Identity Development

Some of the things that students need to learn during identity development are how to persevere through difficult problems, to feel the satisfaction of a job well done, and to set goals and work towards them. I can help them do this by giving them projects to do in school, showing them how to plan it out, maybe giving them deadlines for various portions of it, and breaking it down into smaller, doable parts.

I can work as a facilitator, leading discussions that help develop critical thinking, so that students can begin to think about what their beliefs and values are, separate from their parents.  In fact, I need to encourage discussion and debate, especially with concepts or ideas that are challenging students’ perceptions of the world.

Other things that are important for identity development are gaining a sense of who they are in their job, gender, politically, and religiously. I can foster this by giving them assignments that help them explore themselves, or allow them to explore how they think about something that may be controversial or different from the way their parents think. I can also help them navigate through difficult peer relationships, modeling how to work out problems, and giving them guidance if anything happens in my class that would need working through.

References:  Educational Psychology, and http://sitemaker.umich.edu/barkley.356/identity

Differentiating for Readiness

Topic: Mitosis

First, give a simple pretest to find out what students already know about mitosis.  This could be something like:

·         Have students draw a chromosome, tell what they know about where a gene is on a chromosome, have them tell what they know about cell division. Collect.

Have them work in mixed ability groups, give them sets of index cards with the stages of cell division drawn on and explained. Have them arrange in a logical order based on what they already know. Don’t grade. Have two groups get together and compare notes, and then have them tape their results on a poster board and display.

As a class, talk about the logical order of mitosis, have them fix their posters so they are correct.

Divide into groups based on readiness:

1 group—have them look at the cards and answer some specific questions about mitosis.

1 group—have them look at the cards and write a paragraph explaining the process of mitosis

1 group—have them look at mitosis and compare it to meiosis, then have them write a paragraph explaining the differences and similarities between the two processes.

Show a simplified video of mitosis for visual learners.

Use one on one instruction for students who are struggling.

Using pipe cleaners or clay, have them take the index cards with the steps of mitosis explained on them, and take turns modeling with the pipe cleaners/clay what is described on each card. Have them go in order, step by step. Pick one group for each step and have them explain and display their step to the class.

Have students look at microscope slides and try to identify the different stages of cell division in the slides.