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A couple of years ago, one of my students, who was an undergraduate
preparing to be a teacher, gave me a definition of differentiation

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that has become my favorite one.  He began his definition by saying
that differentiation is a sequence of common-sense decisions made by

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teachers with a student-first orientation. It seems exactly what we
should be doing.  He went on to tell me what he thought the sequence

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of common-sense decisions was.  He listed four things, and I would
add a fifth one to that.

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First, he said it's critically important to consciously be aware of
creating a classroom environment that invites kids to the table of

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learning, that encourages them to take the risk of learning, that
helps them understand that they need to work hard and shoot high,

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but also causes them to understand that there's a support system
there to help with that. So the first piece is developing an

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environment that actively encourages learning, and my sense is that
affects everything else.

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Second, he said he thought it was really critical that we have
high-quality curriculum that engages kids and that we be able as

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teachers to say at any point here's what kids should know, what they
should understand, what they should be able to do as a result of

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this sequence of learning.  In other words, it matters that we have
clear learning targets, that they are understanding-focused, that

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they're clear to us and clear to kids, and that we have organized
learning around those in such a way that it makes sense to kids,

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that it's relevant to them.

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Third, he said he thought it was really important that we continue
to check to see where kids are constantly, relative to those

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learning outcomes.  Not teach a whole unit then give a test and say,
well, gee, some of them got it and some of them didn't.  But using

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preassessment and using formative assessment consistently so that we
have a good sense at any particular moment of who's confused, who's

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behind, who's ahead, and who's missing knowledge.

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Then he said the fourth step was that, when you monitor the kids
using formative assessment, you're likely to find out they aren't

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all in the same place, and so it becomes instructionally important
to say, okay, now, how do I tailor my lesson plans tomorrow or this

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week so that I can get to kids where they are?  When do I need to
meet with some kids in small groups and for what purpose?  Are there

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students who need to be using different resources?  Is there a
different way I can help kids that didn't understand this yesterday

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try to wrap around it today?  Those were his four elements.

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My fifth one is that we have to learn as teachers to lead and manage
a classroom in which it's possible for more than one thing at a time

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to happen.  As long as we ask kids to start and stop everything
together, always use the same materials, always do stuff in exactly

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the same way, we'll hinder a lot of learning.  And so it becomes
really critical that we learn as teachers to help kids be our

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partners in creating a classroom which allows for flexibility but
which also has clear structures that give kids and teachers the

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stability and predictability that they need. For me, differentiation
is a continuum; it's not a point.  And you don't get to a point and

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say, well, okay, I've finished that. It's always a question of,
okay, let me acknowledge what I do and then let me look at some

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rubrics, some standards, some examples of teachers, some writings,
some videos, anything I can look at that can continue to help me

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stretch and think through what I can do better. The people that I
know who are the best with differentiation can explain to you really

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clearly and articulately how much further that they have to go.