In our first grade classroom, I work hard to differentiate my teaching, my lessons, my directions, and my questioning to ensure enhanced learning is taking place daily for all students.
What defines differentiation?
Differentiation is...
- Appealing to multiple learning styles
- Providing real world connections
- Allowing students to explore curriculum in a variety of ways
- Accommodating to diverse academic needs of students
Differentiation is not...
- Grading harder
- Giving more work
- Giving extra work
- A set of tools
How is our classroom differentiated to meet the needs of your child?
During guided practice, small group instruction, the students work at their appropriate levels. The work is differentiated to meet the needs of all of my learners. The work may be differentiated in procedure, by level of difficulty, or by work product. The students are actively engaged, working collaboratively, and communicating to help improve their individual academic achievement. Small group, differentiated instruction enables me to ask the students powerful questioning in a risk-free learning environment. Students are more willing to share their thinking and are not afraid to make mistakes.
Would you like to learn more on differentiated instruction?
| Differentiated Instruction by Tomlinson |
| What is a differentiated classroom |
"At it’s most basic level, differentiating instruction means “shaking up” what goes on in the classroom so that students have multiple options for taking in information, making sense of ideas, and expressing what they learn. In other words, a differentiated classroom provides different avenues of acquiring content, to processing or making sense of ideas, and to developing products." How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed Ability Classrooms by Carol Ann Tomlinson
