We hear the word, “Differentiation”, passed around a lot in the education world. This is especially true in the Student Support Department. Yet, what does differentiated instruction look like? How do we differentiate for all students?
If a campus visitor walked into the Learning Centre/ Zoom Rooms, how would they know differentiation was happening?
Call that your “Big Question” and the prior “Guiding Questions” if you want.
I think the best place to start is with the UDL model to understand what differentiated instruction is. Universal Design for Learning model is built around multiple means of Representation, multiple means of Action and Expression, and multiple means of Engagement. To truly differentiate we need to provide as many different entry points, exit points, and pathways in the middle that students will need in the classroom. If a student (with or without an IEP) lacks strength in writing then we need to be providing a means of expression (a.k.a. project, assignment, task, etc.) that allows the student to use their strengths to convey their knowledge.
That is the easy part for those in student support – encourage inclusive, strength-based, student-first, best educational practices in the classrooms, Learning Centre, and Zoom Rooms. The hard part is answering the Big Question above – How do we know it’s happening? What does that look like?
If we truly want to differentiate in our classrooms we need to start at the beginning – in the Assignment Design, in the planning for day 1, and the communication between Student Support Services, parents, and teachers - before we start the lesson.
Consider the definitions below for a moment.
We need to start by planning for multiple means of learning, multiple means of expressing knowledge, and multiple ways of engaging in learning (UDL). This is opposed to what we are doing right now which is retrofitting what we planned to make learning fit to a student’s needs -usually after the lesson is already in the student’s hands. This is much like saying, “Everyone is welcome to go to the grocery store, but we didn’t really plan for wheelchair users, so they’ll only have access to the main aisleways. Then we can run and grab the items they need from the other aisles but only if the support worker asks us to.”
What differentiation should look like is planning before day one to allow access to the whole educational experience while tailoring lessons so that students can lean on their strengths to learn, grow, and develop.
This provides multiple opportunities for students to have a voice in what their product looks like (PowerPoint, song, essay, video or maybe just more pictures than writing in a report), multiple ways to acquire information being taught (book, video, scaffolded research, discussion), and multiple ways to engage in learning (choice of where to sit, how to use their time, what to focus on first, etc.)
Here are a few ways we can keep things interesting and innovative, inside the box of our educational framework, while differentiating by providing students with multiple ways to engage, multiple ways to acquire information, and multiple ways to express their learning:
• Teacher-Made Videos – sourcing videos is difficult, but the reality is students are more engaged when the video is made by their teacher anyway. It doesn't need to be perfect, but if you can present information in a video you made...it seems that you are talking to them, they can pause, rewind, and re-watch, too.
•Easter Eggs -hide links inside the Canvas page so that they read all pages, click on everything, and are always paying attention so they do not miss an opportunity for a prize. This example gets them to do a small Math task too, bonus.
•Knowledge Scavenger Hunts
•Explore Boards -where students can choose which aspects of a topic to explore. Would look like a tic tac toe or bingo card with listed areas to explore, possibly with links to approved sites. Students can go above and beyond in their learning extras or just focus on the required information. Kids love clicking things and going down rabbit holes...let's let them explore with some safe suggestions...shhh...it's actually learning.
•Choice Boards -students choose from a board of options what they want to do to express their learning. Possibly like this cool PacMan one I made for a Math Final Project (But it could be a bit of a Project Based Learning thing, too)
•Choose Your Own Adventure -(though that title is copywrite protected) – try something like THIS or others - to have students create their own stories but with excitement, attitude, and 100% student buy-in.
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