Join us as we explore the art of differentiation in education, revealing how personalised teaching strategies can effectively meet individual student needs and foster inclusivity, transforming classroom dynamics and empowering every student to reach their full potential.
Join us as we explore the art of differentiation in education, revealing how personalised teaching strategies can effectively meet individual student needs and foster inclusivity, transforming classroom dynamics and empowering every student to reach their full potential.
Our guests in this episode - Dr Penny Round and Madaline Curtain dive into the essential teaching strategy of differentiation. They explore how adapting lessons to cater to the unique needs of every student creates a nurturing educational environment.
Together, we explore:
With actionable tips and valuable resources, this episode aims to empower educators to adapt their teaching methods to meet the needs of all students, ensuring every individual’s potential is maximised through innovative and personalised educational strategies. Join us today and Let’s Talk Teaching.
Resources:
Other suggested resources:
Special Guests:
Dr Penny Round
Lecturer in Inclusive and Special Education - Monash University
Madaline Curtin
Learning Specialist and Foundation Teacher - Cranbourne Carlisle Primary School, Cranbourne
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We are grateful for the support of Monash University’s Faculty of Education in producing this podcast.
[00:00:00] Bec: This podcast is recorded on the land of the Boon Wurrung people of the Eastern Kulin Nation. We'd like to pay our respect to elders past and present and acknowledge that this land was stolen and never ceded. Welcome to Let's Talk Teaching, the podcast created by teachers for teachers. I'm Associate Professor Rebecca Cooper, Assistant Dean of Initial Teacher Education at Monash University's Faculty of Education, and I'll be your host for this series.
[00:00:28] Bec: Our aim is to create a conversational series that's informative, engaging, and relevant to your teaching practice. Joined by academics and teaching alumni from Monash University, we'll be exploring the challenges, issues, and experiences you might be facing in and out of the classroom. Drawing on their personal experiences to provide you with valuable insights into the world of teaching.
[00:00:53] Bec: Today, we're joined by Dr. Penny Round, Lecturer in Inclusive and Special Education at Monash University, and [00:01:00] Maddy Curtin, a Learning Specialist and Foundation Teacher at Cranbourne Carlisle Primary School, to explore differentiation, from tailoring teaching methods, Documenting progress and setting goals tailored to each student's unique needs.
[00:01:14] Bec: They share practical strategies for building an inclusive, supportive, and effective learning environment for all students. This episode is a must listen for teachers seeking actionable ways to connect with every student in their classroom. Let's jump in. Welcome and thank you so much for joining me.
[00:01:33] Bec: Penny, I'm gonna start with you. What do we actually mean when we say differentiation? Thanks,
[00:01:40] Penny: Bec. It's really about the teacher knowing their students really well. And then when they're doing their lesson planning, they factor in every student in their classroom and they talk about um, content. process and product and the learning environment.
[00:01:55] Penny: So, the content is what you are teaching, then the process is how [00:02:00] you are teaching it, and the product is how you assess it, and then obviously the learning environment. And so it's a strength based approach where the teachers know their students and try to factor in the needs of their students in their planning to have the best outcomes.
[00:02:14] Penny: for their students. And it's a social model of education and inclusion where the teacher takes responsibility. So if this child isn't able to self regulate, what can they do in their planning? What's not in their planning? What's missing that will help support that child?
[00:02:31] Bec: And so what sort of needs would a teacher take into consideration when they're thinking?
[00:02:35] Bec: from a differentiation point of
[00:02:36] Penny: view. I think every, you know, need that from a child who's gifted and needs, you know, less scaffolding maybe, and a contract of learning so they're not bored and disengaged, or a child who can be gifted with twice exceptionalities gifted with dyslexia or ADHD to any child, every child has some need, and [00:03:00] then to the child with more complex learning difficulties or disabilities.
[00:03:04] Penny: And so it's really for every child in the classroom because every child has their own needs.
[00:03:08] Madaline: Yeah. And I think what it would look like in a practical sense in the classroom, it's looking at not necessarily their academic needs, but their needs for them as a. little person or a big person, how can they access the curriculum in a way that meets their individual needs?
