Differentiating Instruction: It’s Not as Hard as You Think
Summary
TLDRLarry Ferlazzo explains that differentiated instruction isn't about creating separate lessons for each student but rather adapting teaching in real-time to meet diverse student needs. He emphasizes the importance of understanding students' unique gifts and challenges, and using professional judgment to respond flexibly. Differentiation can be achieved in content, process, and product, such as allowing student choice in topics or modifying the way students work together. Ferlazzo shares practical examples, like engaging a disinterested student by connecting the lesson to his interest in football. He stresses that these strategies don't necessarily add extra work but require building relationships with students and fostering a class culture that values individualized learning.
Takeaways
- 📚 Differentiating instruction is a mindset, not just a set of preplanned strategies.
- 🤔 It involves making in-the-moment decisions based on understanding each student's unique needs.
- 🎯 The goal is to ensure fairness by recognizing and responding to the diverse gifts and challenges students bring.
- 📈 Differentiation can be applied in three key areas: content, process, and product.
- 📖 Content differentiation might involve giving students choices, such as selecting their own research topics.
- 👥 Process differentiation can include varying groupings and learning environments to suit different learners.
- 🎨 Product differentiation allows for varied forms of demonstrating learning, like visual representations instead of traditional essays.
- 👀 Keeping the main learning objectives in focus is crucial while differentiating instruction.
- 🤝 Building strong relationships with students helps in understanding their strengths and interests for effective differentiation.
- 💡 Flexibility in thinking and a strong class culture are essential for implementing differentiation strategies successfully.
- 🌟 Differentiation does not necessarily mean more work; it's about being creative and responsive to student needs.
Q & A
What does Larry Ferlazzo define as differentiation of instruction?
-Larry Ferlazzo defines differentiation of instruction as a way of thinking rather than a preplanned list of strategies. It involves making decisions in the moment based on recognizing students' different gifts and challenges.
Why does Ferlazzo argue that 'fair' doesn't always mean treating everyone equally in education?
-Ferlazzo argues that 'fair' doesn't always mean treating everyone equally because all students bring different gifts and challenges, and educators need to use their professional judgment to respond to these differences in their teaching.
According to Carol Tomlinson, in which three areas can teachers differentiate instruction?
-Carol Tomlinson suggests that teachers can differentiate instruction in three areas: content, process, and product.
How does student choice play a role in differentiating content?
-Student choice in differentiating content allows students to select their research topics or essay prompts, which can engage their interests and make learning more relevant to them.
What example does Ferlazzo give to illustrate differentiation by content?
-Ferlazzo gives the example of a student named John who was uninterested in writing an essay about natural disasters. To differentiate, Ferlazzo allowed John to write about why his favorite football team was the best, still following the guidelines of an argument essay.
How can teachers differentiate by process in the classroom?
-Teachers can differentiate by process by changing how they group students, using mixed ability groups or same ability groups, and by adjusting the learning environment to suit individual students' needs, such as allowing a student to sit on a desk to read if they tend to fall asleep.
What is an example of differentiating by product according to the transcript?
-An example of differentiating by product is allowing a student who likes to doodle to create a visual representation of key points discussed in class, instead of writing a traditional essay or taking a multiple-choice test.
Why does Ferlazzo suggest giving students an extra blank page on tests?
-Ferlazzo suggests giving students an extra blank page on tests to allow them to write anything else they remember about the topic, which can lead to better quality thinking and writing as students are more engaged and can express their understanding in their own words.
What does Ferlazzo emphasize as a prerequisite for successful differentiation strategies?
-Ferlazzo emphasizes that successful differentiation strategies require building relationships with students to understand their strengths, challenges, and interests, as well as demonstrating flexibility in thinking and a strong class culture.
How does Ferlazzo suggest that differentiation can be implemented without creating extra work for teachers?
-Ferlazzo suggests that differentiation can be implemented without extra work by leveraging students' interests, adjusting the learning environment, and utilizing students' natural inclinations, such as doodling, to enhance learning without adding to the teacher's workload.
Outlines
📚 Understanding Differentiated Instruction
Larry Ferlazzo introduces the concept of differentiated instruction, emphasizing that it's not about creating separate lessons for each student but rather a mindset of making in-the-moment decisions based on recognizing students' unique gifts and challenges. He explains that differentiation can be applied in three areas: content, process, and product. For content, he gives the example of allowing students to choose their research topics or essay prompts. The main learning objectives should always be in focus, as illustrated by an anecdote where a student is motivated to write his first essay by writing about his favorite football team instead of a natural disaster. The importance of maintaining a strong class culture that supports and understands the need for individualized treatment is also highlighted.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Differentiating instruction
💡Fairness
💡Content
💡Process
💡Product
💡Student choice
💡Learning objectives
💡Class culture
💡Flexibility
💡Professional judgment
💡Relationships
Highlights
Differentiating instruction is a mindset, not a preplanned list of strategies.
