Kathy Tuchman Glass

Few authors of books on differentiated instruction address the need not only for various strategies to teach students with various learning styles but also the need for a wide spectrum of materials that will provide the diversity needed for various student needs. Glass gets it. She provides not only a structure for thinking about differentiation and how the classroom teacher can build a repertoire and method of teaching diverse learners but incorporates a wide variety of materials and projects in the menu of the classroom. She is also one of the few that recognizes that a teacher librarian might have a role, albeit a limited one. She recommends that the teacher ask the librarian to gather materials and also someone who can assist students in searing the Internet. Perhaps one could use this resource as a stimulus to the world of media and then grab a larger role of co-teaching so that the differentiation coached by two adults would really stimulate every learner as they push toward excellence. Thus, if differentiation is of interest in your school and teachers begin to see that it does not work in an information-poor, media-poor, and Interne=less environment, then the teacher librarian moves in with the rich resources along with learning skills, information literacy, and technology knowhow to boost student engagement, involve every learner at their level, and bring the entire group toward much higher levels of understanding and skill. We have yet to find a differentiation book that reaches out to co-teach with the various specialists such as teacher librarians and teacher technologists, but this one is a step in the right direction.… (més)