Hear what teachers are saying about Touro Univerisity Nevada's Differentiated Instruction course
"The knowledge I have gained from this course has given me strategies and
affirmation that will help me accomplish my goals as a teacher. While most of
my students look like average middle class students, I have had to face my own
prejudices and deal with eliminating or at least minimizing them. I have gained
a greater respect for myself as a teacher and a person. It has become clear
that even the most strict rules and procedures are nothing to students without
the role model of a teacher with self respect. I now realize that the wonderful
Orff curriculum that Clark County School District uses for elementary music is
just curriculum unless it is taught to every advanced, regular, and remedial
elementary student I come in contact with. I have a greater appreciation of the
value of assessment and feedback, recognizing that there is no such thing as a
casual remark to a child.
When my students believe that success is possible, they will try. My first goal
in all my classes is to increase achievement for all students. I want to teach
the way the child learns. I want to make teaching and learning fun. That is my
job and I love it! "
- Julie
"I feel I have become a better teacher because I have gained knew knowledge
about an extremely important factor that affects education and that is poverty.
I have become a better teacher because I now understand the characteristics of
poverty and how those characteristics affect learners. Most of all I have
learned a variety of new strategies that I can and will be using in my
classroom to help me reach and succeed with teaching all students no matter
their race, level, or socio-economic status."
- Jerrad
"I have become a better teacher because of all of this new knowledge I have
gained. I may be a teacher, but I am also - and always will be - a student and
learner. I will continually learn new information and use it to better my
classroom, the students I come in contact with on a daily basis, as well as
myself as a professional. "
- Nikki
"This information changed me. I have had discussions with fellow educators about
my new found information. Most of the educators were also unaware since they
are middle class individuals with little experience in the hidden rules of
generational poverty. I want the educators in my school to be aware of the
issues facing all students and how we, as a team, can impact their educational
path."
- Jackie
"Looking back on the different classes I've taken at UNLV to receive my
Bachelor's in Education and the classes I took to receive my Master's degree, I
read about all these theories and created hypothetical lessons and seating
charts, but they had no real-world application. Every class I had was based on
this perfect group of kids who all spoke English, and all of their abilities
were basically at the same level. I never had classes that taught me how to
modify or accommodate the diverse needs that I would find in my room. As I
taught more years at my school, I realized that my school's population was
changing every year, and we continued to stray farther away from our AYP goals.
Being a member of our School Improvement Committee and Learning Improvement
Team, it allowed me insight to see our test scores get lower as each year
passed, and our school's demographics change as well. One piece of data that
stood out was our ELL population increased dramatically over the past ten
years. Because of these changes, I have found that: understanding students'
different modalities, learning biases that I and others make, understanding the
effects and behaviors of poverty, learning how to build relationships with
students, and helping them set goals for themselves and for their own learning
have become important tools that I can actually say I've taken back to the
classroom and used."
- Leslie
"I truly believe that I am a better teacher as a result of taking this
coursework as I feel that I am more aware, sensitive, empathetic, and
understanding of students from poverty. I would strongly encourage that this
program be made available as part of our staff development program, PDE course
offerings, and/or graduate course offerings and not just limited to those who
take the Touro CTE."
- Michele
"The past eight lessons in Teaching Diverse Learners have brought about a
profound change in how I want my classroom to operate. I have learned so much
about generational poverty and why my students here in Las Vegas sometimes
behave the way they do. I have a new found appreciation for teaching young
people the hidden rules so that they can get along better both in and outside
of my classroom. I am excited about the 2009-2010 school year and am hopeful
for the best year yet since coming to Clark County."
- Amy
"I have become a better teacher because I am more aware of what students need in
order to be successful in education. These classes have taught me many things
about diversity and the importance of acceptance of differences among our
peers. It reinforced some things that I already did and gave me lots of new
knowledge to use in the years to come. I learned how to reach more students
through the use of modalities, choices in assignments, and the economic
challenges we are facing. With the budget cuts arriving, these ideas are very
valuable because how we teach will need to change with the changing society
around us. I made some great changes this year and really enjoyed seeing the
differences in some of my units due to what I have learned in these classes. I
also felt calmer and more prepared to deal with parents this year because of
the lesson by Todd Whitaker about making everyone feel welcome and what great
teachers do. The Differentiated Instruction class was worth the work to make me
a better teacher and more confident and comfortable in my area of teaching. "
- Dayna
"Using the knowledge that I have gained by participating in the class is
molding me into a better teacher. It has made me look at the things that I am
doing and making me ask many questions about how and why I do the things that I
do. The information presented came at a perfect time for me because after being
here for eight years I am starting to question if as a teacher I am really
making a difference. This course reminded and refreshed me in why I choose to
teach at an at-risk school in the first place. With so much of the talk on
"passing AYP" it has pulled me away from looking at the individual student and
meeting their diverse needs. By participating in this course I have been
re-energized and plan to set some high expectations and look forward to every
one of my students."
- Richard
"I am happy that I decided to change my focus this year and switch from the
Autism course that was offered for CTE credit to Differentiated Instruction
offered by Touro University. I have learned so much information that will
definitely make me a better teacher in the future and I was fortunate enough to
have a good group of educators to converse with about the different topics
outlined in the KDS clips both in person and through the online discussion
groups."
- Gary