What is Differentiation?
Differentiated Instruction is research based, responsive teaching. It's the belief and mindset that all students can be--and deserve to be--challenged. It's about ensuring that students learn, not just that we teach. Differentiating is NOT watering down a curriculum; rather, it is teaching up to a standard. Differentiation does NOT let kids off the hook for challenge--it provides challenge for all students.
Differentiated Instruction is not a program, it's a philosophy. While there are many suggested strategies and systems, the heart of the philosophy is meeting students where they are and bringing them forward. While this will look different for each student, differentiation is NOT individualization. It's about maximizing whole-class success through a variety of approaches to learning.
Many teachers here already naturally differentiate in response to assessments, however by becoming more intentional and precise about what we do, we can plan for student differences, rather than react to them. In doing this, we can ensure that more students are successful, that more students are challenged, and that more students are engaged.
Differentiated Instruction is not a program, it's a philosophy. While there are many suggested strategies and systems, the heart of the philosophy is meeting students where they are and bringing them forward. While this will look different for each student, differentiation is NOT individualization. It's about maximizing whole-class success through a variety of approaches to learning.
Many teachers here already naturally differentiate in response to assessments, however by becoming more intentional and precise about what we do, we can plan for student differences, rather than react to them. In doing this, we can ensure that more students are successful, that more students are challenged, and that more students are engaged.
Flexible Grouping
A cornerstone of good instruction is the ability to group students flexibly. Grouping within a classroom is an effective and necessary way to provide challenge and appropriate instruction to all students.
Students can be grouped in a variety of ways, but all intentional grouping will be based on one of the following:
*Interest
*Learning Profile
*Readiness
Remember, the key to success with flexible grouping is the flexibility--the make up groups should constantly change, and the purpose for groups should constantly change. If you spend two class periods working in readiness groups, then mix it up on the third day--do full class instruction or groups based on interest for part of the class.
Frequently Asked Questions about Grouping:
Q: Isn't grouping by readiness just tracking?
A: The difference between grouping and tracking is that groups change based on data or interest, and tracks stay the same over a long period of time. When we group by readiness, we need to do so based on specific data, not overall impressions or grades. For example, if I have just given a math quiz with three concepts on it, I might make groups for the next class based on their performance on one of the concepts--the group might only be for 20 minutes, and I will have three groups: one that nailed it on the quiz (I will provide this group with a challenge problem that uses the concept in a new way--a more complex way, or one with distracting information, perhaps); one that was close, but made minor errors (I will provide this group with an example and more practice--perhaps a group problem that they need to come to consensus on and explain); and one that clearly needs reteaching (this is the group I might focus on for the 20 minutes--providing reteaching in a smaller group, and then re-checking understanding). If I find that it's always the same kids in the same groups, then I will find other ways to group throughout the week to mix things up--I might have a group problem activity with three different sets of content, for example.
Q: Won't kids know they're in the "dummy group" and won't that make them feel bad?
A: Kids want to feel successful, and the purpose of flexible grouping by readiness is to allow students a greater possibility to feel this success. Our suggestion is to be as transparent as possible right from the beginning of the year. Let kids know that your job is to assess where they are and respond to that, and sometimes that will mean working in groups with other students who have similar strengths or needs in a particular area. A strong classroom community will prevent students from making negative comments, particularly when they know that the purpose of class is to learn what we don't know, not just show what we know. We have found that after about a week, kids stop asking why we put them in different groups--they trust that we are doing it for a good reason and that it will help them be successful in the class.
Q: When I'm working with one group, how do I keep the rest of the groups on task?
A: It takes some practice to manage groups well, but it's worth it. Here are some suggestions:
Students can be grouped in a variety of ways, but all intentional grouping will be based on one of the following:
*Interest
*Learning Profile
*Readiness
Remember, the key to success with flexible grouping is the flexibility--the make up groups should constantly change, and the purpose for groups should constantly change. If you spend two class periods working in readiness groups, then mix it up on the third day--do full class instruction or groups based on interest for part of the class.
Frequently Asked Questions about Grouping:
Q: Isn't grouping by readiness just tracking?
A: The difference between grouping and tracking is that groups change based on data or interest, and tracks stay the same over a long period of time. When we group by readiness, we need to do so based on specific data, not overall impressions or grades. For example, if I have just given a math quiz with three concepts on it, I might make groups for the next class based on their performance on one of the concepts--the group might only be for 20 minutes, and I will have three groups: one that nailed it on the quiz (I will provide this group with a challenge problem that uses the concept in a new way--a more complex way, or one with distracting information, perhaps); one that was close, but made minor errors (I will provide this group with an example and more practice--perhaps a group problem that they need to come to consensus on and explain); and one that clearly needs reteaching (this is the group I might focus on for the 20 minutes--providing reteaching in a smaller group, and then re-checking understanding). If I find that it's always the same kids in the same groups, then I will find other ways to group throughout the week to mix things up--I might have a group problem activity with three different sets of content, for example.
Q: Won't kids know they're in the "dummy group" and won't that make them feel bad?
A: Kids want to feel successful, and the purpose of flexible grouping by readiness is to allow students a greater possibility to feel this success. Our suggestion is to be as transparent as possible right from the beginning of the year. Let kids know that your job is to assess where they are and respond to that, and sometimes that will mean working in groups with other students who have similar strengths or needs in a particular area. A strong classroom community will prevent students from making negative comments, particularly when they know that the purpose of class is to learn what we don't know, not just show what we know. We have found that after about a week, kids stop asking why we put them in different groups--they trust that we are doing it for a good reason and that it will help them be successful in the class.
Q: When I'm working with one group, how do I keep the rest of the groups on task?
A: It takes some practice to manage groups well, but it's worth it. Here are some suggestions:
- Use your room to help you--take a few minutes to rearrange the tables/desks in a way that meets your purpose.
- Plan the small group instruction to take 20 minutes or less--that way the other groups are only on their own for a manageable amount of time before you touch base with them.
- Provide tasks for the other groups that don't require you--having written directions for those groups can help, so that if they get stuck, they know what to do next. With a little training, students will learn to rely on each other and themselves for the short amount of time they won't have access to you.
- Have established anchor tasks that the other students can work on--this might be an ongoing assignment like a blog or a journal, or could be high engagement activities like computer quiz games that help reinforce skills and knowledge.
- In rare occasions when you need to move to a different room with a small group, use your colleagues. Work out trades--will you come in and watch part of my class for 20 minutes on Tuesday and I'll do the same for you?
Introductory Articles and General Resources
The following sites and articles provide information about the philosophy of Differentiated Instruction, and helpful resources, including many examples. We will continue to add resources as we find them. Please let us know if you find anything useful (here, or on any other site).
Online Resources:
Carol Tomlinson's Website
Internet4classrooms: this site provides categorized links dealing with all aspects of differentiating, from planning, to examples of lessons and units.
Differentiating: A comprehensive look at the reasons for DI and suggestions for how to best use it in the classroom. Lots of examples, forms, and links.
Book Resources:
We have lots of great books and articles in our office in 218 that we can give/lend you. Just let us know what specific topic you are interested in reading about, and we'll see what we can find. If we don't have it, we'll order it.
Online Resources:
Carol Tomlinson's Website
Internet4classrooms: this site provides categorized links dealing with all aspects of differentiating, from planning, to examples of lessons and units.
Differentiating: A comprehensive look at the reasons for DI and suggestions for how to best use it in the classroom. Lots of examples, forms, and links.
Book Resources:
We have lots of great books and articles in our office in 218 that we can give/lend you. Just let us know what specific topic you are interested in reading about, and we'll see what we can find. If we don't have it, we'll order it.