The "Meat and Potatoes" of Differentiated Instruction Implemenetation

Differentiated Instruction, as discussed in class, is something which involves a great deal of work, planning and constant monitoring in order for it to be successful. I think one of the first practices, and maybe one of the most important, would be to do a pre-assesment ( "curriculum compacting") and then a check for understanding, all the time. If I do a pre-assessment of all of my students at the beginning of the year, then I will have a good grasp of where they are at in terms of what they know, what they are alright with, and what they need some help with along the way. since everyone learns differently on top of learning and difficulty levels, this pre-assessment will allow me to set up a form of tentative teaching, assessment, and tiered assignments, until they need to be changed.

So, on the first day of class, I will ask some questions to the students about things they have learned and want to learn. I will also discuss what we will be learning about in the next year or month, and foe every consecutive month discuss what will be studied and get students to discuss and fill out a sheet about things they know on these subjects, things they want to know, and things which they feel they never learned. This will prepare students and myself, and perhaps make all students feel less stressed about learning new things.

The second practice I will implement in the classroom is monitoring or "checks for understanding". Students may begin to grasp concepts earlier or later in the year, depending on their learning styles and possible difficulties or "giftedness". However, just because they are at a certain point during the beginning of the year does not mean that they will stay there. Therefore, I intend to be constantly asking questions, making observations, and giving out assignments of various difficulties, so that students are able to be challenged and grow at the same time. I think that if I do ongoing checks for understanding and learning that I will also help monitor myself, to make sure that I am teaching not just to but FOR everyone, and helping everyone learn. These checks will not just be at the end of a unit/ class/ semester, but all of the time. They may be as simple as walking around the classroom when students are working to see or listen to how everyone is doing, taking assignments in for marks, or simply having a discussion about what we will do in class that day, how students feel about it, and then discussing things that were learned and concepts students may still be unclear about at the end of the class.

The third thing I want to implement in the class is the notion of peer teaching or group work. I know that I cannot do everything for my students all of the time, but I find that students tend to teach each other very well and be more willing to learn from each other when given the opportunity. For projects, and when certain students are done work, instead of always coming to me for help or getting help, I will ask students to help each other or work together instead of independently. Since everyone does work and learn differently, naturally everyone has different skills and weaknesses. Not only will group work or peer assistance help those struggling students, but it may help those who are getting concepts faster because they are helping to teach. I believe that peer work is very important in differentiated instruction, as it also promotes a classroom community atmosphere...something which is essential for any differentiated instruction to be successful in the first place.