Have a strong rationale for differentiating instruction based on student readiness and interest.
Communicate your rationale with your students and their parents – OFTEN.
Begin differentiating at a pace that is comfortable to you.
Time differentiated activities for student success.
Time allotted for a task should be a bit shorter than the attention span of the students who work on that task.
Advanced learners often have extended attention spans.
Allow longer time chunks when designing tasks for students with strong interest and ability in a particular area than for students whose interest of talent in the same area is not as great.
Ultimate goal should be to help all students sustain group and independent tasks for longer than what was initially comfortable for them.
Use an “anchor activity” to free you up to focus your attention on your students.
Examples: Reading, Journal Writing, General Practice (spelling, computation, vocabulary, etc.). These can be adjusted to student readiness and interest.
Half of the class works on the anchor activity while the other half engages in a different content-based activity designed specifically for their needs.
Create and deliver instructions carefully.
Have a “home base” for students.
Be sure students have a plan for getting help when you are busy with another students or group.
Give your students as much responsibility for their learning as possible.
Engage your students in talking about classroom procedures and group processes.
Use flexible grouping.