I started this site as a way to help teachers to help kids.  Like many of the people who might visit this little website about education, I attended public school long before differentiated instruction was a popular buzzword.  There are some things about differentiation that I think are great, and there are some things that I don’t entirely agree with, but that is fodder for another post.  Today, I wanted to write a bit about what I learned from my favorite teachers (I’ve changed their names to protect their privacy).

Make Me Smile

When I was in second grade, I had a wonderful teacher named Mrs. Shultz.  The year was 1976 and America was celebrating its bicentennial.  My memories of that school year include learning several patriotic songs that we sang for a school program, and Mrs. Shultz smiling at me every day when she had us stand to say the Pledge of Allegiance.  I always smiled back.  I couldn’t stop myself.  I’m sure we learned a lot of things that year, but what I remember is her kindness toward me.  I saw Mrs. Shultz many years later when I was student teaching in that same district.  I didn’t recognize her at first.  When she smiled though, I had no doubt about who she was.  I hurried over and introduced myself.  I think she was doing her best to pretend that she remembered me, but I wasn’t offended.  She seemed honestly surprised when I told her that she was one of my favorite teachers.  Mrs. Shultz taught me how important a smile can be to a child.  Thanks Mrs. Shultz.

Science Experiments for Kids

When I was in fourth grade, I was in the “science” room.  My teacher that year, Mr. Kutcher, loved science.  There were all kinds of interesting science related artifacts scattered around the room.  Mr. K (that’s what we all called him) brought in the neatest stuff to show us.  One time he even brought in some Edison cylinder phonograph recordings for us to examine.  Everyone was amazed as we listened to our teacher tell us the story of how the sounds were created.  He played them for us over and over again until we had gotten our fill.  Later that year, he showed us how to make pinhole cameras out of Quaker Oats containers.  I can still remember the day we went outside, removed the rubber bands and paper shutters, and took our very own photos of the school.  The sun was shining brightly and there was a stiff breeze blowing.  We had to hold the cameras firmly in place as they made their painfully slow exposures.  Afterward, our entire class went inside and took turns developing our photographs in a makeshift darkroom (the supply closet).  Mr. Kutcher taught me that hands on learning can be fun and still teach plenty of relevant content.  Thanks Mr. K.

Show Compassion for Others

Fifth grade was a tough year for me.  My Dad discovered that he had cancer right around the New Year.  Things got bad in a hurry, and he died in March.   I turned 11 the very next day.  Even though my Dad had worked two jobs as I was growing up, some of my best memories are of the times we had together.  I took the loss pretty hard.  My teacher that year was Mrs. Conway.  I remember turning around in the funeral home and finding her standing there, along with the other fifth grade teachers.  I also remember how kind and understanding she was as I returned to class.  It was a different time, and I was the only kid who didn’t have a Dad around anymore.  Mrs. Conway helped me to get back into the game and she taught me how important compassion can be any time you are dealing with other people.  Thanks Mrs. Conway.

Learn to Listen to Others

Middle school and high school were not my favorite times.  Some people long to go back and relive those “glory days”, but once was enough for me.  Even so, there was at least one teacher during that time who still stands out in my memory as being exceptional.  Mr. Ester was a social studies teacher in my high school.  I had reluctantly signed up for a World Religions class that he was teaching when I was in tenth grade.  It turned out that he was also a minister in his church.  He made a point of clarifying that he was not endorsing any specific religion as he taught the class though.  What makes Mr. Ester stand out in my mind is the fact that he listened.  Man, did he listen!  About once every two weeks or so, he would let the class turn into a discussion of whatever was on our minds.  The topics ranged from religion to the threat of nuclear weapons.  He never judged us, and he seemed to really enjoy the discussions.  Mr. Ester taught me how valuable it can be to connect with your students and to leave the book behind.  We learned a lot about ourselves and each other in that class.  Looking back, it reminds me a lot of The Breakfast Club with a teacher in the room.  Thanks Mr. Ester.

Develop Personal Connections

Every day that we stand in front of a class full of students, we need to remember what those students really are.  A room full of people.  There is an immense amount of pressure from above, that can drive teachers to focus solely on scores, numbers, progress, and performance.   Meeting the demands of standardized tests sometimes threatens to steal the soul out of teaching.  I hope that never happens.   People will continue searching for the best techniques to help students to achieve mastery of every required topic.  Progress is good, but stay focused.  When you have a connection with your students, I think you will find that getting them to learn and understand your lessons will be much easier.

