Differentiating Instruction

Differentiated Instruction is the desired best practice that many teachers aspire to achieve in the classroom.  Most educators want to be able to effectively teach to students’ needs, but the reality is that it can be a difficult task.  As educators we are faced with students who may be facing language barriers, financial issues, complex family dynamics and disabilities.  These are all issues that influence student performance in the classroom and can ultimately make providing differentiated instruction, more difficult.  Incorporating learning styles when teaching through a differentiated instruction approach is also a worthwhile endeavor. According to Fine (2003) students included in special education programs, scored significantly better when their learning styles were incorporated into their instruction. 

  To assist in the planning for Differentiated instruction here are some very helpful tips:

1. Remember that PLANNING is the key to making the most effective use of resources and time, and ultimately the key to instruction. (Plan for success- Learn from failures).
2. Make use of assessment data to provide appropriate Tiered instruction:
   1. Tier 1- Whole group Instruction (Introduce the important information that all of the students need to know before digging deeper).
   2. Tier 2- Based on results, provide leveled small group instruction (Low, Moderate, and High). While the students in your low group may require remediation, your moderate group may need targeted key points to lock in understanding.  Students in the high group still need guidance and can benefit from enrichment activities.
   3. Tier 3- Identify the students who are missing several points concerning the topic and make a plan to help them to get the foundational understanding that they need. (This may mean providing intensive remediation or seeking additional help and support to assist with teaching the foundational skills).
3. Provide resources within a lesson unit to teach different learning styles. Identify them in your planning and strategize on how to use them effectively to get the most Here are some of the learning styles that you may want to consider:

• Auditory learners benefit from being able to hear information connected to a topic (Lectures, poems, rhyme, dialect, sounds, and music). Using these different components can aid in providing sensory connectivity to information.  Whisper phones allow students to read or recite materials to themselves and hear it back so they can process.
• Visual learners benefit from the presentation of information. Diagrams, pictures, charts and use of color can be used to highlight ideas or make connections.  Using spacing can provide visual appeal and organize material to make it make sense.
• Reader/Writer learning style– allows learners to apply formatting style (glossaries, stories, notes, writing prompts, lists, and question types etc.) and knowledge of vocabulary to bring meaning to concepts.
• Kinesthetic learners- benefit from activities that let them learn through tactile experiences and movement.   Use of textures, play and movement help students with this preferred learning style process information, make connections and recall facts and concepts.

*As you plan, create a checklist of 2 or 3 activities or tasks that are representative of each of those learning styles within a unit.  You will find that your lessons provide a more well-rounded level of understanding for your students. 

Fine, D. (2003). A sense of learning style. Principal Leadership, 4(2), 55-60.

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