Transitioning into a Differentiated Classroom

Our Childhood

How many people remember being taught with the whole group? I do. For my elementary experience, I only had two subjects in those six years that provided some sort of differentiation. In third grade, our teacher split my classroom into two groups for our weekly spelling tests. In fifth grade, our teachers swapped classes for math. In both subjects, I knew where I sat: I was advanced in reading/spelling and slower in math.

Why Differentiate?

When starting to differentiate your classroom, it can be difficult and you might change things periodically if things don't seem to be quite right. This strategy is very beneficial to both you and your students. Differentiation allows you to target all the different needs and abilities of your students. It can benefit you directly by also allowing to see information in a different light and explain information in various ways.

"If you cannot explain it simply, then you don't understand it well enough."--Albert Einstein

7 Steps to High-End

Katherine Gavin and Karen Moylan have summarized seven steps to transforming your class in their article "7 Steps to High-End Learning."

1. Select an appropriate task: make sure that what you teach is worthy of being taught.
2. Increase expectations for all students: just because your students cannot complete a task in the same way does not mean that they are unable to complete a task. Do not lower expectations because some students may struggle with a certain format.
3. Facilitate class discussions about the concepts: class discussions can allow students to see different ideas or different ways to come to the same answer.
4. Encourage all students to communicate their thinking in writing: writing allows students to try explaining their ideas and feelings in ways that others can better understand.
5. Offer additional support: this article talks specifically about hint cards, but there are so many more ways to incorporate additional help. Help can be tutoring, a friend in the classroom, posters around the room, etc.
6. Provide extended challenges: these allow students an opportunity to practice more on a specific task.
7. Use formative assessment to inform instruction: this allows teachers to modify their instruction throughout the learning process.