Over the last few weeks I
have had really good conversations with some parents about how we approach meeting
the needs of all of our students. In a standards-based classroom of students
with a wide range of abilities, strengths and weaknesses, the
concern is how do we create opportunities in which everyone is challenged and
pushed to grow? It’s a great question and one that those in education grapple
with continuously. In a perfect world we would create twenty-five pinpointed
lessons that meet the specific individual needs of each and every student
walking into our classroom. But there are the limitations of time, scheduling,
resources, the need for sleep (now and then), and an array of other obstacles that prevent that
from happening to that level all of the time. But, that doesn’t mean we are not
meeting the diverse learning needs of all of our students. In fact, I think we
are meeting the wide range of needs of today’s students better than we ever
have by differentiating what we do and how we do it.
Differentiated Instruction
The phrase ‘differentiated
instruction’ gets thrown around by a lot of people and everyone who uses the
phrase has a version of what they think it means or should mean. Sometimes I
think people believe that by just saying “differentiated instruction” we magically
meet the learning needs of everyone at the snap of a finger. Just “differentiate”
already! It isn’t that simple and there is no magic methodology to making it
happen. Meeting the needs of all of our students requires tremendous planning,
incredible collaboration, and great creativity and innovation on the part of
our teachers.
Differentiation is about knowing our students so that we can
provide opportunities for all of them to learn and grow (not just to get
grades…good grades do not necessarily equate to learning, but that’s another
blog for another time). It starts with using formative assessment to identify
strengths and weaknesses of our students. What are areas and skills that they
have mastered and what are areas or skills that they need additional help and
practice? Using that as a starting point we can then differentiate how our
students obtain information and how they demonstrate their learning. Two of the
most common and effective (but not the only) ways that we routinely differentiate
is in how we group students within our classes and by giving students choice and voice.
Grouping
By occasionally organizing groups of students by learning
needs we can facilitate the learning experience by giving each group a
different task or inquiry-based question or Essential Question to answer. By
changing the type of question and level of rigor associated with the task each group
is responsible for, you can meet the diverse needs of all of the students in
the room and challenge all of them based on what you know about them as
learners. If some students already know the answers to the questions we are
asking to most of the class then we can simply ask them a different question.
Choice and Voice
When we offer students a choice in their literacy
experiences (what they read or the writing task) or in the tasks and projects
they complete and we give them a voice in their learning, we build student
motivation and ownership of that learning. We routinely offer students a few
options or even allow them to propose an idea of how to demonstrate their
learning. When we give students choice and voice we are empowering students. Their
interest and motivation can play a key role in driving their individual
learning needs.
Differentiation is really about creating opportunities for all students at
different times to be truly challenged. Whether it is the finished product they
produce or the question that drives their inquiry, differentiation can be both
incredibly simple and unbelievably effective for students at the same time. We strive to create opportunities in which all of our students
are challenged and pushed to grow. Those moments of struggle are opportunities. Allowing students to struggle, to persevere and support them as needed is critical. It is out of struggle that we often see the greatest growth. All students deserve to be challenged and in order to
prepare them for their future they need that.
Consistent Practice, Not Lip Service
Great questions drive great
conversations. While talking to those parents and explaining ways in which we work to
challenge all of our students, my mind instantly jumped to all of the different
things I see in classrooms, some obvious and some very subtle, that help all of
our students learn and grow. Those consistent, effective practices aren't just ideas in my head, it's actually what happens live and unrehearsed with students every day. What I see on a consistent basis is outstanding, but
like any other skilled professionals, we continue to reflect on our practices,
look for resources to help us do our jobs more effectively and mix creativity
and innovation into our daily practices. We’re really good at what we do, but
we're always looking to get better.
Continued Success,
Steve Dunham
@Sdunhamwgms
