Differentiation in the Classroom

            I have learned a lot about differentiation while taking this class. Through discussions in class and watching videos on what differentiation means, I am thoroughly educated on what differentiation does for a child. Differentiated instruction involves providing several options for students to demonstrate what they are learning. It’s about working together to work out problems. This all begins with good teaching.

            When you have a diverse classroom, it is sometimes very hard to meet the needs of everyone. By having differentiated instruction, this helps out the students in a lot of ways. It organizes students into groups to talk about different parts of a topic based on their needs. There are designed stations for students to go to with different tasks to perform with different equipment. By using differentiated instruction it benefits not only the child but the teacher and school too. It benefits the child by helping them work on what they need to work on themselves as an individual, it helps the teacher because they can make sure each of their students is getting the education they need and it helps the school because when every individual student is getting the help they need, parents will be saying good things and their classrooms will all be doing well.

            There are many different examples of differentiation that can be used in the classroom. One example of a good way to use differentiated instruction in a classroom, lets say third grade reading, would be flexible grouping. This strategy is when students are part of many different groups based on the match of the task to student readiness, interest, or learning profile. There can be skills-based or interest-based groups. There can also be group assignments that are purposeful and sometimes they are random. As said in the Youtube video called Differentiated Instruction in the Classroom, you can have students share their reading response logs with partners or take turns summarizing what you read together.  By using flexible grouping it allows for both collaborative and independent work. That way while reading they can read to themselves but if they have a problem they can ask their partner if they know a word. It also keeps students from being labeled as advanced or struggling because while reading in flexible grouping, you are able to help each other out. Also, in the video, they talk about different types of leveled reading like small group reading, peer tutoring and partner work.

Finally, giving the children a chance to work with a large variety of peers is very useful in any classroom because it gives you different opportunities to work with different people when in the long run that’s what life is going to be.