Key Issues in Early Childhood Education Instruction

An instructional issue that has shown to be one of the most important in my concentration area of Early Childhood education would be implementing differentiated instruction. Teaching at Niobrara Public Schools in Niobrara Nebraska has showed me the importance varying my lessons and instruction to meet the individual needs of each child. Niobrara Public Schools is a class D2 district in Northeast Nebraska comprised of 179 square miles. Niobrara is located in Knox County and borders the South Dakota state line. Niobrara has a current population of 401 residents.

The school system is located adjacent to the Santee Sioux Indian Reservation and has a current Native American population that exceeds 60%. Niobrara Public Schools serves children preschool through 12th grade. Current enrollment for students is 226.

Differentiating instruction has been the most important issue that I have experienced thus far as a teacher. One of the hardest things as a teacher is treating students differently. We are taught to treat each child the same as we would any other child.

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No child deserves special privilege just like no child deserves less attention. Each classroom has that student that demands time to show off because they “know it all” as well as that student that sits back and refuses to participate and stay on task. Which student misses out more, could it possibly be the student in the middle who simply follows all the directions and does what is asked of them. We rarely pay any attention to them while trying to take care of those that are extreme.

One of the biggest issues with differentiating instruction is Adjusting or changing my lessons and its goals based on the specific needs of my students with each student having different learning styles and differing levels of readiness to learn.

Not all of my students are alike, they differ in their strengths, needs, and abilities. I teach in an all inclusive classroom with students that vary in developmental stages as well as abilities. Many students can be provided with a task and complete it in a timely manner while others can take twice the time because of how ready they are to learn. Providing individualized instruction for these students has been difficult. Differentiated instruction is delivering all of my students the same information but then individualizing it for those that need the extra support. It is important that differentiation occurs in every class room but has proved its difficulty in achieving it. The real issue with providing differentiation is in creating curriculum and activities without creating an achievement gap between students.

Developing lessons that keep the interest of all students without slowing down students with strengths in that area and without going to fast for students that need a little more time and more individualized small group instruction is difficult. I think time is the main issue. Differentiating within the classroom takes time to develop those lessons. A lesson that meets all the needs of the children in my class room would require that I develop the core lesson that I want everyone to complete and then provide enrichment and extra individualized practice for those that need repetition. With abiding by a strict schedule with time dictated by reading groups and math instruction I find it hard to find the time that this kind of differentiation needs to be implemented effectively.

Lessons that I have created have taken longer to complete thus interfering with time slots dedicated to other subjects. Finding activities, trying new ideas, and creating assessments for each lesson and working with so many different learning styles and level of readiness among my students has been time consuming and very difficult at times when resources are limited. Differentiated instruction takes individualized planning, which is time consuming. Being able to find that extra time on top of already demanding schedules and other commitments is hard.