I know what you are thinking, really I do.  Change my lesson plans that I have been using for the last five years….are you crazy?  Not as much as you would think.  By differentiating even one aspect of your lesson plans you will be able to reach and teach a higher percentage of students in your classroom.  In this post we’ll take a look at some instructional strategies for differentiating math lessons.  I’m putting the focus on math, because that seems to be a subject that teachers struggle with when it comes time to differentiate.

Fantasy Sports and Teaching Math

There are a bunch of ideas below, but I want to start with this idea because I really like it.  The video clip below gives an example of how you can make math more interesting for your students by incorporating fantasy sports into your classroom.  This is so much more engaging than watching a Powerpoint or practicing flashcards.  I just love the idea.

Click Here to see guides for using fantasy sports in your math classes that are currently available on Amazon.

Types of Differentiated Instruction

There are two types of preparation when it comes to differentiated instruction.  They are low prep and high prep.  Obviously, low prep differentiation does not take as much work from the teacher.  Whereas, high prep differentiation takes more work from the teacher.

Low Prep Differentiation

A few examples of low prep differentiation and how to implement them are listed below.  By implementing these easy activities, you are creating a classroom environment that is friendlier and that you can proudly tell your principal is differentiated.  Some of the following activities are already happening in your classroom, and I bet you did not know you were differentiating.

* Homework Options – This will be used at the assignment/assessment portion of lesson planning.

* Give only a small number of problems to students who master the concept. For example; Sam grasps long division, so he only has to do 4 problems for homework.

* Give students who understand the concept, but are not quite at the mastery level more problems.  Jen can do long division, but she still makes mistakes.  Assign her 8 problems.

* Give students who do not understand the process at all a small number of problems, but also send a sample problem that is already solved with them.  Dan cannot grasp the concept of long division, so you assign him 5 problems.  Dan also receives a sheet of paper that has a sample problem that is labeled step by step to help him complete his homework.

* Assign one problem in class.  Only assign homework to the students who do not complete the problem or who complete it wrong.  The students who answered correctly usually do not need more practice on an already understood assignment.

* Preference Grouping – Students get to pick the group that they are interested in. If your class is working on multiplication, you may have three groups.  The first group would be working on an activity that involved finding prices of items at a store and figuring how much it would cost to buy multiples of that item.  Group two would be working on a multiplication dice game.  They would roll two dice then, the students multiply the two numbers. Finally, the third group would

* Ability Grouping – This type of grouping is simple, students are grouped with students who are at the same ability level as them.  At the beginning of class, have all students answer a math problem.  After seeing who answered it right and who answered it the quickest or slowest, place students in groups to work on that topic.  The group, who is able to accomplish the problem correctly, quickly will work together without a teacher.  A second group, the students who did not answer it correctly will work with the teacher to review the process.

* Varied Supplemental Materials –Some students will need more hands on materials, while other students will need nothing.  The best way to see which student needs what is to let them try all types of supplemental materials, and then see who truly needs them.  A few materials that can be used in the math classroom are; 100s charts, multiplication charts, number lines, manipulatives, calculators, graph paper, highlighted lines, and enlarged worksheets.

High Prep Differentiation

High Prep Differentiation, like it sounds, takes more work.  Creating choice boards or making multiple assessments may take longer, but once you have a sample it is easier to do the next time. There are even examples of many of these ideas online and in books.  Ask your fellow teachers to get together and take turns creating them.

* Choice Boards – A choice board or a tic-tac-toe board is a simple board that you can create on your computer.  Once you make a template you never have to bother again, unless you want to get fancy.  As the name implies, choice boards give student choices.  A choice board can be passed out and used for a day, a week, a month, or even a nine week period.  It is entirely up to the teacher.  If you are teaching multiplication you can make a choice board with 9 boxes.  Each box will contain a different activity for the students to accomplish.  This is the best part; the students choose what they do.  They feel empowered, and the work is to be done at home or during free time.  You simply have to check the completed product.  That may seem like a lot of work, but some teachers just check to see if it is done and assign a point total for completing so many activities.

