Firstly, all classes need to be differentiated. To think that 25 to 30 students in a room are all going to learn the same way, or be in the same place in terms of understanding, doing your bidding, feels kind of Russia 1919 or Germany 1939. Think of differentiation as tapping into the skills and conceptual knowledge that students do have and building from there, not in an effort to get everyone to the same place, but to challenge students to evolve as readers, writers, and thinkers. And remember, we get better at what we do through consistent, mindful practice.
It all starts with relationships
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Get to know your students – find them interesting and compelling people
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Let them get to know you as the interesting and compelling person that you are
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Design ways for the students to get to know each other as people, NOT just as students
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Have them get together in groups just to get to know each other, not to do school work
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Idea: Start the year with a questionnaire that gives you a glimpse into their lives. Ask questions that can be ways into interesting work that you can do together. Share back with the students what you learned from the questionnaire. Ask them questions to get to know them even better. Design work around what you learn about them.
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Great book to read on this: The Social Animal: Hidden Sources Of Love, Character, and Achievement by David Brooks
What about reading with students with various levels of skill?
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Give students choice! – Not all students need to read the same book
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Idea: Scale the reading so that you can get to where you want to go
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Start with students bringing in their own books to read – have them connect the books to a big idea you are exploring in a unit
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Move to small (self-selected?) reading groups around a selection of books
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Move to one book read by the whole class
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The “level” of book does not necessarily determine how sophisticated you can get with it
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Great book to read on this: Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading And What You Can Do About It by Kelly Gallagher.
How can I write with students with various levels of skill?
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Choose models that are accessible on multiple levels
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Idea: Start the year with flash fiction or poetry
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Establish authentic writing opportunities
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Design project-based work where the outcome can be achieved in multiple ways
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Idea: Write with your students
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Let the writing tell you what skills need to be developed – find the pattern and push students back into the writing to work on it
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The more we write, the better we get at it
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Have students write reflectively, creatively, and analytically
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Coach practice
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Great books to read on this: Inside Out: Strategies For Teaching Reading by Dan Kirby, Writing Without Teachers by Peter Elbow
How do we think in a differentiated classroom?
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Create scaffolds to support students figuring out how to take on a challenge
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Idea: Develop strategies for approaching the work – have them prominently displayed in the classroom
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Let the answers to these questions guide the work:
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When do we know that we have done something well?
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What is the first step in taking on a challenge?
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Who can you go to to get feedback/help?
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What will make this project interesting for you?
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How do you know when you are learning?
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How do you know when you are working hard?
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Why would we want to work hard?
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Let students flounder….for a bit
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Look for patterns that guide you in terms of when to step in
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See if they are able to work their way out of it
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If not, establish scaffolds through talking with them. Push them to figure out for themselves what they need to do to be successful
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Idea: Build in a reflective writing component to each project where the students articulate what the strengths are in the project and where the areas for growth exist. Have them discuss how they are going to get stronger in the areas for growth
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Idea: The Reading Specialists and Special Education Teachers are your friends, your allies, your partners – work with them. Tap their knowledge. Have them come into your class. Plan with them.
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Great books to read on this: Mindset by Carol Dweck, Brain Rules by John Medina, The Talent Code by Daniel Coyne, Understanding by Design by Grant Wiggins
What about grading/evaluation?
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Have high expectations and make sure to coach practice
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Have an evaluation system that enables you to see growth over time
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Grading of products should be based on quality of the work, not on tasks accomplished
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Grading of process should be on how well students took advantage of the project
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Not everyone needs to earn an A to be validated. Be honest in terms of where they are and where they need to go
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Allow them to make mistakes
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Evaluate process and product
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Great book to read on this: Authentic Assessments for the English Classroom by Joann Dolgin
Overall, what does work look like?
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Create authentic challenges that enable students to enter where they are – authenticity enables students to use the real-world skill and intelligence that they have and bring it to bear in the classroom to build the academic skills you want
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Determine the edge of competency for your students and hold them there
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Model work and learning yourself
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Diversify groups – homogeneity kills idea generation and doesn’t encourage people to work at the top of their intelligences
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Make sure that there is a metacognitive approach to the work
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Design conversations and reflective work around the how and why of what you are doing
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Idea: incorporate some form of an audit into the learning. See here for an example.
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Great books to read on this: I won’t Learn From You: And Other thoughts On Maladjustment by Herbert Kohl, Improv Wisdom by Patricia Madson, Impro by Keith Johnstone, Teaching to Transgress by bell hooks
We take small steps in developing skill and conceptual knowledge. It happens over time.