[00:03:26] Madaline: And for some students, it might be a social needs, it might be confidence. So, thinking about all that, that particular task that I'm expecting them to do, that might Um, so it might be as simple as just bringing them back to the floor, giving them one on one instructions so that they've heard it again, and just getting them to maybe even say the instructions back to you before they go to their table.
[00:03:53] Madaline: Whereas everyone else might be able to just go straight away,
[00:03:57] Bec: but
[00:03:57] Madaline: they may just need that little bit of [00:04:00] reassurance that they've understood it and they know what to do before going off. So you really have to. Know your students. That's probably key. So, know
[00:04:08] Bec: your students. Know your students. How do you get to know your students at such a level that you can really understand what their needs are?
[00:04:17] Bec: Maddy, where do you start with that? It's
[00:04:18] Madaline: probably the first thing that you would do before you touch curriculum. Um, so at the start of the year, for example, is really, really important, but even throughout the term as well, you've got to make sure that you know your students and you have that relationship because if you don't have that, it makes the curriculum side of things really challenging.
[00:04:39] Madaline: And if you haven't got that relationship, it can make the learning a little bit rickety. And you can start getting some cracks, and that's when you can have some troubles throughout the rest of the year. So at the start of the year, you do a lot of building like the climate in your classroom, our expectations in the classroom, but expectations of the teacher as well.
[00:04:58] Madaline: So what the students expect of the [00:05:00] teacher. So for some students, they might expect the teacher to use a particular tone of voice because they might find. that a really loud voice can make them feel a particular way, or it might be too much for them. So I always like to talk about, you know, these expectations are not just of you, they're of all of us.
[00:05:17] Madaline: You expect me to listen to you, so I expect the same thing back. Because it's a relationship that they build in the classroom, but also in the wider community. So I think at the start of the, uh, That's really, really important. You get to know their likes, their dislikes, and then you can, they kind of open up a little bit more and then you get to know them as a learner and you get to see some of their strengths in terms of like literacy or numeracy.
[00:05:40] Madaline: Some might have a really good, um, social, emotional understanding, but they may not be as strong in other academic areas. Some might really excel in PE or specialist areas. And those are the things that you. pull in and build on when they're needing support in [00:06:00] other areas, if that makes sense. Yeah, it does.
[00:06:02] Madaline: Where
[00:06:02] Bec: else can you look though, to get more detail, more info about your
[00:06:05] Penny: students? Well, I suppose, because Maddie's a prep teacher, a foundation teacher, and my teaching was primarily a year 12 and heading up the inclusion program. And so for me, it would be looking at, as a teacher, looking at what are existing reports, um, talking to other teachers who taught this person last year, what can I learn from them?
[00:06:26] Penny: And just even taking in, again, as a VCE teacher, taking in some preliminary assessments that are just toe in the water so that you get to know them and, and really importantly, to know their zone of proximal development, which I know people get sick of hearing, but it's really important. And so it's, observation, just seeing how are they reacting?
[00:06:49] Penny: Are they starting the task? Are they looking wiggly for, for you with, you know, are they chatting? Are they seeming responsive? And, and so, I mean, there's a range of [00:07:00] assessment that would have probably already exist, except maybe at the foundation year? Well,
[00:07:05] Madaline: in the foundation years, we don't have the, the benchmarking data, you know, they're sitting at this particular level in the curriculum.
[00:07:11] Madaline: However, we do have kinder transition reports. I know last year when we were looking at our foundations coming in, we actually went to visit some of the kinders where we just had a bit of an inkling that There might be some students of maybe higher needs that we probably needed to investigate or some students that came on transition days.
[00:07:30] Madaline: They might've done a science morning or a reading morning and we kind of picked up that maybe some additional supports are needed to support them. So we would actually meet their kinder teachers because it's important to know what were you doing with them to make their experiences successful? How can we make that consistent in, in the curriculum?
