Differentiation

Lets start out with a little quiz.
Think to yourself what answer you would put as you read through the questions.
These are all yes or no questions.

1. Are all students the same?
2. Do all students learn the same way?
3. Are students all on the same level?
4. Do students have the same needs?
5. Are students all from the same background?
6. Do students have the same personalities?

The answer to all 6 questions is NO, NO and NO!
No one student is alike. As a teacher it is very important to remember this. There will be students who learn faster than others, students who have a difficult time learning, students who don't speak much English, students whose cultures or gender results in learning preferences, and students who have given up on the power of learning.

So,, what is it?

It is the idea that instruction needs to accommodate the different ways that students learn.

In the book it states, "The goal of a differentiated classroom is to plan actively and consistently to help each learner move as far and as fast as possible along a learning continuum. 

Studies have shown that 75% of teachers in the United States are Caucasian and in about 25 years from now, 70% of the student population will be non-Caucasian. This is CRAZY! and it really makes me start thinking about what life in my own classroom will be like and who my future students will be. Sometimes just thinking about not being able to communicate with my students because of language barriers is scary. It is also scary to me to not know how to teach a specific student. Learning more about differentiation has helped ease my fears a little bit. I know it will be a challenge, but differentiation is a MUST in the classroom!

I'll leave with this quote from the book, "Schools are like airport hubs; student passengers arrive from many different backgrounds for widely divergent destination. Their particular takeoffs into adulthood will demand different flight plans" (Levine, 2002, p.336).