Differentiation

Differentiation

Differentiation is a strategy teachers use to help all students learn. The teacher meets the students where they are at, and guides them through the next steps so that the student will learn. Differentiation is usually achieved through small group instruction. It is not practical for teachers to make individualized learning plans for all students, so teachers create groups of students with similar skills in order to help each students acquire the skills, strategies, and knowledge they need for learning.

Assessment for Differentiation

Teachers determine student learning through assessments. Assessments are given at benchmarks, summatively at the end of a unit, or formatively daily in order to determine next steps for student learning. As a primary level teacher, I give a wide battery of assessments at the beginning (August), middle (December), and end (April/May) in order to evaluate student learning and performance. I administer summative tests in multiple subject areas when we finish a unit or large concept in the curriculum. Formative assessments occur informally or formally daily through quizzes, exit tickets, conversation, and observation of student performance and conversation.

The assessments given to students at the beginning of the year help me determine what my students already know, what strengths they already posses, and what weaknesses I need to address. Based off the information I gather through these assessments, I place students in heterogeneous groups, with students who have similar needs. We know no two students are exactly the same, but students can have similar needs to each other. Having students in groups helps me determine next steps for instruction, as I can address the needs of the group in order to help them learn.

The assessments at the middle of the year, summative assessments at the end of the unit, and formative assessments help me determine student growth and plan next steps for instruction. These assessments help me reflect upon my instruction and determine if my instruction was effective or not. If my instruction is not effective, I will ask my teammates for advice on the strategies they used in their classrooms successfully so that my instruction can be effective. If my instruction is effective, I will share what I did with my team so that they may implement effective strategies in their classes. Small groups change frequently based on the information provided in the formative assessments.

The end of the year assessments provide me with a long range view of my students learning and growth over the year. I use the assessment data to compare scores at the beginning of the year with end of the year.

Types of Differentiation

Carol Ann Tomlinson is considered by many to be the expert on differentiation. As an undergraduate student, I read several books and articles by Tomlinson including Leading and Managing a Differentiated Classroom. In her books, Tomlinson discusses that teachers can differentiate content, process, and product.

Content

Teachers can differentiate by adjusting the content they present to students. After a teacher has assessed her students, she has determined what the student already knows, and what the student is ready to learn. The teacher adjust instruction for groups of students in order to meet their instructional needs. For example, a teacher may create math groups for groups of students who are ready for multiplication while other groups are still working on ungrouping for subtraction.

Process

Differentiating the process of instruction means the teacher adjusts the way she presents content in order to meet the different learning styles of the students. The teacher may use a video to engage her visual learners, and have the students examine a model of a cell'a parts to engage her tactile learners.

Product

When allowing students to choose how they will demonstrate their learning, the teacher is demonstrating differentiation through product. This is most often done through choice boards, as suggested by Kasey Bell. Students are given options of how they will demonstrate their learning, which empowers students through choice and honors the different learning styles of different students.

Growth Mindset and Differentiation

In order for a classroom to be successfully differentiated, the teacher and students must embrace a growth mindset. A growth mindset believes that all people can learn, and that mistakes are not indicators of failure. Through instruction, adjusted actions, and practice anyone can learn anything! As opposed to a fixed mindset, which believes that people are either born smart or dumb, and stay that way forever.

A teacher with a growth mindset will encourage her students to learn and encourage students to embrace mistakes and growth. The teacher will create a culture that allows students to make mistakes and reflect upon their mistakes in order to learn. The students learn and understand that every student needs something different from the teacher in order to grow and learn. The students do not question when other students receive alternative assignments or extra instruction in order to provide remediation or extension instruction.

Technology and Differentiation

Technology gives students and teachers an almost unlimited access to resources. Teachers can easily find and share differentiated resources or activities with students.

Adaptive Learning

Programs like RAZ Kids, Learning A-Z, Prodigy Math, Amplify Reading, Lexia, Dreambox, and Imagine Learning allow teachers to assign students to different grades, learning standards, or skills to work through and practice for learning. Many of the programs form the above list are adaptive learning games. Teachers can input data from their own assessments, or use the assessments embedded in the games, or assign grade levels in order for the game to have a starting point for student learning. The game then responds to students responses in order to determine what the student will work on next. For example, in Prodigy a student may get a subtraction problem with ungrouping incorrect. The game will then ask the student some lower level questions about subtraction without ungrouping to determine if they student understands the concept of subtraction. Then, the game will present a lesson on ungrouping to the student. Or, if another student gets the same question correct, the game will ask them to solve problems with ungrouping in multiple place values. This provides differentiation in product as students are receiving instruction on the skills they have yet to master.

QR Codes

QR codes are a way to differentiate instruction, while providing students with privacy and integrity. Teachers can create QR codes for different websites, lessons, and activities for students. The teacher could create these herself (like a YouTube video, Flipgrid, or Seesaw assignment), or find ones that are already published to the web and take the URL and change it into a QR code. The student would find the QR code with their name or group name on them, scan the code using the camera on their device, and complete the assignment in their device. The other students would not know what that student is working on, which could help struggling students maintain privacy and dignity in their work.

Or, the teacher could use a QR code and create a mystery project. The students would not know what they are going to do until they scan the QR code and open the link.

Asynchronous Learning

Teachers could also use technology to provide asynchronous learning to their students. This is also called a "flipped classroom" in some circumstances. We have seen, experienced, and learned a lot about this kind of learning during the emergency closures of schools and remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a flipped classroom, the teacher records lessons on a video for students to watch when they have the ability. Then, the students come to school and complete work in the classroom. During remote learning, this often looked like students watching the video and completing the work when they were able.

Teachers can also use this idea to provide differentiated learning opportunities. The teacher could record different lessons for the different groups of students based on content, product, and process. The students then could also complete differentiated activities that are best suited for their learning profiles.

Flipgrid

Flipgrid is a great tool that allows students to express themselves. I use Flipgrid to get to know my students on a more personal level, to learn about their interests, self-efficacy, self-assessment, learning preferences, and what they would like to learn. Students have ninety seconds to respond to a prompt in a Flipgrid video. I like to ask students open ended questions about their interests and learning profiles. This helps me understand my students, develop community, and understand my students as learners. This helps me create groups based on learning profiles and interests. Therefore, I can adjust content, product, and process in my instruction to meet the needs of my students.

LMS

Many learning management software programs allow students choice in creating products in order to demonstrate their learning. Seesaw allows students to choose from creating a note, photo, video, or drawing. And when working in these products, students have options to type or use their finger to write on the screen. The app also has multiple image editing tools so that students can express their creativity. Google Classroom allows students to choose from the array of G-Suite products, such as Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings. Both of these apps also allow the teacher to assign items to certain groups of students, or even individuals, this can help the teacher differentiate the content students are accessing while learning.

The page created as part of the requirements for TEC 536: Assessment and Instructional Technology