Math Post week 4

Greetings everyone!
 This week what I found most challenging was trying to understand the curriculum. I do not mean simply understanding what is written in the document, instead what I mean is trying to understand how to transform those words into action. Maybe I am missing something, (which, knowing me, is probably the case) but I have become rather confused as of late. Prior to the start of the year, if you were to discuss the curriculum with me, I would simply think that it is basically the 'rule book' on what I need to teach my students and in what order I need to go in order for there to be a natural progression, and to avoid complications and confusion. However, if you were to discuss the curriculum with me know I would be a lot less certain of about my previous convictions. I think this is the case due in large part to the fact I have recently learned about I.E.P.s, which stands for Individual Education plan. While I always knew that not all students are the same, it has only recently come to my attention that there can be great variances between students in the same grade. In the past I always thought that if a student has not fully mastered the requirements laid out by the curriculum, then that student would fail and would therefore have to re-do the grade. The student would consequently be held back until they were seen as having a good enough grasp of the tools necessary to move on to the next grade. Hence I was led to believe that students in the same grade would roughly be at the same level and possessing the same tools and skills, in terms of mathematics. I know look back at myself as being very naïve. I have been informed that there could be students with learning disabilities and or physical disabilities, among a range of other factors that might affect the learning process. These factors can affect how they read, or listen, or process information. furthermore, as is only logical, not all students are to be assessed in the same manner. Now, having been made aware of things like I.E.P.s and such, it makes me a little nervous as a teacher, because I am not exactly sure as to how to transform my previous philosophy of equality to equity. By that I mean: instead of just assuming all prior knowledge is retained, using the curriculum as a strict rule book, and only moving forward at a steady pace, how can I still make sure to do a refresher on skills that might have been forgotten, while at the same time accomplishing the tasks set out by the curriculum, while at the same time adjusting the pace for students individually? Challenging as it may seem, I am ready and willing to learn! I am all ears and I hope that the near future will hold the answers I am looking for.