Differentiation by Class Period

If you teach the same subject multiple times in the course of your day, you know that each class has a slightly different personality, sometimes more than slightly different. The kids who are in your room when the high math class or the AP physics is scheduled are not the same kids who are in your room when the low math class is scheduled.

I have four core classes of Humanities in my teaching day. As you probably do, I naturally and instinctively differentiate my instruction from one core to the next. Some move faster; some need more repetition. Some are ready for higher level questioning; some need the graphic organizer. Some work independently very well; some need to work with a partner or as a whole class. Some are ready for extension activities; for some you’re thrilled just to cover the basics.

For example, we’ve been working on the Constitutional Convention. To prepare, students had some choices, but they were steered in particular directions based on the class “personality.” To prepare for an in-class simulation of the convention, the more highly able class looked at the main issues the convention delegates considered, brainstormed possible solutions, and considered the advantages and disadvantages of each proposed solution. The mid-level class read in a grade level textbook and filled in an organizer about the main issues, while the lowest ability class read a simplified text and filled in the organizer to prepare for the convention. The simulation ran differently in each period, too, in terms of how many issues we were able to cover, in terms of how many students rose to be recognized versus using a random procedure to call on delegates, and in terms of their grasp of the issues and their resolution, therefore requiring differing amounts of debriefing in each class.

Another example has to do with a class that was really struggling in September to get up to speed with all the class routines and demands, especially some new electronic submission requirements and online calendar links. I simply waited until they were ready, at beginning of the 2^nd trimester, to introduce the higher level vocabulary program the other class began in September. They won’t learn quite as many words as the other students, but hopefully they’ll learn them well. They would have been overloaded and discouraged if I had heaped one more demand on them before they were ready.

What’s the point of this entry? We all differentiate in many ways, some of which we don’t even think of as differentiation. We are skilled professionals, and we do what it takes to meet the needs of our students. When we raise the instinctive to the conscious and begin to apply the variations to specific students in addition to whole groups, we are well on our way to creating a differentiated classroom.