[00:07:48] Madaline: in the classroom because going from kinder to school is very different. And for one of my students, I actually went and visited them in kinder and sat down and we made a Christmas tree out of buttons. And I think [00:08:00] that really made the relationship because they saw me in their safe space and I could just chat to them, get to know them on their own, give them that little bit of time.
[00:08:10] Madaline: And I, I was able to find out that there was a quiet space in kinder that they like to get back into the green zone and that they like. people not too close to them and I was able to see how they were interacting. So all of that was food for thought when I'm putting in place strategies in our setting.
[00:08:28] Penny: I think teachers are pretty good. They've got a built in radar of thinking this child, something's going on for this child and just, you know, paying attention. And I think a good teacher is always sort of turned on to, you know, being alert and think, what's going on? Am I overthinking this? Is something going on at home?
[00:08:49] Penny: And, you know, parents can raise issues as well. And, um, that, that something's happening at home that they need to know about. And, but I think teachers have a pretty good radar and I think they always have a good starting point [00:09:00] in their lesson planning. And then it's just getting to know the students and the, I need to adjust that.
[00:09:04] Penny: Yep. So I think it's just about having that real willingness to, for the teacher to take responsibility and think I need. I need to change something.
[00:09:14] Bec: You're talking about the notion of things evolving over the unit, over the term, over a year, all that sort of thing. So I'm also thinking that you're con the kids are evolving too.
[00:09:24] Bec: So you're constantly taking in more information for them. So you've got this information coming at you all the time. All the time. What does that mean you sort of actually do to differentiate? What are the sorts of adjustments
[00:09:35] Penny: and things that you could make? Yeah. So for me, as a secondary teacher, and even people often think it's really complicated at the year 12 level because we've got study designs, but they are not inflexible documents.
[00:09:48] Penny: And I know there are maybe more limitations, but for me, it was having students with an oral assessment just saying, well, you don't have to do it in front of the class. You can do it by video. Let's [00:10:00] negotiate how you do it. You can do it sitting next to me and you don't have to look at me, just read your notes because part of the assessment is content, not the delivery.
[00:10:09] Penny: And just knowing that and, and, and straight away, again, as an English teacher, it would be saying, okay, I'm going to change my scaffolding. I'm going to reduce task demand so you don't have to do the same amount. discreetly done, or I'm going to give extra reminders about something and, and making sure that you are reading the situation all the time.
[00:10:31] Penny: I might be giving somebody extra time, just, just as simple as somebody who doesn't deal well under pressure or processing, they just need extra time. And as soon as you take pressure off and even just saying, we will do it, teachers listening and saying, what is, what's going on? What do we need to do? And that, you know, important we.
[00:10:53] Madaline: So that they're not feeling alone. I think that's really important. I know a lot of teachers [00:11:00] probably I wonder whether they are differentiating, but there's so many things that you do actually on the fly. So at the moment with our new disability inclusion profiles, we're having to make sure that any adjustments that we're making, that we are documenting them to support students who are going through the DI process and Sorry, Maddie, DI?
[00:11:19] Madaline: Disability inclusion, sorry. And I, no, I was thinking about a student, I was like, Oh, I don't know if I, I do much, but then just those little things of wait time. Giving them a question saying, I want to come back to have a think, because if I called on them straight away, they're still processing what I'm asking and you can see it on their face that they're still kind of grappling with what they're being asked to do.
[00:11:43] Madaline: So little things like wait time, having a visual and all of these adjustments we tend to do naturally. So thinking about them can be, you know, not very natural because we're not quite sure what we're actually doing until we kind of. I don't know [00:12:00] if you can kind of reflect on the situation, but, you know, these adjustments don't just support students that have, say, additional needs, they actually support a whole breadth of students.
[00:12:09] Madaline: Of students, particularly EAL students where English is an additional language. They require visuals to be able to pair your spoken words with a visual using gestures. I picked up some sign language throughout my placement experiences. So sometimes I'll sign like toilet or finish or hungry or thank you just so they've got that extra.
[00:12:30] Madaline: bit of information to help them understand the situation. So I think those adjustments, they're just pivotal, but I think we do a lot of them naturally as well.