* Individual or Independent Studies – These studies allow students to pick a topic, usually a list is given to choose from, and complete a study outside of school on that topic.

* Multiple Assessments – Creating multiple assessments may seem to be a cumbersome task, but once you get started it will not take as long the next time.  This does not mean that every student needs a separate test at the end of your unit on division. Some students may need to only answer the odd problems, others may not have to do word problems, and even others may only have to do four or five problems with the use of manipulatives.

Differentiate the content, process, and products of a math lesson according to the students’ readiness, interest, and learning profile.

Content – differentiate the content by using any of the following suggestions.

* Materials at a variety of readability levels

* Mentors

* Graphic Organizers

* Charts

* Compacting

* Choral Reading

* Buddy Reading

* Small Group Direct Instruction

Process – this is where the students make sense of the content they have just been shown/taught.

* Hands-on Materials

* Variety of reflection models

* Work alone, in partners, triads, and/or small groups

* Vary the pacing according to students’ readiness

* Learning Contracts

* Choice Boards

* Similar readiness groups

Product – students show what is known to them and what they are able to do with that material

* Layered or tiered products

* Model, use, and encourage students to use technology

* Product choices that range in choice from all of the multiple intelligences, allowing options for gender, race, or culture

* varied rubrics

Make the Material Fit the Learning Style

Another highly important way to differentiate a lesson is to use multi-modal learning.  Multi-Modal learning, allows students to learn in ways that they are able to understand.  Some of us, while in college, could learn by listening to a professor.  Others needed to read the book.  While there were still other students who needed to live the experience.  Everyone has their own unique way of gathering knowledge and storing it for later use.  By incorporating multi-modal learning into your differentiated math lesson plans, you are giving all students a chance to learn in their own unique way.

*Visual – Students who learn visually, need to see to be able to learn and comprehend a subject.  A few simple ideas that can be used in math lessons are to incorporate puzzles, memory games, and even book reading.

* Kinesthetic – Kinesthetic learners need to move to learn.  The student who fidgets in his seat or taps their pencil the whole day is usually a kinesthetic learner.  Moving allows them to concentrate better and learn better.  Some ideas to use with this type of learner are to use stamps to do math problems, play dice or card games, or to act out math problems.

* Auditory – This is usually the easiest learner to teach because simply listening to their wonderful teacher talk allows them to learn.  Other activities that can be helpful to auditory learners are to listen to books on CD, talk with partners, and of course teacher instructed groups.

As you can see, differentiated instruction in math is not a cumbersome, stressful activity.  Try one or two of the above examples this month, and see what a difference differentiated instruction can make.

Have you ever watched a building getting repaired or built?  The men and women working on that project need the support of scaffolds to get the job done.  Without the proper support, those folks would find the job much more difficult.  Try to keep that in mind as you consider how educational scaffolding might be put to use in your classroom.  Scaffolding in education occurs when a single more knowledgeable person, usually an adult, helps a learner with the support they need to move forward. In the classroom, this means the teacher is there to support the student’s development by providing structures for that student to reach the next stage or level of learning. It is important to remember that Instructional Scaffolding is not needed for every student for every task. Scaffolding needs to be provided only when needed, to the students who need it.

Lev Vygotsky, a Russian psychologist, never used the term scaffolding; but his Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) seems to have led to the idea of scaffolding in education. Zone of Proximal Development is the difference between what a student can accomplish with help and what they can accomplish without help. Vygotsky’s ZPD changes levels, starting with a student who can complete a task but only when given structured guidance. It continues until a student can complete a task completely on their own. Vygotsky wrote in 1934, What the child can do in cooperation today, he can do alone tomorrow.

Four key elements in educational scaffolding are:

1. Common Goals Having a common goal allows combined ownership of the task.

2. Ongoing Diagnosis and Adaptive Support As a teacher, one must be constantly evaluating and changing what does not work.

3. Dialogues and Interactions The learner must be an active participant in the learning process. Students should take turns leading discussions and engaging in monitoring strategies.

4. Fading and Transfer of Responsibility Educational Scaffolding should lead to a reduction of support so that the learner is in control.

Scaffolding in Education Examples

There are an abundance of strategies to incorporate educational scaffolding available to teachers. Many of these ideas may be in use in your classroom already. Several teaching methods that are easy to incorporate into the classroom are listed below. Most of the scaffolding techniques can also be used for differentiating instruction in the classroom.

