Clint

Differentiating instruction can be challenging. Students educational strengths and

weaknesses can be widely varied, making it a difficult task to meet each students
needs in any given lesson. Math is one such subject area where student skill levels
can be very different. Some students have their basic math facts so well mastered
that completing more complex tasks isnt hindered. Other students have a logical
mathematical mind and math just seems to click for them. Then there are the
students who really struggle with math facts; they just cant seem to get them
down. Every other area of math feels painful because they dont have the building
blocks mastered. Still other students have no trouble solving equations but when a
story problem is introduced, they are stopped dead in their tracks.
Introduce:
Before I present my argument, let me define what is learning.
LEARNING is Any relatively permanent change in behavior, it occurs as a result of
the experience. Learning has occurred when an individual behave, react, and
respond as a result of experience with one of different ways of how one behaved
before.
INDIVIDUAL The smallest unit of society-forming. In the social sciences, individual
means also the smallest part of community groups that cannot be divided into
smaller parts. Basically, each individual has different characteristics. Individuals
who join each other to form groups or communities. The individual will have the
same characteristics with the group where he joined.
INDIVIDUAL LEARNING All individuals learn- whether they do it consciously or
unconsciously. It is a fundamental requirement of existence. Individual learning is
defined as the capacity to build knowledge through individual reflection about
external stimuli and sources, and through the personal re- elaboration of individual
knowledge and experience in light of interaction with others and The environment.
There are several advantages when it comes to individual learning. :
1. Close learning gaps
In any classroom, there often are significant learning gaps between individuals. The
challenge is to assist struggling students while simultaneously engaging gifted
learners, but that is exactly what individualized instruction aims to do: delivering
material at an optimal pace that caters to each students interests and abilities.
Persistence in difficult topic areas while moving at a just right pace through areas
in which the student excels is the way to close learning gaps, and bring everyone to
their highest personal level of achievement.

2. Build confidence in students

One of the main reasons that struggling students continue to struggle is that they
lose confidence in themselves and their intellectual capabilities. Individualized
instruction can help students gain self-confidence as learners, because lessons are
tailored to their specific abilities. As students gradually build comprehension and
mastery of more complicated material, they gain the self-assurance that they have
the skills they need to be successful. This, in turn, helps them progress more
quickly.
3. Greater engagement for teachers and students
Implementation of an individualized learning approach to education has been shown
to be a more engaging experience for both teachers and students. Instead of
standing in the front of the classroom and explaining new concepts, stopping to
pause as students (hopefully) calmly and patiently raise their hands, teachers have
more opportunities to interact with students one-on-one when using individualized
instruction in their classrooms. Self-directed, more independent learning frees up
opportunities for teachers to talk with students, assess where they are
academically, and how their individual learning plan can be used to achieve
maximum results.
4. Students work at their own pace
One of the greatest strengths of individualized instruction is that it gives students
the opportunity to work at different paces and on different areas without affecting
the learning of their peers. Gifted students may work ahead while students who are
struggling in a particular area can take the time they need to review and master a
concept they may have previously not fully understood. Best of all? This can all
happen in the same classroom.