[00:12:38] Bec: Yeah. When you were talking before you made me, um, and you were saying, you know, giving someone extra time to think, you made me think of a colleague I used to work with and I had the privilege to go watch him teach quite often.
[00:12:49] Bec: And VCE classes as well. And he had this fabulous technique where he used to say to students, I'm, I'm throwing out the question to you. But I'm not going to take your answers for [00:13:00] five minutes. We're going to do something else. And if you need to ask the person next to you to clarify something, you've got this time.
[00:13:06] Bec: And then he would do something else with them, put something on the board and then he'd come back and say, right, now it's time to answer that question. But he was doing that for everybody. Yep. But I want to pick up on what you were saying before about documenting it. What does that look like? It
[00:13:19] Madaline: sounds like a big process, but it's really not.
[00:13:23] Madaline: Sometimes it can be, depending on the particular needs of the student, but every teacher will have their planner. And to make sure that you are catering for the needs of all students in your classroom, it's really key to make sure that the students are featured within your planners. And it's really helpful that if a replacement teacher came in, or if someone had to cover your lessons, they should be able to pick up your planner and know exactly what the students are meant to be doing.
[00:13:48] Madaline: Um, and who needs what adjustments. So an adjustment might be as simple as just putting a student's name and saying they just need a wobble stool when they're sitting at a table because they just need to wiggle while they're working. [00:14:00] If they didn't have that, then they may be. If they were sensory seeking, they might sensory seek off another child, or they might get up and wander around because they just need that wiggle.
[00:14:09] Madaline: So just putting that little note in there can make this lesson and their learning very successful. So you've got your planning for some students, particularly those that do have, say, a diagnosed learning difference or may just have a learning difference. It doesn't have to be diagnosed, but. One that you do want to make sure that you're putting in place strategies to support them.
[00:14:28] Madaline: They would be on an individual education plan and that's where you would set up two, maybe three goals and you document your adjustments and that way you can have a conversation with parents and say, These are your, your child's goals, these are the adjustments I'm making, this is how they've gone. So you are making sure that you're putting in place, actively putting in place strategies to support their learning.
[00:14:50] Penny: And I think the Disability Inclusion Profile is for students with more complex needs who meet a criteria for additional funding. And again, it's all strength based, but every school in [00:15:00] Australia, all of our schools, also has the responsibility now of the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data, the NCCD, which requires documentation for that student and the concept of reasonable adjustment for all students.
[00:15:13] Penny: And they talk about an impugned disability so they don't have to have a diagnosis. It's more respectful now of teachers being able to say this child may not have this diagnosis, but a lot of their characteristics or their learning needs Seem to present that way. So I'm going to make these adjustments and because the parents don't have to sign off on it It's obviously ideal if they can The teacher can make those decisions those professional decisions.
[00:15:40] Penny: Obviously parent involvement is always yes ideal But it does mean that we have to have documentation And I think at the secondary level, teachers don't necessarily have as much documentation in terms of lesson planning as maybe at the primary level, but I think still there's always reporting there's, you know, the [00:16:00] Victorian curriculum has all our levels from level D to levels C.
[00:16:04] Penny: 10 sorry, to levels A to D for those students who are toward foundation. And they've got lots of really good pieces of information in there to just let people know. And you know sometimes it's just people need manipulatives. They need concrete objects. They need, you know. examples of something so that they can model themselves and their work on that.
[00:16:27] Penny: And, and so there's some really good ideas on a lot of our, you know, websites. The professional standards for teachers has really good, you know, illustrations of practice as well.
[00:16:36] Madaline: And the department's website where you might find the literacy teaching toolkit, you'll also have the, uh, I think it's diversity.
[00:16:43] Madaline: I think it is. Um, there's one that has lots of, Modules on different forms of dyslexia or, you know, how, how can you cater for students that are presenting with, with these particular things, but also you have with the curriculum, it's fantastic because it's a [00:17:00] developmental curriculum. So when I discuss with parents, maybe students who may not be, say, if you had a child that is in grade one and they may not be performing at the grade one level.
