Your students are different. They wear different clothes. They like different TV shows. Some of them have had their growth spurt, and others are still shrimpy. And that's the idea behind differentiated instruction. No, not that you aim it based on their different heights—that all those differences add up to learning in different ways.

 

Every student is a unique snowflake. Or something.

Let's look at it from the classroom perspective. One student may love numbers and understand their relationships almost intuitively. Another only understands mathematical equations and concepts explained in story form, via word problems or analogies. Someone else wants to do nothing all day but sit in a corner alone with a book, while other students would view fifteen minutes engaged of reading as interminable torture.

And then we get to study styles. Some students prefer working in groups; others like to work independently (and hey, there's nothing wrong with an introvert). Some students make sense of the world through images; others don't get it until they see it in words.

The differences are endless. And it is because of those learning differences (in addition to the height and hair color ones) that many educators believe it is necessary for educators to differentiate their instruction.

That's right, we're at the main point now. Different kids, different learning styles, different teaching styles.

Moving right along.

First things first: what do we mean by differentiated instruction? Some examples for your consideration:

• Differentiate how you present material: orally, in writing, with and without visual aids or props.
• Differentiate the activities you offer students: independent projects, group work, quiet research, hands-on experiences, lots of movement, sitting perfectly still.
• Differentiate your assignments and, in turn, your methods of assessment: make 'em do essays, presentations, tests, or demonstrations of learning via art, music, or performance.

Second things second: what's the benefit? The idea is that through this range of styles, teachers can increase their chances of engaging more students in ways that help each individual access, learn, and retain material.

Of course, in order to differentiate, it is necessary for educators to know their students well. But that doesn't mean that differentiation is impossible for the first few months of every school year while students and teachers are getting to know one another.

In fact, it could be enough for teachers to recognize that learners come in many different packages, and therefore need to be offered many different forms of engaging in the learning process. By simply starting with the premise that people have preferred ways to take in information and trying to accommodate those different preferences, teachers can immediately insert some variety into their instruction with just a little extra planning.

It's pretty clear that in order to learn a new concept, some people prefer listening to an explanation, while others might get more from watching a video or demonstration, reading a text, or jumping in and getting their hands dirty. It's called various learning styles, and there are loads of theories about just how to stick them all in categories.

Think about it. When you get a new phone, do you figure out how to use it by reading the manual? Watching a YouTube video? Getting a friend to explain it? Or do you just start pressing buttons to see what'll happen?

We bet you have a preference, and hey, so do your students. To begin differentiating instruction for your class, then, you just need to do your best to offer your students a few different entry points, along with multiple options for demonstrating their learning.

For example, a teacher planning to give a lecture on a topic could differentiate that instruction by incorporating a written handout, visual aids, and relevant objects for students to examine. Sure, that example's on the simple side, but you get the idea. And once you have the idea, you can work toward increasing and improving your efforts at differentiation in the classroom.

The plus: by incorporating a whole bunch of methods for introducing a new concept, it'll get hammered into all those students' different heads in different ways, but with the same effect of blossoming understanding.

The extra plus: chances are even your die-hard readers or your mathemagicians will get a kick out of approaching a new subject through art or movement. Just like it's valuable for your dancers to crack a math book from time to time. Differentiated instruction not only makes new information more accessible to a wider range of students—it also makes learning an adventure, no matter which way you slice it.