Differentiation: Recognizing Differentiation in the Everyday Classroom
_To
be quite honest, I struggled with this assignment. I pondered what lesson I was going to teach, how I was going
to differentiate my instruction, and how many of my students would take something
useful away from the entire project.
After reading chapters from our class textbook and analyzing various
assigned articles, differentiation was becoming more and more of a prescription
or some sort of set algorithm. If
you do X, Y, and Z, take away A, J, and P, and multiply D and T, all your
students will learn. In each
reading, multiple accounts of fascinating and engaging teachers were seemingly
juggling eight different objects, counting backwards, jumping on one foot, AND
teaching all at the same time.
Each anecdotal account made me realize that I wasn’t doing nearly enough
to ensure that each and every single one of my students was accessing my
curriculum. How was I going to
construct a project and make as much of an impact as all the teachers I was
reading about? Every idea that
popped into my mind couldn’t compete.
The pressure was on.
I decided to enlist the help of a few colleagues. I presented my feelings and pressing dilemma. I asked them if they had any amazing differentiated lesson ideas that would wow the socks off of any educator. One colleague suggested that I make the lesson up and just focus on writing an awesome, yet fictional, article for my assignment. With admitted guilt, I considered this option for a quick second but realized it would ultimately be such a meaningless waste of my time. Another colleague suggested that I implement one of the activities passed out in class. He really enjoyed the RAFT activity. This suggestion appeared to be a potential front-runner, but I wasn’t entirely passionate about it. I was confident that I could pull off a RAFT lesson and write an adequate paper about my experiences, but again, if the lesson didn’t mean anything to me, I would be wasting my time. It was my closest grade level colleague that truly helped set my focus. She commented that differentiate was a constant part of my classroom and that I was over thinking the entire thing. She explained that I didn’t have to implement every activity and technique found within my readings. She told me that she was inspired about how well I knew my students and how I seemed to differentiate without even concretely thinking about it. The assigned readings were highlighting many instructional methods I wasn’t applying, but I didn’t stop to think about all that I was already doing.
Once the first morning bell sounds, my day is in full swing. I’m not able to sit and process much until I’m sitting at home on my couch at the end of the day. My decisions throughout the day have to be made in split seconds. I simply do not have the time to sit down and carefully and thoughtfully plan out a well crafted differentiated lesson. My differentiation techniques are applied on the spot and based off comprehensive knowledge of my 23, second grade students. Getting to spend 9 hours every day, Monday through Friday, with each one of my students for 180 days allows me to make these decisions with such ease. I learn about my students’ needs, difficulties, strengths, passions, and background situations very quickly in the beginning of the year. To help myself see how and when I differentiate throughout the day, I decided to journal a day’s worth of activities, lessons, and events.
As we start our morning, my students transition into the school day by reading independently. The majority of my students read books at their level. They must select from a wide variety of books from their instructional level. Izeah is allowed to read any book from any level. He has severe ADHD and high functioning autism, which weren’t diagnosed until this year. He is performing far below grade level and struggles with any type of reading. Due to these circumstances, I allow him to select a book from any reading level, hoping to help him develop an interest in reading. He tends to be more focused and engaged when I allow him the freedom to read whichever book he wants, regardless of how easy of difficult the text is.
As my students read, I quickly check in homework. As I look over their assignments, I realize that three of my students don’t understand the concept of subtracting with regrouping. I swiftly pull out a bag of manipulatives, call them back to the round table, and reteach the previous day’s lesson. We correct their homework together. Isabella, one of my advanced students, flourishes when she teaches others. I call her back as well and allow her to pair up with one of the struggling students. She explains how to subtract two-digit numbers to Kaily, one of my English language learners. While explaining a problem, she makes a discovery and excitedly shares it with me. She realized that when subtracting 49 from 51, since the numbers are so close to each other on the number line, you could just put 49 in your head and count up until you get to the higher number. How many you count up is the difference between the two numbers. Not only does Isabella learn something new from helping another student, Kaily now has a better understanding of the math concept and is able to correct the remaining problems from her homework on her own.
After I check in homework, I pass out a “board language” worksheet. Board language is a review of language arts concepts, from previous lessons in the course of the week, that students are having difficulty with. My students that are not having any difficulty are put on a computer program that is curtailed to their level. They play educational games and review/learn language arts concepts based on their ability level. This computer program allows them to work at their instructional level while I review board language questions with the remaining students in class.