[00:17:10] Madaline: I really make it. It's very clear that it's about growth. It's not about the level that you're at. Yes, it is ideal for them to be in level one and be performing at level one, but it's about the growth that they've made that year. So if a student came in and they were say, for numeracy, they were sitting at maybe a level C, but then at the end of the year, they're now sitting at a level D, they've made 12 months growth.
[00:17:31] Madaline: That's incredible. And that's what needs to be celebrated. And learning and growth looks different for every child. Sometimes it's slower. Yeah. Yeah. And that's okay. And sometimes it's faster and that's okay, but we still need to be actively supporting these students to make that growth. Another really good resource is the ABLES curriculum, which is on the department as well.
[00:17:53] Madaline: And what's really good about that is you do a bit of a questionnaire about some characteristics that the student's presenting, and then it [00:18:00] prints out or develops a report and it explains what level on the Victorian curriculum they are at. For example, they might be level B. What that means, and then strategies or adjustments.
[00:18:11] Madaline: And that has been really helpful for me supporting a student who is working at that kind of level. What does that look like in the classroom? And it means that they could be joining in with songs and rhyming and reacting. And that was really helpful for me to go, Oh, these are some learning experiences that I can provide for that student, because this is at their point of need, their zone of proximal development.
[00:18:34] Bec: How do you talk about this with, with the student themselves?
[00:18:37] Penny: I think it's part of that relationship and development, that if students trust you, especially students with more complex needs, if they trust you, you know, you've won them over and, um, you know, they'll be more, Inclined to risk take in good ways and so it's really the importance of developing that rapport and taking ownership And then when you set the tone of the classroom, you know, we're [00:19:00] all different and we've all got our own program So it's okay for so and so to have a fidget spinner and you don't need to have one because it's your program and and other students Start to come along with that and because when it's a strength based approach and you are saying You are so good at this and you find something that they're really good at and you really reinforce it, that they, then everybody sees everybody's strengths.
[00:19:22] Penny: And, and then, I mean, you really always want to have those high expectations and know, I know you can learn to read. I know I can get you to be doing this if we work together and, and just it helps students and students want to, I think, become involved in that if they feel they've had a little bit of success.
[00:19:42] Madaline: If you've got their confidence, then they're willing to have a go. I find that that's key with a lot of students. And I love building the culture where we just celebrate everyone's work. You know, we were holding up coloring today and one student tried their very best to color in the lines and it looks completely different to [00:20:00] another student's, but we held it up and I said, what are we saying?
[00:20:02] Madaline: They're like, well done. They're celebrating. And that student's just, you know, in awe. Last year we were celebrating when we took our jumpers off because that was a really big thing. But they all understood that that was their goal and they've achieved their goal. And that's really important because we all have different goals.
[00:20:19] Madaline: So I think also explicitly teaching students about what is a goal is really important because they know it's something they can't do yet. And it's being okay with not being able to do things yet. And we were kind of thinking about, well, how do we get students. developing individual education plans.
[00:20:38] Madaline: Getting students input looks different for every student. And so you might be developing a plan for someone who can sit there and have an oral conversation and tell you their strengths and their likes and all stuff. But then you might have some students that are, say, nonverbal. So how do you get their input?
[00:20:52] Madaline: So we've had a conversation around, do we use like PECS cards, which are picture exchange cards, or do we have pictures of their actual [00:21:00] resources and say, you know, what helps you with your learning? And they can choose the resources that are known to them. How can we make adjustments to get their student voice when developing goals for them?
[00:21:10] Penny: And I think too, that differentiation happens in every classroom, whether you're teaching it you know, select entry school, those students will still have differences, even though it's select entry and, and different personalities. And that's part of differentiation. But even at a specialist school, there's that individual planning really targeting the planning for each student for the day.
[00:21:32] Penny: And, and so differentiation occurs in Every school for every child, and I think from delivering professional learning to in service teachers, I think it's often the high ability students. We think of differentiation and we think of the students with learning challenges, but we forget that the, you know, the students who have a higher IQ, they often have the higher emotional sensitivity.
[00:21:55] Penny: And so we have to make sure that we're catering for them [00:22:00] and, um, making sure that they're engaged in their learning.
