Saturday, March 1, 2008

Why Differentiation?

Why Differentiation?

  • When learning tasks are consistently too hard, students become anxious and frustrated.
  • When tasks are consistently too easy, boredom results. Both boredom and anxiety inhibit a student’s motivation to learn, and – eventually—harm achievement as well. Differentiated instruction helps teachers avoid student anxiety and boredom that can be evident in one-size-fits-all curriculum.


Differentiation Involves...

  • Having high expectations for all students.
  • Adjustment of the core content.
  • Assigning activities geared to different learning styles, interests, and levels of thinking.
  • Providing students with choices about what and how they learn.
  • Flexible because teachers move students in and out of groups based upon students’ instructional needs.
  • Acknowledgment of individual needs
  • Articulated, high level goals reflecting continuous progress.
  • Assessment to determine student growth and new needs.
  • Adjustment of curriculum by complexity, breadth, and rate.
  • Educational experiences which extend, replace, or supplement standard curriculum.

No comments: