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π Assignment Differentiation π
π Assignment Differentiation π
Providing Different Scaffolding -
Providing Different Scaffolding -
Simple Adjustments BIG Results
COVID brought many issues to the forefront of education. One obstacle we all faced was how to best support students both in person, and online. None of us can be everywhere at once. I knew that there would be students with differing ability levels and even students who normally didn't have trouble with school work might struggle more in an online environment than they would normally in the classroom.
Taking this into account, I created the first version of an assignment that had instructions, but no extra supports. Then I made a copy of that assignment, and added a short audio, or video clip that provided just a little bit of extra support for getting started. For the third version of the assignment, I added even more screencast supports. I went into greater detail, gave examples of what to do, and left tips on how to get started.
I posted all three of these assignments in the same Google Classroom post and included a π, a π€, or a π at the beginning of each of the titles of the assignments. I explained the purpose for each version and allowed them to choose their assignment based on how much support they thought they would need to do the assignment. Each student was able to select the assignment from the choices in Google classroom, and receive the support they needed. When it was time to turn in their assignment, they would simply click the X on the versions of the assignment they didn't do, and turn in the one that they completed.
In the two years of implementing this concept, I've received consistent positive feedback from the students about this strategy. They are absolutely more confident to begin and finish their work successfully in a timely manner. They all understand that if they chose the version with no support, but later determine that they need more, it is ok to change their mind. As the idea of choosing their own assignment level is presented to them, I always make sure to share with them that eventually, the goal is for them to be able to perform the task on their own.
Finally, surveying students after the assignment to find out how well they were able to assess their own readiness level, gave me the confidence I needed to continue using these scaffolds. The results of the survey showed that many students truly didn't need support. A handful originally thought that they didn't need support, but ended up choosing the middle version of the assignment, as suspected, there were some who knew they needed the version with the most support before they began. All students were very successful in accomplishing their goal, and reading through student feedback empowered me to continue creating lessons in this manner.
I hope you'll give it a try in your classroom as well. Contact me on Twitter (@33heupel) if you have questions or need support creating these types of assignments in your classroom.
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