[00:22:03] Bec: So I'm going to play devil's advocate a little bit here because I can hear that you're saying I've got to differentiate my planning. I could be differentiating on the fly in the classroom while I'm teaching practice and I've got to differentiate for every kid in the class.
[00:22:15] Bec: Penny and Maddie, are you kidding me? And you want me to document
[00:22:18] Penny: it all? It's really hard. And I think, um, as somebody who started teaching in the mid eighties. It was not nearly as, you know, well documented and, and, um, but it is the job you move into now. And that's what our VIT, you know, and our professional standards for teaching says, you need to know your students.
[00:22:37] Penny: If you sign off on that every year, it is the job that it is. But it is hard. And I think, you know, we are, you know, hypervigilant every second of every day when you're writing on the board and you just think I'm just waiting for somebody to, you know, flick another student. I need to be tuned into that or what's going on.
[00:22:54] Penny: You're not okay today. So put your head on the table or okay today I'm gonna push you harder because I [00:23:00] think you can do it. It's a A lot of work, but I think that when teachers start out, and we know the statistics tell us that a lot of teachers leave within the first five years, but I think that's just when it gets easier because you start to develop your repertoire of lesson planning and so you don't have to.
[00:23:17] Penny: build something new, you are adjusting, you get to know your classroom management approach better, you are better at talking with parents. It, yeah, it's a complex job. But you're not on your own in a school, are you Penny?
[00:23:30] Madaline: Yes. So who can you ask for help? There's so many resources available, and I definitely hear that it is hard, and there are times where you're like, This is taking a very long time, but then there's other times where you're just getting it done so quickly because you're in a routine.
[00:23:45] Madaline: And I think at the end of the day, when you become more experienced, I found probably after my third year, I just, some things just clicked. Like I just could, could do things a bit more quicker. And it was because I was learning that problem solving. I think differentiation [00:24:00] is problem solving. It's going, this is not quite working.
[00:24:04] Madaline: What can I do about it? And it might also be, like you said, with the Behaviour management, Penny, this particular student's behaving in a particular way, what's happening, what's causing this behaviour, because behaviour always has a reason, there's always. An underlying cause to that behavior. It could be that they're bored.
[00:24:22] Madaline: They they're, they're doing their work, they're bored. So there's someone there that I can poke, you know? Um, so it could be that, and that does happen. Um, or, you know, pacing around the room, it's kind of like. What are we, what are we doing about that behavior? Because that's not going to help them. I just think it's a problem solving approach, but it can't be done in isolation and differentiation is not done in isolation.
[00:24:46] Madaline: So when you're planning, collaborative planning with your team, and when you're sitting and planning curriculum, going to the curriculum and saying, right, if we had our general cohort, generally let's plan to the three levels, let's plan to [00:25:00] below our, um, our level. So if we're in foundation, let's plan at a level D level at a foundation level and at a year one level.
[00:25:08] Madaline: So that way we've got three entry points, but then you've got your outliers that might be on. Um, maybe a lower curricula or maybe a higher curricula. So, that's where the teacher, the individual teacher, will then also look at those students. But you've got your whole team and your whole team has a whole heap of experience and skills.
[00:25:27] Madaline: But you also have colleagues and you've got assistant principals. If you're struggling with someone, like a student's behavior, I know that I've got an assistant principal. I can go in and say, hey, this is what I'm experiencing. And they might go, have you thought of this? Nope. Didn't even think of that.
[00:25:43] Madaline: Try it and it's worked. That's an adjustment that I need to make sure I do for that student. But um, I really want to touch on specialist schools because I think they are an incredible resource as well. And I was lucky to do placement in specialist schools when I was here doing my degree and I [00:26:00] loved it.
[00:26:00] Madaline: It was probably my most favorite time going on placement. And I learned so much. I learned how to conduct a parent teacher interview. I learned how to speak to students. In, you know, to support their behavior. I learned how to work with students on an individual level. That was fantastic. And I really wish that there was more communication and collaboration with specialist schools because they are an incredible resource.
