Types of Bread

I like bread.  Always have.  Always will.  There are about a gazillion types of bread made in the United States alone.  If bread is not eaten, it is pretty useless unless you own a penicillin manufacturing plant.  How many types of bread can you name in 30 seconds?  Just for giggles, I looked up “American Breads” and found out that there are more than white, wheat, rye, and pumpernickel.  Have you ever tried Bulkie Roll, a New England region sandwich roll?  How about Parker House Roll, which is made by flattening the center of a ball of dough with a rolling pin (Mom’s discipline utensil of choice in 1965) and then folding over the oval?  How about Pullman Loaf or Scali Bread?  Why are there so many different types of bread?  For the same reason that there are different makes and models of cars, different flavors of ice cream, different types of shoes, and different manufacturers of golf clubs – to meet the needs of all.  If breads never evolved, we would still be eating Johnny cakes.  I suspect that we will see more types of bread on the market as the tastes of people change.  Not everyone wants the white bread.

Here’s a shocker – there are many types of learners in your classroom.  Did you notice them?  There are four primary learning styles not including a well-placed rolling pin on the buttocks of a seven year old boy who chose not to clean his room (dang, that hurt).  Visual Learners prefer to see the content and love to see graphics within highly visual presentations.  Auditory Learners prefer recitations and hearing information rather than seeing it.  Reading/Writing Learners  learn best when reading and writing (hence, the name) and love to interact with the text and annotated sheets.  Kinesthetic Learners love hands-on and learn best by doing.  What type of learner are you?  I guarantee that in any of your class periods, you will have a mix of learning styles.  The question is – how do you provide for them?  It is vital to differentiate your methods and assessments. If not, you will never catch them all.  How do you do this?  Look at the root word DIFFERENTIATED. Do not do the same thing day after day after day!  Simply put,  attend to the learning needs of your students!   Let the student differences shape how you go about things – have multiple materials, offer multiple options for assignments and assessments, flexible groupings, allow the kids to help design products, let them express what they have learned in various ways, use tiered assignments, use a variety of assessments and throw the dang scantron out the window. Utilize rubrics, respond to student interests, encourage student investigation, find what makes them tick.  Differentiation is more than strategies; it is a way of thinking…maybe out of your own learning style.  Remember that you’re not teaching yourself, but others who may not learn like you to.  Not everybody wants the white bread.