Show and Tell

* Fishbowls – This is a method of class discussion. A small group of students discuss a topic in the middle of the circle or the “fishbowl”. The rest of the class sits around them creating the “fishbowl.“ Students in the center must be knowledgeable about the topic. Students sitting in the outside circle see how their peers think and learn from a variety of people, instead of just the teacher.

* Show a Product/Outcome – The teacher shows a completed product or shares the outcome that they want to see at the end of a project. This allows the students to see what is expected of them.

Connecting To Prior Knowledge

* It is important to see what students know before starting a lesson. If a teacher is discussing farms and a student has never seen a farm or heard about a farm then they cannot relate to the topic. That teacher may have to go over farm vocabulary before beginning the lesson. Also, if a student has visited a farm every summer they can then help the teacher explain to the other students what a farm is.

Talk Time

* Think-Pair-Share – This is a simple and effective teaching method that gets students to think and explain what they have learned. A teacher starts by providing think time and questions. Students think about the answers to the questions. They then are paired with another student. Students can work with the person next to them, in front of them, or behind them. Once they are partnered up, the students share their thoughts and answers to the questions provided. Finally, the group comes back together and shares one of their ideas or answers. This holds all students accountable because they know they must supply an answer and they do not know what question they must answer. It also allows students to hear other ideas and answers.

* Turn and Talk – This is similar to think-pair-share, there is only one difference. Students are given a question to answer, whether it be during a reading story or in the middle of a science project, they then turn to their neighbor and share their answers briefly. After a moment is given to answer, then the answer is given by one student or the teacher.

Vocabulary Pre-Teach

* It is best to pre-teach vocabulary in context to what your students already know. Use pictures to introduce vocabulary words, allow student to draw pictures or symbols to represent the word, discuss what the students think the word means, and finally read the dictionary definition to compare to what students already know.

Visual Aides

* Graphic Organizers – help to guide and shape thinking so that student’s can apply what they know, also allows a student to visually represent their ideas in an organized manner

* Pictures and Charts – Using these instructional tools give students a visual representation of what they are learning about. When starting a unit on the South Pole, show pictures of the land and the animals that live there. Charts of temperatures can show children how cold it really is compared to what they are accustomed to.

Think Time

* After reading information, allow students a moment to think about that information. Then, ask a question. Make sure you have thought up the questions ahead of time, and make sure they are specific and open-ended not answered in one word. After asking the question, pause. Give students think time, even higher functioning students need time to process what is being asked of them. Finally, allow a student to answer the question. If it seems like students do not grasp the concept being discussed, allow discussion time amongst your classroom.

Break Work Into Steps

* It is important for some students in your class to have their work broken into smaller chunks. This is also referred to as chunking. A teacher can give a student a paragraph to read and then one or two comprehension questions, instead of a whole story and fifteen questions to answer. Another way to break work into steps is to lay out step by step the process of a project. A student may have to only turn in their idea the first day, then they may need to do the first step in the project instead of the first three steps everyone else has to do.

More Teaching Strategies

Following the steps below is another way to incorporate scaffolding into your instruction.

1. Teacher Does – This is when the teacher models the task, and the teacher should “think aloud” to let the student see the thought process.

2. Class Does – The class works together with the teacher. Student offer suggestions, the teacher does the actual work, and finally the students copy what the teacher has done.

3. Group Does – Students work with a partner or a small group to complete the task. 4. Individual Does – Students complete the task on their own.

Pros and Cons of Scaffolding Instruction

There are both pros and cons to scaffolding in the classroom. Some of the challenges are; teachers need to give up control at some point, limited time to implement, not many examples are available, and the potential for assuming the wrong ZPD of a student. A few of the pros are; individualized instruction, differentiates instruction, engages the learner, and motivates the learner.

Scaffolding’s dictionary definition is: a temporary structure for holding workers and materials during the erection, repair, or decoration of a building. Scaffolding is the same for the students in your classroom. It should be a temporary structure to support your student while learning a new concept, until they reach a level of mastery. There are many other approaches to scaffolding that you can try depending on the subject you are teaching. Remember that scaffolding is an instructional tool that allows a student to receive support and guidance from a more knowledgeable person to reach a stage or level of understanding how to complete a task on their own without assistance.

