Differentiation

When I first started teaching, it was all I could do to figure out what systems I wanted to use. Was I going to give homework every night or give one large packet on Monday and have it due Friday? How would we figure out who would get to take out the two playground balls each recess? How would I communicate with parents in my class, many of whom didn’t speak English?

I was overwhelmed with the possibilities and drove my students a bit batty with my constantly changing systems. I had been trained to look at each child as an individual and meet his/her specific needs. Yeah, it all sounded good but in the moment I was not thinking about how to meet the needs of each child in my classroom. A colleague told me it takes three years to get settled and I found that to be just about right.

By the end of my first three years, I was feeling settled within my classroom. I had systems that worked for my students, their parents and me. I was feeling confident and I was repeating some lessons, doing them better each time. It was then that I began to think about differentiation and how to meet the multiple and varied needs of all those little people sitting in front of me.

Whenever you feel ready to start differentiating in your classroom, I highly recommend reading, Strategies for Differentiating Instruction by Julia L. Roberts and Tracy F. Inman.

The first few chapters of this book provide a great explanation for why teachers should differentiate. The authors draw examples from every day life and make a compelling case for changing our teaching to meet each child’s needs.

The authors then offer some practical ways to differentiate. I particularly enjoyed their chapter on Venn Diagrams. This is a tool that most teachers already use. A little bit of tweaking can make it a tool that can challenge higher level thinkers while still including students who are at the beginning stages of learning a concept. All students can be involved in studying the same subject, but in a different way. Students can then learn from each other as they share their work. All students will be engaged in the work they are doing yet all will still feel part of the larger lesson.

I was also very glad to see their chapter on Bloom’s Taxonomy. Since national testing currently focuses on the first few levels of the taxonomy, teachers are often unfamiliar with how to design experiences that address the higher levels. Roberts and Inman offer many examples that will help teachers become more familiar with this tool.

Using Venn Diagrams is another way to engage all students in the same topic yet provide more depth and complexity for those who are ready for it. While employing differentiation, I have always worked to keep my students engaged in the same topics at the same time. I think it builds community because students have common ground to share. I recently visited a Montessori classroom and I asked about this sense of community. Since the model of Montessori is that all students work at their own pace, often on different topics, I wondered how the teachers built community. The teacher I spoke with said that even in their classrooms, the students come together a few times a day to engage in a group activity or experience. This builds community, trust, and energy in the classroom.

Of course, when one has different students engaging in different activities, the real question is assessment. How does one compare apples to oranges? Roberts and Inman see rubrics as the solution and they provide many samples in their book for teachers to use. One school I was at used narrative reports in place of report cards. This allowed the teacher to write about each child’s work, their strengths, and their challenges without needing to compare apples to apples. It is time consuming but maybe if we are differentiating to the fullest, then the students’ report cards should be differentiated as well.

Throughout the book the Roberts and Inman repeat that a teacher’s expectations should be continuous progress for all students. I would add “in all areas” to that as well. As a teacher I have always felt that “continuous progress” is a goal for me too. This book provides many ideas that will help teachers in their journey to continually improve their practice.