Shortly after the day starts, Klarissa and Cody are whisked off to RSP (Resource Specialist Program) where they receive one-on-one and small group support to help them meet their IEP goals. Although this program helps me by providing additional support to two of my students who have learning disabilities, I am expected to catch them up to speed when they return to class. Even though they have learning disabilities, they are still required to take the end of the year California Standards Test (CST) in second grade. When they come back to class an hour later, I pull them back to check in with them. I provide additional one-on-one support to assist them in being able to function with the flow of the class.
When they come back to class, we are working on writing personal narratives. Cody struggles with expressive language and a limited vocabulary so I created a graphic organizer with pre-typed sentences frames on it for him. He also has trouble with fine motor skills. To assist him, I have him write on a slanted binder using a pencil with a special grip. I also highlight the space in between the lines on his lined paper to help him see where to form his letters. Klarissa has difficulties with phonemic processing, which severely impairs her spelling. To support her, I give her a word bank of commonly misspelled words as well as a vocabulary word bank including multiple words about the current writing topic we are working on. Both Cody and Klarissa are allowed to use illustrations to help express parts of their personal narratives as well.
Right before recess, I check in with Izeah. The current behavior management program in place for the class does not work for Izeah. He was not demonstrating success with it and, as a consequence, losing many privileges. I decided to create a chart where he earns privileges for good behavior, as opposed to losing privileges for poor behavior. Every five stars, he earns a privilege of choice ranging from “game time” to “surprise”. On that specific day, he had completed one sentence about the given writing topic. A gave him an additional star to keep him motivated. His encouragement and praise must be frequent so that earning a privilege doesn’t seem that far away. If something seems too far out of reach, he will give up and lose his driving force.
All of this has already occurred, and it’s only 10:00. I still have six hours to go. As I reflect back on my journal notes from the entire day, I realize that differentiation doesn’t have to be about pointing out what we don’t do as educators. I don’t think we give ourselves enough credit for what we already do. Differentiation doesn’t have to be some new program that we need to implement. Several educators fear this term, like I did, because it’s usually presented as something else we need to do on top of everything else. It appears as another manual/resource guide to add to the mounting pile. We need to start realizing that we already differentiate; it’s an innate characteristic of teaching. It results as a natural part of knowing your students. We need to ask ourselves, “What am I already doing?” Instead of, “What am I not doing?” Like Izeah, we need to focus on the positive to get us through the day.
I decided to enlist the help of a few colleagues. I presented my feelings and pressing dilemma. I asked them if they had any amazing differentiated lesson ideas that would wow the socks off of any educator. One colleague suggested that I make the lesson up and just focus on writing an awesome, yet fictional, article for my assignment. With admitted guilt, I considered this option for a quick second but realized it would ultimately be such a meaningless waste of my time. Another colleague suggested that I implement one of the activities passed out in class. He really enjoyed the RAFT activity. This suggestion appeared to be a potential front-runner, but I wasn’t entirely passionate about it. I was confident that I could pull off a RAFT lesson and write an adequate paper about my experiences, but again, if the lesson didn’t mean anything to me, I would be wasting my time. It was my closest grade level colleague that truly helped set my focus. She commented that differentiate was a constant part of my classroom and that I was over thinking the entire thing. She explained that I didn’t have to implement every activity and technique found within my readings. She told me that she was inspired about how well I knew my students and how I seemed to differentiate without even concretely thinking about it. The assigned readings were highlighting many instructional methods I wasn’t applying, but I didn’t stop to think about all that I was already doing.
Once the first morning bell sounds, my day is in full swing. I’m not able to sit and process much until I’m sitting at home on my couch at the end of the day. My decisions throughout the day have to be made in split seconds. I simply do not have the time to sit down and carefully and thoughtfully plan out a well crafted differentiated lesson. My differentiation techniques are applied on the spot and based off comprehensive knowledge of my 23, second grade students. Getting to spend 9 hours every day, Monday through Friday, with each one of my students for 180 days allows me to make these decisions with such ease. I learn about my students’ needs, difficulties, strengths, passions, and background situations very quickly in the beginning of the year. To help myself see how and when I differentiate throughout the day, I decided to journal a day’s worth of activities, lessons, and events.