More Teaching Resources for Scaffolding in Education

I hope that this post gave you some good ideas for how to start using scaffolding in the classroom. Use your imagination and look for appropriate times to offer the support that your students need. Here are a few more resources from Amazon that you might also want to check out and put to use in your classroom.

Scaffolding Literacy Instruction: Strategies for K-4 Classrooms

Scaffolding Language, Scaffolding Learning: Teaching Second Language Learners in the Mainstream Classroom

Scaffolding Student Learning: Intructional Approaches and Issues (Advances in Teaching & Learning)

Thank you for visiting. Please take a look around to find more differentiation strategies that you can use in your classroom.

It can be tricky to write a lesson plan that supports differentiated learning. It is very important that lessons are differentiated to allow for all students to understand and enjoy learning about new concepts. Science is a great area of the curriculum to explore the idea of differentiated instruction strategies. Below, you will find an example of a multi-lesson plan for science.

An Example

In this lesson plan I will use a number of differentiating strategies such as Blooms taxonomy, Multiple Intelligences and the 5 E’s, which is a scientific method to explore scientific concepts.  These are various methods that can be used to support differentiation in the classroom.

Lesson Plan: The Solar System “What is the Solar System?”

5^th Grade Science Lesson

Duration: 4 x 1 hour lessons

Students should gain a basic understanding of what the solar system is and how many planets are located within our solar system. By the end of the lessons students should be able to:

Give a brief explanation of what the solar system is in their own words

Name all planets that are part of our solar system

(Here I have set the outcome for the lessons. This is what I expect the students to achieve as a minimum. Many students will achieve above this. Setting an outcome helps you to make sure that your lesson plan works towards a goal)

Lesson Plan

The 5 E’s Instructional Model will be used to structure the lesson plan. It various tasks I will also include Multiple Intelligences. I will also include tiered activities and flexible grouping.

Engage: Show students short extracts of the moon landing and a documentary on the solar system (there are plenty to choose from on YouTube). Place a number of large pieces of paper up on the walls on the classroom titled “What we know” and “What we want to Know.”Explain to the students you are going to be learning about the solar system. Provide students with a colored marker and allow them to write on each of the pieces of paper. Encourage them to read what others have written before adding their own contributions (It may be best to divide the class and have four pieces of paper so you don’t have long line ups and wait time). Initiate a class discussion about what has been written on the paper.

Explore: (This is one of the steps that lends itself well to differentiated learning)

Break the students into small scientific teams. Have the students identify a team leader, a recorded and a time keeper. Students will be given time to rotate through a number of stations that will help them to learn about the solar system. In this section Multiple Intelligences, written in the brackets, will be employed to allow the students to investigate the information from different intelligences. It is important to identify for different groups the expectations you have of them. Give each group a piece of paper detailing the work requirements for each station. In this way you can set a higher level for you more advanced students and support your students who find schooling a challenge.

Station 1: Video (Visual/Spatial Intelligence). Students will watch a short documentary together about the Solar System. They will be asked to use the information they have learnt and as a team write a short description of the solar system. This will be placed in a display along with the other teams’ descriptions. Descriptions may include pictures.

Station 2: Model (Kinesthetic/Body Intelligence). Students will investigate a model of the solar system that is in the classroom. They will be asked to record using a digital recorder 5 important things that they as a team noticed about the Solar System.

Station 3: Books and websites (Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence). Students will investigate a number of books and websites on the solar system. They will be asked to create a mind map using a computer program to present their interesting facts.

Station 4: Songs and Pictures (Music Intelligence). Students will investigate a set of songs and pictures related to the solar system. They will be asked to pick one song or picture and describe what information they have learned about space from it.

Explain: Students will be asked to answer two questions:

What is the Solar system?

What are the Planets in the Solar system?

Students may choose to answer these questions in a number of ways: they can create a written poster, they can create a PowerPoint presentation, they can do an oral presentation or a video, and they can do an oral recording of themselves using the digital recorder. (This can be used as an early form of assessment and then a secondary assessment can be done at the evaluate step. By assessing here you will also be able to identify students that require further assistance with understanding the topic.)

