It's time for a confession: the phrase
'differentiated instruction' used to be a source of a not inconsiderable amount
of stress for me. Common sense stipulates that each student has unique learning
needs and my desire to provide them with individualized resources and the
'right' methods was strong. Planning these wonderful methods out was an
intimidating concept, however, especially considering the large class sizes we
currently deal with in public schools. When I started my KPTP, my concerns in
this area loomed large: how would I concisely but purposefully explain how I
differentiated instruction? How much was too much? How much was not enough?
What stimulated student progress and what impeded it? What was hovering or
hand-holding and what was making accomodations that would help a student
flourish? How much time would determining all of this require? It is a tricky area; I believe we can all agree on that.
In recent weeks, however, I have become
infinitely more comfortable with this one vague, unwieldy term. According to
Education Consultant John McCarthy, "Traditional classrooms take a whole-group instruction approach because
it is a timesaver for lesson delivery. This timesaver is illusory,"
(McCarthy, 2015). This statement was quite striking to me; of course
differentiated instruction requires more planning but it is a preemptive
measure that ensures students do not follow behind or lose motivation. Creating
effective differentiated instruction, in fact, is the best way to ensure that
your classes make their way through the year with the least amount of
backtracking possible. When implementing differentiated instruction in my
classroom, I have utilized countless methods. After all, now is the time to experiment. I
have practiced supplementing the instructions present in a 504 plan with my own
modifications to fit a student’s current situation and I have provided artistic
students with a chance to include their skills in assignments that may not have
originally called for students to utilize those abilities extensively. Creating
tiered activities has become a focus; it is simple enough to modify one's
expectations between a regular and an honors class; but creating tiered
activities within a single classroom is another matter entirely; there has been
a decent amount of trial and error involved but I have gained much new
knowledge and classroom practices from this endeavor. I have had students that
struggle with putting pen to paper share their final overall thoughts verbally
after practicing their writing strategies. I have allowed students to read
individually instead of with a group if that is their preference. I have
allowed students to organize their dialectical journals in untraditional
manners as it best fits their learning. I have become more open-minded and a
champion of non-verbal cues.
I have presented my students with a good deal
of freedom in selecting what they learn and how they learn it, especially during my Night unit. Considering that particular unit was the topic of my KPTP, however, and I have blissfully left that behind for now, I want to focus on what first drew my attention to differentiated learning and how it has impacted the current unit I am teaching. First semester,
I was excited to find out that the Honors students had the responsibility of
picking out their own books and assessment method for their Outside Reading
Project. Every nine weeks, we have received exemplary products from these classes; grading
products ranging from a giant laminated poster, to an ambitious and complicated
board game, to a diorama that catches the eye of every soul, student or
instructor, who enters my classroom. However, I found myself wishing that the
regular classes had this same opportunity. At this time, it is not completely
feasible for them to start an ORP, considering their current projects, but I
have worked on differentiating my expectations for the autobiographies my
students are currently working on. A student struggling writing a narrative
about her troubled childhood in the 'When I Was Little" segment of the
project was allowed the chance to express her emotions through poetry. I have
coached students one-on-one to help them understand our expectations in regards
to the 'personality' section of the project and I have adapted an assignment
based on student's superstitions to make students who were against the concept
feel welcomed and safe within the school environment while still requiring them
to write the same amount, on the topic of traditions. I have implemented
flexible grouping and allowed oral learners to share their stories with their
small groups when the need arises. Overall, I cannot exactly claim to be the
master of differentiated learning but I am well on my way to figuring it out.
Please, let me know what ideas you have implemented in your classrooms! This is
one of the main areas of growth I want to focus on this month. Thank you in
advance!
Myth-Busting Differentiated Instruction: 3 Myths and 3 Truths. (2014). Retrieved April 06, 2016, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/differentiated-instruction-myths-and-truths-john-mccarthy
