At the moment, I’m reading about using differentiation techniques in the classroom, and I’m really enjoying what I’m discovering. I’ve always thought of differentiation as something really complex, time consuming, and challenging to achieve. However, it is something I’d like to apply more into my classes because I see enormous value in children getting exactly what is they need from the class, rather than a homogenised one-size-fits-all approach. Here’s a quote I really love:

Recall your days as a student. Did your teachers differentiate for you? Think carefully. If your teachers ever rephrased a question; extended a deadline; provided a few extra examples to help you understand something; stood next to you to keep your attention focused on the lesson; regrouped the class according to student interest, readiness, or the way students learned best; gave you a choice among assignments based on something they knew about you; or let you redo a test or project if at first you didn’t succeed, they differentiated instruction. They may not have called it differentiation back then, but that’s what good teachers did for us.

This quote is from the book Fair Isn’t Always Equal, 2nd edition by Rick Wormeli. What it says to me, is that its likely you’re already doing differentiation, however, there’s so much more we can bring to our classes if we’re mindful about what it is we’re doing.

From my understanding so far, my sense is that our understanding of differentiation is still in its very formative stages… that is, there’s lots to still learn.  In another decade, many of the things that were considered cutting edge today, will likely be considered obsolete or poor practice. In any case, I think its a topic worthy of exploration, and I’m excited by the possibilities of digging deeper.