[00:26:26] Madaline: And I just don't know why there's not that partnership. You know, why isn't there a sister school that we can go to and say, I've got a student that's presenting with these particular needs. For example, how do I teach a student to use picture communication? How do I teach that? You know, what can I do if I have a student that is non verbal and they're using a communication device?
[00:26:48] Madaline: Because a lot of the time, some teachers feel that they weren't taught that when they were at university, because they might not have specialised in special education, or, um, it's just something that they [00:27:00] haven't, like, learned. Being taught before. So where do we go when none of our expertise can tell us yet?
[00:27:05] Madaline: Where can we go? And I think specialist schools are an amazing resource
[00:27:08] Penny: and I think schools all have, within them. They've got, you know, assistant principals, but they all have a curriculum coordinator. Mm. Or a year level person. And you know, like you, I would always say as a team, let's sit down, we're developing the curriculum for year nine.
[00:27:24] Penny: What are we going to, to do and, and make sure it's a, you have to be reflexive sometimes because you think this is not working, I'm, you know, reading the situation. But often it's not that complicated because it is, I mean, our first port of call is change the scaffolding. Give them extra time to do something, reduce task demand, it's, it's often not that complicated.
[00:27:47] Penny: And then it's, again, it's those knowing your students and also knowing what they like and dislike and using those to, for their learning, you know, for a child with autism. If their interest is cats, well [00:28:00] they can count cats, they can read about cats, they can have a reward about cats. When you've done this for 10 minutes, when you've done your maths for 10 minutes, then you can read this book for 10 minutes, and we call that a when and then, and um, or you know, um.
[00:28:13] Penny: First and then. First and then. And so, knowing the students to know how, how best to support them and to engage them. Yep. Sounds to me like it's know your students and start with something simple and small. And work from there. Absolutely. And sometimes you do have to overthink it, but sometimes you don't.
[00:28:30] Penny: And, and you, all schools have great resources, whether it's your colleague or people at, you know, nice networks back at the university. I've run Penny before going,
[00:28:40] Madaline: I need help. What would you do in this situation? Or even just to debrief, because sometimes it is hard and sometimes you think I'm not doing enough.
[00:28:48] Madaline: But then I know when I was debriefing with Penny, Penny goes, but you've done this, this, this, and this. And I thought, I've not thought about that. So sometimes. It's hard when you're in amongst it all, but when you step [00:29:00] back and you communicate, it's always important to have that person that you can talk to.
[00:29:03] Penny: Great resources online, you know, Teacher Pays Teacher, Twinkle, which is Twinkle without an E on the end, has fabulous resources for those. Top teachers, great. Yep, really good resources. Simply Kinder has great resources for children at the kinder level, but also then for some students with higher needs at older.
[00:29:22] Penny: There's a whole lot of great resources that we can find. You know, by Googling. Good old Google. Good old Google.
[00:29:30] Bec: Well, thank you so much for a really fantastic chat and so many great ideas about differentiation for learning in the classroom. Thank you. On the next episode, we dig a little deeper and explore how we can create supportive learning environments for all students.
[00:29:46] Bec: Join me as I speak with Dr. Kristen Reimer. And Peter Langham, who bring their extensive experience to the table, discussing the importance of trust, understanding, and support in shaping environments where [00:30:00] students facing challenges can succeed. We also explore the synergy between restorative justice and trauma informed practices, which offer insights on creating nurturing spaces for all students.
[00:30:12] Bec: We've included a wealth of practical resources in our show notes that support your teaching journey. Be sure to check them out. If you're enjoying the show, don't forget to subscribe, rate and review, and follow us on Instagram at Monash underscore education, X at Monash education, and Facebook at Education Monash.
[00:30:33] Bec: And tell us what you thought of today's episode using the hashtag Let's Talk Teaching Podcast. We are grateful for the support of Monash University's Faculty of Education in producing this podcast. For more information on short courses and undergraduate and postgraduate study options, head to monash.
[00:30:51] Bec: edu. au forward slash education forward slash learn more. Thanks again for listening to Let's Talk [00:31:00] Teaching.