How do teachers prepare their students and their classrooms for differentiated instruction?

Exploration Ideas: Role Play

Students are divided into pairs. One student from the dyad assumes the role of the parent and the other plays a child the same age as the students. Each pair receives a card that describes a fictitious medical issue the child is experiencing (e.g., stomachache, rash, scraped knee). Next, each pair visits the doctor (the teacher). While the parent explains the medical issue, the student acts as if he or she is experiencing that problem. In all cases, the doctor is sympathetic and gives the child an adhesive bandage.

Just as children with different medical issues need different treatments, students need to be treated differently based on their strengths and weaknesses. This activity should be followed with a discussion about how students are different and need different strategies to help them learn.

Adapted from Tomlinson & Imbeau (2010).

Exploration Ideas: Describe Scenarios

The teacher can describe several scenarios (which will vary depending on the age of the students) that highlight students’ differences. Examples include one student who likes to work in groups and another who likes to work alone; one student who catches on quickly to math concepts while others struggle; students in chemistry class who had biology the previous year and a few students who recently moved to the district and have yet to take the class. The teacher should follow each scenario with discussion questions such as:

• If some students like to work in groups and others alone, whose preference should I consider?
• If some students struggle with a math concept and others excel, how should I teach? Should everyone be required to work at the same level?
• If some students have not had biology, should I assume that they will succeed if I teach as though they know that material? Should I do something different for those students? If so, what?

Adapted from Tomlinson & Imbeau (2010).

Exploration Ideas: Encourage Discussion

The teacher and students brainstorm what the classroom instruction might be like if it is to meet everyone’s needs. The teacher selects a few of the items that will be implemented initially and gets the students’ input on the teacher’s responsibilities and the students’ responsibilities. Some common items include:

• Working in small groups with other students
• Working with the teacher in small groups or individually
• Spending different amounts of time on a task to learn it
• Working with different materials to learn content

Adapted from Tomlinson & Imbeau (2010).

Exploration Ideas: Pose Questions

After teachers convey that they need to know about their students in order to teach them effectively and meet their individual needs, the teacher can pose a number of questions, such as:

• How can I get to know you better?
• How can I determine whether you understand a topic?
• How can I use information about you to help you learn?

As part of the discussion, the teacher should explain that she will collect information in a number of ways (e.g., monitoring, homework, quizzes, student conferences, surveys). Because this might be unfamiliar for many students, the teacher needs to emphasize that she is trying to learn about them so that she can be a better teacher.

Adapted from Tomlinson & Imbeau (2010).

Exploration Ideas: Encourage Discussion

As a class, discuss the meaning of “fair.” Then ask the students about practices associated with differentiated instruction, such as:

• Is it fair that students work on different activities or assignments?
• Is it fair that students are graded in the same way although they are working on different assignments?
• Is it fair that I spend more time working with some students than with others?

Adapted from Tomlinson & Imbeau (2010).

Exploration Ideas: Make Comparisons

To illustrate the meaning of success, the teacher can compare two people, real or fictitious, one of whom works hard and contributes a lot to society but is virtually unknown and one that contributes little to society but is widely recognized or has achieved fame. After presenting the two figures, the teacher can discuss how outward signs of success (e.g., notoriety, grades) do not always reflect the hard work someone puts forth. The teacher can then define what success means in the class (e.g., hard work, improvement on a skill).

Adapted from Tomlinson & Imbeau (2010).