Student Traits

Oh hello there! I hope you all had a good MLK day. I know I sure did. I spent it working on the turkey farm with my family and 20,000 of these cute little guys. 

Don't stress too much yet. I'm not basing this whole blog post on my weekend at the farm (as much as I know some of you want me to). Instead I want to talk a little bit about Tomlinson's student traits, found in our text "Fulfilling the Promise of the Differentiated Classroom."

There are four student traits that teachers must be aware of and willing to take action on in order to have an efficient and effective classroom. The traits are:

1. readiness
2. interest
3. learning profile
4. affect

Readiness relates to a student's knowledge, understanding, and skill related to a particular sequence of learning.

Interest refers to those topics or pursuits that evoke curiosity and passion in a learner.

Learning profile is how students learn best.

Affect has to do with how students feel about themselves, their work, and the classroom as a whole.

Would you like to take a stroll through my brain for a quick second to see how I feel about these traits? Well, ready or not, here we go!

Students need to be ready to learn. We as teachers need to make sure that we are giving them this opportunity to excel and grow. If students aren't ready that doesn't mean push on and expect them to just "figure" it out as they go. Help them become ready. Help them become self sufficient. Help them love to learn and be ready to learn. We have the tools to make their "readiness" always ready, so what are you waiting for? One way of helping students love to learn is by teaching them about things that capture their interest. Good teachers teach to captivate minds and expand horizons. It is so important to find the best ways that our students learn so that they can reach their maximum capacity. Celebrate with the students when they succeed. Encourage them when they struggle. Find new ways to help them solve problems so that they won't have any excuses for failing. We have the power to do so much good in their lives but we have to be willing to differentiate and help them develop their best traits, so that their options will become endless. 

Adios,

Laurel (like Carl)