In Step 1 you will be introduced to tiered instruction through two practice dilemmas. The first dilemma focuses on a pre-k teacher who is considering whether to use tiered instruction to promote children’s social emotional development and address challenging behaviors. The second dilemma is focused on a pre-k teacher who is considering whether to use tiered instruction to improve children’s academic learning in language and literacy.
Meet Emily and Michelle. Follow the instructions in Activity 7.1a and watch Videos 7.1 and 7.2 to learn about Emily and Michelle’s dilemmas.
Video 7.1: The teacher’s viewpoint- Social emotional development
Emily, a pre-K teacher, shares a dilemma about whether to use tiered instruction to promote children’s social emotional development and address challenging behaviors (running time: 1 min., 9 sec.).
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Emily:
I’m the lead teacher in a blended Head Start-public Pre-K classroom with four-year-old children. Two of the children have developmental delays and receive special education services. Several other children in my class are not eligible for special education, but they have difficulties following classroom routines and getting along with other children. I also have one child who has regular meltdowns and occasionally is aggressive with the other children. All of the children need my attention, but some just need it more than others. It’s sometimes difficult to figure out how to meet everybody’s needs at the same time. Last year, my program adopted a new tiered approach that is supposed to help me organize the learning environment in a way that promotes children’s social-emotional development. I’m just not sure how this will work and whether it will be better than what I’m already doing.
Video 7.2: The teacher’s viewpoint- Academic learning
Michelle, a child care teacher, shares a dilemma about whether to use tiered instruction to improve children’s academic learning in language and literacy (running time: 1 min. 39 sec.).
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Michelle:
I’m the lead teacher in one of the 4-year-old classrooms in a child care center. There are 18 children in my classroom, along with myself and Ms. Laurinda, my teaching assistant. When you enter my classroom you notice immediately that this is a place that supports literacy learning in young children. You’ll see labels on almost everything in the room, art work with the children’s dictation on the walls, a book corner, and letter and print materials in every single center, including the art center! I also use a curriculum and teaching activities that support children’s language and literacy learning, along with other skills. I believe that all of the children in my class benefit from these activities, but I can tell that some are learning key literacy concepts faster than others. For example, most of the children have learned the letter names and sounds I’ve introduced since the beginning of the year, but some of the children have not learned these concepts yet. I also have concerns about several other children in terms of their language development. My program recently adopted a new tiered approach to academic learning that includes a formative assessment component, which is new for me. The assessment results are supposed to help me plan instruction for all of the children and figure out which children need additional interventions. The approach sounds more complicated than what I’m doing now, but I’d be willing to use it if I thought it would help all of the children learn, especially those who struggle the most to learn key skills. I just need more information.