Differentiation in Practice Part 1

A Brief Primer on Differentiation
I know I spend way to much time trying to make everyone happy. I am so glad that I have read and understand that I must accept these two truths in my teaching. Truth #1 I will never be able to do everything every child needs on a given day or in a given year. Yeh! Rather than beating myself up each day, I now have permission to be ok with just doing the best that I can. I may not have an effective teaching day every day for every student in my classroom, but that is ok. Truth #2 The more diligently I work to know my students and match my instruction to their needs, the more likely it is that the year well be successful. I now have one more tool that will help me to know my students! Differentiated teaching. Differentiated teaching is responsive teaching it is working consistently to understand the differences in learners and making plans to address the needs as flexibly and effectively as possible. Four classroom elements are involved in differentiated teaching. Each of these elements profoundly affects and is profoundly affected by the others. These elements are; to know who I teach, to know what I teach, to know where I teach and finally to know how I teach. The who element is to know the factors that define who is in my classroom. Factors such as; gender, culture, personal interest, intelligence preference, experience and ability. The what element is quite simple-I need to teach the Utah State Curriculum. However, the more fully I understand the who element, the more aware I will be of how to adapt what I teach to better serve each learner in my classroom. The where element may be the single most important element in helping students become the best they can be. This is the learning environment I create in my classroom. Finally the how element. This is where I need to be flexible in my instruction, I need to know when to do whole class instruction and when to do small groups. I need to provide multiple ways of learning so that all my students will benefit.
Effectively differentiated classrooms are guided by common principles but crafted in many ways. Tomlinson believes there are 12 Hallmarks or principles of a differentiated room. They are; a strong link between assessment and instruction, clarity about learning goals, flexible grouping of students, flexible use of time, space and materials, the students understand the nature of the classroom and it works for everyone, individual growth is central to the success of the class as a whole, all students need "respectful" work, there is always "a way up" and never "a way out", the teachers sights are set high as are the students, the teacher has developed an active partnership with specialists in the classroom, differentiation is proactive rather than reactive, and there are qualitative rather than quantitative tasks. In order to implement these principles I must carefully consider three things; the characteristics of the students in my classroom, the curricular elements (the elements I have control over) in my classroom and finally the instructional strategies I use in my classroom. The really cool part is this is all fluid. The way I implement these principles will definitely change year to year, they may even change month to month, week to week or day to day. There will never be a dull moment. To be an effective differentiation teacher I will need to constantly assess where my students are and what they need. I will need to be flexible, and proactive in my planning.
I love the quote, "Talent is what you bring. Effort is what you give." I know I will be a very talented teacher, it is what I will bring to my classroom. I also know I am ready to give all of my effort. I can't wait to be a teacher. I feel even more prepared with each chapter I read and each Morning Meeting I observe and dream about! I really can't wait!