Extend: students are to work in groups of 2 to 4 students and are to choose their own planet from the solar system. Together they will design an activity that will teach the other students in the class about their chosen planet. Allow students to prepare and engage in each other’s activities to further their understanding of the solar system

Evaluate: (This is the step at which you assess what the students have learned and whether they have met the outcome that you set at the start of the lesson plan)

Have the students use the product that they produced at the “explain” stage of the lesson plan. Give them time to expand upon what they have done or create a separate piece of work that answers the two focus questions. Have them also include a section that explains what they would like to learn more about the solar system. These recommendations can be used to create further lessons on exploring the solar system.

If you think a lesson like this is something that could keep your students engaged and interested, please be sure to look at these other lesson plans for science too!

As professional educators we all know and understand that all the students in our class do not learn in the same way. We also understand that we do not have a class full of students achieving at the same level. So how do we cater for all the individuals within our class, and how do we make sure that each of those students has the best opportunity to learn the material we are teaching? The answer is simple, differentiated instruction. I am going to take you through some simple steps to help you prepare differentiated lesson plans that will go a long way towards making sure that each of your students has the best chance of understanding the concept/s that you are trying to teach.

The first step in creating differentiated lesson plans is to identify the intended topic or outcome that you hope to achieve, or move towards achieving, in your lesson. You will need to consult the relevant curriculum document that is used in your school district.

Once you have clearly identified what you are hoping to achieve, you can begin to investigate ways of teaching the topic and/or reaching the outcome. For example, in math you may identify that you want to teach your class the method of long multiplication. Once this is identified it becomes much easier to look for resources and teaching aides that can help you to reach this outcome.

The second step is to write a basic lesson plan that is aimed at your grade level students. This is the standard level that the students in your class are expected to meet. For example if you are a 4th grade teacher you would write a lesson plan that would teach the expected outcome at that level. Once you have a basic lesson plan, you can start to include differentiated instruction strategies, presentation methods, tasks and equipment. A basic lesson plan should include:

• The outcome or intended topic
• The grade level
• The duration of the lesson
• How to introduce the topic
• Teacher led instructions
• Student tasks
• Assessment

Once you have a basic lesson plan written, you can then begin to expand on that lesson. Begin first by investigating the different ways that you can present the material that the students need to learn. How can you explain your concept? Most teachers choose to complete the teacher led section of their lesson by talking to the students. This can be great for the auditory learners in your class, but you may find that your visual learners will be left behind. Investigate the possibility of using a recorded version of yourself on the interactive whiteboard or data projector. You can also use these tools to complete the examples as you show the students. There are many educational games that can be played on interactive whiteboards to enforce what you are teaching. Another option is to ask one of your high achievers to present the lesson in your place. Try to use a number of different ways of presenting the material, as you are more likely to get through to a larger percentage of your students.

Next, investigate the tasks that you can set for your students to allow them to practice the concept or outcome you have been teaching. Remember that not all students learn in the same way, so try to incorporate a number of different tasks that require the students to use different skills to complete them. Also consider tiered activities. This means that you set a number of different goals for different students. You cannot expect your lower achievers to complete what your more accomplished students will complete. Also consider using flexible groups. Can the students work with each other to complete the task? Brainstorm what types of resources you could use to help the students understand the concept.

Finally, how are you going to assess that your students have moved toward the outcome(s) that you are teaching. Assessment should be simple and authentic, meaning that it comes out of the tasks that your students are doing and it has been included as part of the lesson, not just quickly added at the end. Remember that assessment(s) should also be tiered to allow student to achieve at their level.

That sounds great, but a teacher faced with accomplishing this task wants some differentiated instruction examples. What are the specific things an educator can do to provide the best learning experience for every student? This post does not claim to offer all of the answers, but hopefully it will get you started down the path to taking a new look at the possibilities for differentiation in your classroom. If some of these examples inspire you to come up with new and creative ways to teach your class, that is good enough for me. I’m sure that I’ll add more posts in the future that include specific differentiated instruction strategies.

To be honest, there are many different ways to go about addressing the needs of learners. That is why there are books filled with ideas, lessons and strategies. Teachers have been differentiating instruction for years without giving it any type of label. They just thought of it as finding ways to get through to the kids who were not responding well to the lessons as they were being taught. If you teach, chances are that you have already been differentiating to some extent already.