As we start our morning, my students transition into the school day by reading independently. The majority of my students read books at their level. They must select from a wide variety of books from their instructional level. Izeah is allowed to read any book from any level. He has severe ADHD and high functioning autism, which weren’t diagnosed until this year. He is performing far below grade level and struggles with any type of reading. Due to these circumstances, I allow him to select a book from any reading level, hoping to help him develop an interest in reading. He tends to be more focused and engaged when I allow him the freedom to read whichever book he wants, regardless of how easy of difficult the text is.
As my students read, I quickly check in homework. As I look over their assignments, I realize that three of my students don’t understand the concept of subtracting with regrouping. I swiftly pull out a bag of manipulatives, call them back to the round table, and reteach the previous day’s lesson. We correct their homework together. Isabella, one of my advanced students, flourishes when she teaches others. I call her back as well and allow her to pair up with one of the struggling students. She explains how to subtract two-digit numbers to Kaily, one of my English language learners. While explaining a problem, she makes a discovery and excitedly shares it with me. She realized that when subtracting 49 from 51, since the numbers are so close to each other on the number line, you could just put 49 in your head and count up until you get to the higher number. How many you count up is the difference between the two numbers. Not only does Isabella learn something new from helping another student, Kaily now has a better understanding of the math concept and is able to correct the remaining problems from her homework on her own.
After I check in homework, I pass out a “board language” worksheet. Board language is a review of language arts concepts, from previous lessons in the course of the week, that students are having difficulty with. My students that are not having any difficulty are put on a computer program that is curtailed to their level. They play educational games and review/learn language arts concepts based on their ability level. This computer program allows them to work at their instructional level while I review board language questions with the remaining students in class.
Shortly after the day starts, Klarissa and Cody are whisked off to RSP (Resource Specialist Program) where they receive one-on-one and small group support to help them meet their IEP goals. Although this program helps me by providing additional support to two of my students who have learning disabilities, I am expected to catch them up to speed when they return to class. Even though they have learning disabilities, they are still required to take the end of the year California Standards Test (CST) in second grade. When they come back to class an hour later, I pull them back to check in with them. I provide additional one-on-one support to assist them in being able to function with the flow of the class.
When they come back to class, we are working on writing personal narratives. Cody struggles with expressive language and a limited vocabulary so I created a graphic organizer with pre-typed sentences frames on it for him. He also has trouble with fine motor skills. To assist him, I have him write on a slanted binder using a pencil with a special grip. I also highlight the space in between the lines on his lined paper to help him see where to form his letters. Klarissa has difficulties with phonemic processing, which severely impairs her spelling. To support her, I give her a word bank of commonly misspelled words as well as a vocabulary word bank including multiple words about the current writing topic we are working on. Both Cody and Klarissa are allowed to use illustrations to help express parts of their personal narratives as well.
Right before recess, I check in with Izeah. The current behavior management program in place for the class does not work for Izeah. He was not demonstrating success with it and, as a consequence, losing many privileges. I decided to create a chart where he earns privileges for good behavior, as opposed to losing privileges for poor behavior. Every five stars, he earns a privilege of choice ranging from “game time” to “surprise”. On that specific day, he had completed one sentence about the given writing topic. A gave him an additional star to keep him motivated. His encouragement and praise must be frequent so that earning a privilege doesn’t seem that far away. If something seems too far out of reach, he will give up and lose his driving force.
All of this has already occurred, and it’s only 10:00. I still have six hours to go. As I reflect back on my journal notes from the entire day, I realize that differentiation doesn’t have to be about pointing out what we don’t do as educators. I don’t think we give ourselves enough credit for what we already do. Differentiation doesn’t have to be some new program that we need to implement. Several educators fear this term, like I did, because it’s usually presented as something else we need to do on top of everything else. It appears as another manual/resource guide to add to the mounting pile. We need to start realizing that we already differentiate; it’s an innate characteristic of teaching. It results as a natural part of knowing your students. We need to ask ourselves, “What am I already doing?” Instead of, “What am I not doing?” Like Izeah, we need to focus on the positive to get us through the day.