differentiated instruction
Differentiated instruction means adjusting Content (what is being taught), Process (how is it being taught) and Product (the end results that show student understanding) to meet the needs of all students (Tomlinson 2013; Frey & Fisher 2009). I also find that adjusting the way students are being assessed should be taken into account. I consider differentiation to be an important aspect of teaching and learning as I believe that students should be allowed to both construct AND demonstrate understanding in different ways according to their readiness, interests and learning profile.
Differentiating the Process: Teaching and Learning in ACTION
Many students indicated in their surveys that they learn best by doing. According to Allen (2008), learning by seeing, hearing, repeating and doing works significantly better when combined together rather than when using just one aspect of the learning on its own.
Based on Allen’s extensive research, I incorporated one of his techniques with students when teaching Emotional development in Year 11 Psychology class. In the lesson on Theories of Attachment, I modelled ‘Characteristics of Attachment’ by enacting these using my body movements. Each characteristic was firstly modelled by me physically and verbally followed by student repetition.
Throughout this type of teaching I also use questions, prompts and cues to facilitate student understanding and I get students to role-play to make their learning not only relevant but also resonant. Teaching and learning 'in action' does a great job at enhancing memory and recall of information as each physical movement activates its associated information.
Based on Allen’s extensive research, I incorporated one of his techniques with students when teaching Emotional development in Year 11 Psychology class. In the lesson on Theories of Attachment, I modelled ‘Characteristics of Attachment’ by enacting these using my body movements. Each characteristic was firstly modelled by me physically and verbally followed by student repetition.
Throughout this type of teaching I also use questions, prompts and cues to facilitate student understanding and I get students to role-play to make their learning not only relevant but also resonant. Teaching and learning 'in action' does a great job at enhancing memory and recall of information as each physical movement activates its associated information.
Differentiating a Product
For the topic on 'Food' I got Year 9 Italian students to write about what different groups of people eat. I used sentence frames that would provide a scaffold for lower-achieving students and word bank (list of phrases that students have to use) for higher-achieving students. I noticed that the differentiation part of the activity increased student motivation as they found the activity challenging but not frustrating.
Focus areas: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.5, 1.6, 4.1,
Differentiating an Assessment
For a writing assessment task below I modified the assessment rubric by crossing out criteria that were not applicable for some lower-achieving students. For a listening activity the rubric sheet was modified by highlighting the minimum number of questions that students had to asnwer.
Focus areas: 1.5, 1.6, 3.6, 5.1, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5