A basic premise of differentiation is accepting that different people learn in different ways. To this end, you may want to look for different ways to present material to the class. Some students will respond well to reading a story, but others may appreciate the chance to use auditory channels. In other words, don’t just assume that students will “get” material simply by reading it.

Some might respond better by hearing the material being presented in a recorded format. Along these same lines, teachers can emphasize that there can be different ways or paths that all end up at the “right” answer. I found and included the video of a first grade math lesson you see here because it shows the teacher working with the whole group and then breaking them down to address specific areas of need. I liked the example of counting money as a way to achieve a desired result by a variety of means. Recognizing and presenting different paths to the same goal is a differentiated instruction strategy that teachers can make use to show students that sometimes there is more than one “right” answer to a problem. I’m including the related videos as well because they include some more great examples and ideas to get you started with your differentiated instruction.

I mentioned in another post that adding a video component to teaching is gaining in popularity. This can include making videos for your students to watch or actually allowing the students themselves to make videos. It is an activity that is almost sure to gain the students’ interest. New technology has made differentiating with video much less of a hassle than it once was.

You might also want to consider how students prefer to learn. Some students enjoy working with partners or small groups, but many like to work alone. It is not unusual to find that students who work at an accelerated rate like to get things done by themselves. Even so, many are still happy and excited by the idea of being an “expert” and helping others. Consider putting them to use as a resource in the classroom. You may have to give them some instruction regarding how to guide and help without simply giving away answers, but this small bit of training can be worth it if you gain a quality peer helper.

One very common challenge in the differentiated classroom is how to deal with students who work at different speeds. You do not want to stress out the students who work at a slower pace, but you cannot afford to have faster students simply waiting around all day either. Consider having your faster learners take a more in depth approach to whatever the topic at hand happens to be. At the elementary level, these students are often thrilled by getting the opportunity to present the new information they have acquired to the rest of the class. Don’t forget though that you should also make the most of mixed ability groupings in your classroom.

Remember that there are many ways for students to demonstrate what they have learned. A written or oral report may be fine for some students , but others may do better if they are encouraged to be creative. You may be surprised at what some of your more artistic and imaginative students come up with when they are given the opportunity to decide how to show what they have learned.

For some projects, it is a good idea to come up with rubrics to fit what each child should be accomplishing and learning in class. There are free rubric creators available on the Internet, but you can certainly create them on your own or take them from a book if you like. You can find a very nice free one here.

I hope this has helped a few people out. I’ll keep adding ideas as they come, but please feel free to submit any original ideas that you are willing to share. The teaching community has a lot to offer to each other. Unfortunately, teachers often spend most of their time locked away with their own class and don’t take advantage of all of the possibilities collaboration offers. If you send in original ideas for differentiating in the classroom, I’ll be happy to post them here.

Using video as a means of differentiating instruction is something that you might want to consider for your classroom or even your entire district. Here is a very short video intro to the periodic table. Take a look.

This video was created with some very easy to use, web based software. The company that is responsible for it is Animoto. I first happened across Animoto.com a few years ago and was struck by the seamless way they blended music and images that I uploaded into beautiful presentations that I could share with my family. (It’s great if you have a family webpage.) As I poked around the site a bit, I learned that they also have special offers available just for educators that allow for longer videos and other related options. The possibilities are intriguing. If given a choice, would your students be more excited about making a video or a poster? Hmmm?

Until recently, Animoto only used still images to create videos. That is, you could only upload photographs. Now they are also able to integrate video clips along with still images. In addition to the teaching applications, this is a great tool for class websites or for commemorating school events or field trips. Here is a short interview with the CEO of Animoto that explains the new application and how simple it is to use.

Here is an Animoto testimonial from an art teacher. The example she shows is about as basic as it gets. You can get the finished product to look like a rock video if you want to, but this is a good example of a simple classroom application.

I hope you can see the possibilities of bringing a tool like this to your classroom. You can check it out and make free videos (up to 30 seconds) by visiting Animoto.com.

Often though, teachers present the information they have to share in exactly the same format that they loathe themselves. Most teachers have been taught by the old “sage on the stage” method of teaching, and that is what they now do themselves. Even administrators and presenters often still do this at in service activities. For students, this can be a truly miserable way to spend the day. In all honesty, there probably aren’t a lot of people who enjoy sitting through hours of listening to someone drone on and on. If there is a written test at the end, that is only motivating in the most negative way.

