More on Differentiation... Real Strategies.

Back in July of 2010, I wrote a post called Differentiation: Stop Rolling Your Eyes...and I was reminded this week why I so strongly believe in the concept of "differentiation" even if it is a "buzz word" or a "passing fad."

I don't believe it's a passing fad because it can never get old to teach ALL kids.

Nonetheless, this week, our district provided us with some professional development on "differentiation" by bringing in speaker and author Dr. Michael Optiz.  Dr. Optiz has written many books such as Do-able Differentiation and Literacy Lessons to Help Kids Get Fit and Healthy.  Dr. Opitz gave some great ideas, shared some great children's literature, and was a generally nice and knowledgeable man.

While I found Dr. Optiz and his suggestions worthwhile and meaningful, I also believe its important to remember that meeting the needs of all learners does not have to be some elaborate plan or something you've planned weeks in advance.  Differentiation is good teaching.

Because I believe that differentiation is something I do well (because I have to do it every single day because of my job!), I would like to share some more ideas for easily differentiating in the classroom (for more ideas, please see the post from July 2010, "Differentiation: Stop rolling your eyes...").

1. In an elementary school science class, students often work on concrete concepts such as categorizing animals or the digestive system.  Make a few extra visuals for your visual learners.  Put a copy of the visuals on the students' desks who might need an extra visual or two to understand the concept.  Reference the visuals by walking by and tapping the correct visual when you are speaking about a topic.  Where to find the extra visuals?  Try Google Images.  It's free!

2.  In addition to extra visuals, maybe some students need to move items during instruction (tactile learners). Try to make some file folder tasks that the students might be able to manipulate during the lesson.  File Folder Tasks are easy to make and can be used year after year.  You might need to invest in some Velcro, but often you can find it cheap if you look in craft stores for "hook and loop" tape or straps.  You can also think about writing to Velcro and asking for any "scraps" that they can share.  They've sent our school two big boxes of Velcro!

Here are some sites for file folder tasks that you can print out and use:
- File Folder Heaven
- Enchanted Learning File Folders
- The Virtual Vine
- File Folder Fun
- My File Folder Games

3. Graphic Organizers.  Sure, it's good practice to use graphic organizers with everyone, right?  But some kids may need graphic organizers to organize their thoughts about a story they just read, about the social studies content that was delivered, about the writing they plan on doing... Graphic organizers are an easy way to make reading, writing, and learning more visual and organized.

Where to get pre-made graphic organizers?
- Reading A-Z. If you are lucky enough to subscribe, there is a HUGE library of graphic organizers.  If you don't get Reading A-Z, wait for their Open House in May and check out their resources!
- Freeology.com : Free Printable Graphic Organizers
- Education Oasis: Graphic Organizers
- Teacher Vision: Graphic Organizers
- Super Teacher Worksheets: Graphic Organizers

4.  Leveled Readers.  Find different books on different levels on the SAME TOPIC.  If you are reading about dinosaurs, find a picture book, an I CAN READ book like Danny the Dinosaur, and a nonfiction reader about dinosaurs.  Flexible groups can read different books and then the whole class can have a discussion on dinosaurs.  Do the same with other concepts.

5. Do all of the kids need to take the dreaded "timed test" for math facts?  How about having different ways to assess math facts?  I haven't seen a content standard that says "Student must complete 5000 addition facts in 5.2 seconds," have you?  Why do we even give those timed tests anymore?  I thought we were looking to create thinkers who use different strategies to get to the same answer.  What if some kids took the timed test while others played an addition game on the computer like "Adding Bricks" and others played an addition game on the iPad like "Math Magic" and others used the Touch Math strategies to be able to answer the facts?

Now, how can you apply these SIMPLE strategies in your classroom? 

Turning Best Practices Into Daily Practices

This was, by far, the best presentation of the two day Ohio Conference for Classroom and Special Education Teachers in January of 2010. This presentation “Turning Best Practices into Daily Practices” was given by Anne Beninghoff. Anne is an internationally recognized consultant and trainer with more than 25 years of experience. She has published several books and videos and focuses on creative and practical solutions for effectively including students with diverse learning needs.
Not only did Anne give real and practical information, but she also shared the names and publications where the research for this information is published. Anne covered these 9 Best Practices: Increasing Participation, Focusing Attention, Identifying Similarities and Differences, Using Non-linguistic Representations, Making Connections, Determining Importance, Strengthening Memory, Summarizing, and Challenging Thinking.

An example of turning “Making Connections” into a daily practice- Lighting Up the Brain- Get a large chart paper. Draw a large brain (oval with lines throughout) on the chart paper. Ask students to gather around the large brain on the floor. Give each student a marker. Ask students a question to tap prior knowledge (example: What do you already know about the Solar System?). Students write something they already know about the Solar System in the brain on the paper. Teacher gets glow in the dark paint (Michaels, JoAnns, Pat Catans). Teacher puts paint next to each fact that the students already knew about the Solar System. Turn off the lights and see the brain light up! (This is after discussing with the class that when you make connections in class, you “zap” your brain with electricity.) Students can literally see how their connections (prior knowledge) make their brain light up (glow in the dark paint).

An example of “Strengthening Memory” as a daily practice- Spelling Shapes- There are 5 memory paths. Two of the memory paths are semantic memory (word based, used most in schools, hardest to access) and episodic memory (location-driven, easiest to access). In order to use both of these memory paths to learn new spelling words, try this. Hand out a graphic (an example could be a stick figure person). Tell the class the first new spelling word (an example could be the word ’squish.’) Ask- Where should we place the word ’squish’ on this picture? Students may suggest to the put the word ’squish’ under the foot of the stick figure person. Tell the class that the next spelling word is ‘queen.’ Students may suggest to draw a crown on the person and place the word ‘queen’ inside. This method continues for the rest of the words. The students can then take the drawing/spelling words home to study.

MANY other strategies were discussed and I can share them upon request.