Fairness in education doesn't always mean treating everyone equally.
Educators should recognize and respond to students' different gifts and challenges.
Differentiation can occur in three areas: content, process, and product.
Student choice in content can be a form of differentiation, such as choosing research topics.
Maintaining focus on main learning objectives is crucial during differentiation.
An example of content differentiation: adapting essay topics to students' interests.
Differentiating by process can involve varying groupings of students.
Adapting the learning environment to suit individual needs can improve engagement.
Differentiating by product allows for varied forms of demonstrating learning.
An example of product differentiation: using doodles to represent key points.
Tests can be differentiated by allowing students to add their own notes.
Differentiation strategies do not necessarily create extra work for teachers.
Building relationships with students is key to successful differentiation.
Flexibility in thinking is required for implementing differentiation strategies.
A strong class culture supports differentiation and ensures fairness.
There are countless ways to support students' unique gifts and challenges.
Transcripts
(light music)
- [Larry] I'm Larry Ferlazzo.
Differentiating instruction.
To some educators it conjures visions
of having to create a different lesson
for every student in the room
and long nights of planning and grading.
That insanity is not what differentiation is all about.
Differentiating instruction is really a way of thinking,
not a preplanned list of strategies.
Oftentimes, it is making decisions
in the moment based on this mindset.
It's recognizing that, to paraphrase Rick Wormeli,
fair doesn't always mean treating everyone equally.
It's recognizing that all
of our students bring different gifts and challenges
and that as educators we need to recognize those differences
and use our professional judgment
to flexibly respond to them in our teaching.
Carol Tomlinson talks about the ability
to differentiate in three areas,
content, process and product.
For content, student choice is one way
we might differentiate,
like allowing students to choose
their research topics or essay prompts.
As teachers, we need to keep our eyes on the prize.
In other words, we have to keep asking ourselves
what are the main learning objectives?
One day, my students were writing an argument essay
about what would be
the worse natural disaster to experience.
John's head was down on the desk.
He was not doing anything.
I knew that he was interested in football,
so I told him that he could write an essay
on why his favorite team was the best.
He would still have to make an argument,
just about football instead of hurricanes or earthquakes.
His eyes lit up.
He got to work and wrote what his mother later told me
was the first essay he had ever written in school.
He had followed all the guidelines
of a good argument essay.
The prize in this case was learning
to write an argument essay,
not learning to write about natural disasters.
To differentiate by process,
teachers can change up how they group students.
Sometimes a mixed ability group might work best,
while sometimes it might be appropriate
to have same ability groups.
We might have an English proficient buddy work
with an English language learner to help them out.
During independent reading time
in my early morning class several years ago,
one student tended to fall asleep.
I told him that if he wanted,
he could go to the back and sit on a desk and read.
Soon, several others joined him.
A few days later I saw another student dozing off.
Before I could say anything,
one of his classmates whispered to him,
just go sit on a desk.
Again, it's a matter of keeping our eyes on the prize.
What are the learning objectives?
And what are the best roads
to get there for different students?
Teachers can also differentiate
by the type of product students create.
The major demonstration of learning doesn't always have
to be an essay or a multiple choice test.
One year, I had a student who liked to doodle
when other students or I were talking.
I told her it was okay as long as she was doodling
about the information we were discussing.
She built on those doodles to create a final project
that brilliantly and visually represented
all the key points we had covered.
When I give tests, I often gives students
an extra blank page where they can write anything else
they remember about the topic being tested
that they think is important.
I often find the quality of thinking
and writing better there
than in response to my test questions.
None of the differentiating strategies I've mentioned
have created any extra work for me.
They did require that I had relationships with my students
to know their strengths, challenges and interests.
And I needed to demonstrate flexibility in my thinking.
Making these strategies successful also required building
a strong class culture so that some of the students
were being treated differently
and they understood why and they understood that
that was the only way to be truly fair.
The ideas mentioned here are just a drop in the bucket.
There are a zillion other ways
we can support our students' gifts and challenges,
we just need to keep our minds and ears open.
(upbeat music)
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