Choice activities give students options. Even if the options all include doing work, there is something liberating about being able to choose the activity for which you will later be assessed. Students’ interests and learning styles are taken into heavy consideration when preparing choice activities. Even the content to be learned may be part of the choices students get to make. They could be learning facts, concepts or a variety of useful and practical knowledge.

Of course the choices in choosing a process are what most people are going to think of when it come to choice activities. In most traditional teaching, the choices have been worksheets or written reports. Most adults today grew up with those wonderful selections. Do you remember how much you enjoyed the learning process? There are a lot more interesting and engaging ways to teach and assess. Students who are up to it, and working ahead of the others, might enjoy an independent study assignment. Presenting it to the class could be part of assessing what they have learned. If a particular student has a terrible fear of public speaking, you might want to give them a pass on that part though and let them present to you personally. Other activities are more geared toward pairings or groups. These might include using centers, small group assignments, videos, allowing students who “get” the material to work as class experts, or a variety of other choices. Almost any student will find something better than worksheets or a written report from such a selection.

I hope you found something you like here. Please look around and feel free to send along any questions or tips you are willing to share about differentiated instruction in the classroom.

It sounds a little bit intimidating, doesn’t it? It is also sometimes called alternative assessment, direct assessment or performance assessment. That isn’t confusing at all, is it?

There is a good chance that you have already been using authentic assessment in your classroom. When you check to see what the students have learned in a form other than what you might consider a “traditional” test, you might be using an alternative form of assessment. As an example, you might think of taking a class where you are learning the basics of playing basketball. It wouldn’t make much sense for your grade to depend solely on a multiple choice test at the end of the class. Most likely, there would be some form of assessment that allowed you to demonstrate that you could apply what the teacher was trying to get across to you. Using the same example, the teacher might also have administered some type of assessment as the class was progressing to see exactly where you were. You might have had to perform lay ups or foul shots after each skill was learned and practiced. If you were having trouble with any of the skills, the teacher could address the issues as they appeared.

Alternative assessment is supposed to compliment traditional assessment. In the example above, the student would still be expected to be able to pass a test on the history of basketball (if it was taught). Adding in an authentic assessment would just serve to further demonstrate that the student had acquired some real world, practical skills to go along with the knowledge.

Below are some resources to help you to come up with authentic assessments appropriate for your own classroom. As you might have guessed, the assessment should fit the student. You can follow this link to find a more thorough listing of authentic assessment resources.

You can use these alternative assessments as part of your approach to differentiating instruction in your classroom.

Of course things changed quite a bit in the classroom and the idea of instructing an entire class of students of a similar age became the norm. Still, devoted teachers have always looked for ways of addressing the needs of the individual students. It does not take long in a classroom setting to figure out which students are working at similar levels of ability and understanding. Without any other options, teachers have often resorted to making up different groupings of students throughout the school day as a way of making things more manageable for themselves. When these flexible groups are made, it can also help the students to succeed.

Flexible grouping can be used successfully in a variety of subject areas in the differentiated classroom. Flexible grouping in reading is sometimes done in classes where leveled readers are used. Flexible grouping in math is also certainly possible and it can be very useful for helping to keep struggling students from falling behind, while giving students with a better grasp of the concepts an opportunity to explore the topic further.

Experienced teachers realize from what they have accomplished and experienced in the classroom, that different situations call for different groupings of students. Now that differentiated instruction is being focused upon by so many, the different types of groups are being examined more closely. There are basically two types of groups, which can be broken down even more based on how the groups are assembled and managed.

The first style of grouping is teacher led groups. These are very useful when introducing new material is the main goal. Every teacher has used these methods. Speaking to the whole class, dealing with small, teacher made groups, and directing individual student activities are all examples of teacher led group instruction.

A less traditional method of grouping gives much more control to the pupils. One common way of forming these student led groups is putting students together based on their need to develop understanding or practice what has been taught. These groups also can be useful for breaking larger topics down into more manageable chunks which the groups can research, discuss and then share with the rest of the class. Other grouping options can also be quite useful depending on the situation. You may want to check out one of the books shown below to learn more about the benefits and possibilities of flexible grouping.