Students come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. We are all different and we all learn differently. "One size fits all" is not a moto used in education. As teachers, we must determine what works best for our learners. This differs by student from period to period, class to class, grade to grade, and year to year. There are many factors that need to be considered when teachers determine what to teach, how to teach it, and how students should perform - all based on the students themselves. In order to reach all learners, differentiation needs to take place with respect to content, process, and product according to learning styles, levels, and interests.
Students come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. We are all different and we all learn differently. "One size fits all" is not a moto used in education. As teachers, we must determine what works best for our learners. This differs by student from period to period, class to class, grade to grade, and year to year. There are many factors that need to be considered when teachers determine what to teach, how to teach it, and how students should perform - all based on the students themselves. In order to reach all learners, differentiation needs to take place with respect to content, process, and product according to learning styles, levels, and interests.
In other words........
In order to accommodate all learners, teachers can differentiate:
- the content (what they teach),
- the process (how they teach), or
- the product (what the students produce).
This can be done based on different characteristics of the students, in order to reach them in different ways. We can address students based on their:
- readiness (level)
- interest
- learning style
In order to accommodate all learners, teachers can differentiate:
- the content (what they teach),
- the process (how they teach), or
- the product (what the students produce).
This can be done based on different characteristics of the students, in order to reach them in different ways. We can address students based on their:
- readiness (level)
- interest
- learning style
To differentiate we include elements of:
~ Big Ideas, umbrella concepts at all student levels
~Prior Assessment, to determine needs
~Choice, provided in content, process, or product
~ Big Ideas, umbrella concepts at all student levels
~Prior Assessment, to determine needs
~Choice, provided in content, process, or product
We're either teaching students or we're teaching the curriculum,
regardless of the students."
- Amy Benjamin, Author