The Beginning of a Journey

Differentiation, put simply by the authors of Differentiation in Practice, "is really just common sense".  However, as a soon-to-be pre-service teacher, my journey to understand what differentiation is will provide me with invaluable knowledge for when I finally become a teacher.  Unlike making a physically journey, this journey begins slowly as I unpack my differentiation "luggage".

Let's first start by unpacking responsive teaching, which is:

"If any one of the [above] elements is diminished, learning is diminished as well" (Tomlinson, p. 3).

I want to briefly pick apart each of these elements and their relationships.  Who refers to gender, culture, socioeconomic background, interests, abilities, etc. of students.  What refers not just to the grade level curriculum one teaches.  It also includes helping students fill in gaps of understanding and adding challenges to help other students move beyond the required curriculum.  What we teach is reliant upon who we teach.  Where is the learning environment created by the teacher and students, "a matter of the heart" (p. 5).  The learning environment can set students up for success and can be used to enhance what we teach to whom we teach.  How we teach is, in fact, differentiated instruction.  In order to be successful, how we teach takes into account who, what, and where we teach.

To a new or up-coming teacher, this little view into differentiation may seem overwhelming.  I thought about how much experience a teacher needs to be able to always be aware of everything in each of these four elements and then implement instruction based on them.  I became intimidated and doubted I would ever be able to do all of those things. But, the text offers words of encouragement:

"First, [you] will never be able to do everything each child needs on a given day or in a given year. Second, the more diligently [you] work to know [your] students and match [your] instruction to their needs, the more likely it is that the year will be successful for the broad range of learners and the more satisfied [you] will feel as a professional" (p. 6).

This phrase is like my travel insurance.  When or if something happens to disrupt my journey and I begin to despair, I can rely upon it to reduce my stress and help me get back on course!

Reference:

Tomlinson, C.A., Eidson, C.C. (2003). Differentiation in practice: A resource guide for differentiating curriculum. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.