readingrockets.org.
I found some excellent resources by Colorin Colorado on readingrockets.org.