Running head: DIFFERENTIATION IN THE CLASSROOM 1

Differentiation in the Classroom

Genavieve E. Berger

Principia College
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According to The Glossary of Education Reform, differentiation refers to a wide variety

of teaching techniques and lesson adaptations that educators use to instruct a diverse group of

students, with diverse learning needs, in the same course, classroom, or learning environment

(2013). Though differentiating instruction may sound complex, it is something that many have

claimed to be common-sense thinking. Differentiated learning is simply allowing students to

retain information in the way that they feel is most natural. For example, an auditory learner

might want to listen to and verbally answer questions as opposed to read/write them. A visual

learner might want to draw a picture to solve a math problem rather than listen to their instructor

give a step-by-step tutorial on how to get the correct answer. A bodily-kinesthetic learner might

benefit from acting out a scene from Shakespeares Julius Caesar as opposed to writing a book

report on it. Differentiation is simply understanding how students learn and adapting the way in

which curriculum is taught in order to match those learning profiles.

Because no two students are alike, differentiating instruction is necessary to engage all

scholars in learning. An educator who employs different methods of teaching to reach all

learners shows their students that they care about them and will go out of their way to meet their

needs. Differentiation helps to create learning communities based on trust and understanding. In

her scholarly article called The Goals of Differentiation, former elementary school teacher and

author Carol Ann Tomlinson writes:

Trust begins when students believe that the teacher is on their side when they realize

that the teacher views them as persons of worth, believes in their capacity to succeed, and

works in their best interest. Trust develops as students become aware that what goes on

in the classroom supports their success individually and as a group. This kind of trust

creates a partnership of striving for excellence. (2008, p. 28)

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Students and teachers alike benefit from differentiation. Teachers are able to help more students

understand more content while students themselves feel as though they can thoroughly engage

with and enjoy what theyre learning.

Differentiation can take a variety of forms in the classroom. Workshops, learning

stations, buddy-reading, small group instruction, whole-class lectures when used appropriately,

they can all help to differentiate learning. It can be difficult and, in some cases, nearly

impossible to work with every student individually, so identifying each scholars learning profile

at the beginning of the year is important. By identifying the way in which students learn best, it

becomes possible to group students accordingly. For example, when reading a whole-class

novel, a teacher might choose to set up an area in which interpersonal and auditory learners can

discuss the books main themes. They may also encourage a team of visual and bodily-

kinesthetic learners to create a display of the same thing. Some intrapersonal students may want

to take the chance to reflect independently. An effective teacher provides space for students to

do these things and more.

However, it is necessary to remember that students will almost never fall into such neat

learning categories. Students vary in learning profile as well as in readiness. In order to truly

differentiate a classroom, educators must differentiate not only instruction, but the way in which

students are assessed as well. Students who are not able to display their work in ways that

correlate to their learning styles often suffer in the classroom. They feel as though they are

unable to accurately display their learning and become resigned and untrusting of their teachers.

Giving students a choice as to how they present their progress throughout the quarter, semester,

or school year helps scholars to fully engage and process what theyve learned (Tomlinson,

2001). Student-created portfolios are one of the best ways to offer students the opportunity to
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display their growth and progress. Yet, there are a variety of ways in which to differentiate both

process and product in the classroom.

Unfortunately, no matter the product a student produces, it is almost always necessary for

a teacher to assign that student a grade at the end of the term or school year. This can be

daunting. What if a scholar has astronomically improved since the beginning of the class, yet

still falls behind their classmates? What if a student has put little effort into their studies and

experiences little-to-no growth in working with others, but sits academically at the top of the

class? How can a letter or number grade truly reflect all elements of a childs learning? The

disappointing answer is: it rarely can. Differentiating assessment, though, can help with this

dilemma. There are a number of differentiated grading structures that can apply to all learners

and can provide an accurate portrayal of student growth. The key to properly differentiated

grading is to assess students in comparison with both themselves and with their classmates. This

can be achieved by assigning each student a letter grade and a subscript that represents self-

growth and class-standing respectfully. Another method is to give students two grades: one to

represent personal development and another that resembles a traditional letter grade (Tomlinson,

2001, p. 94). Differentiating grading in these ways often gives students the opportunity to work

in competition with themselves as opposed to working against each other. Students who feel as

though they will never catch up to their peers are still able to excel in the classroom and become

invested learners because they know they can succeed. Students who experience boredom in the

classroom are suddenly motivated because they must now work to improve upon their own

performance. Whereas traditional grading limits students and what they can achieve during the

course of a term, differentiated assessment pushes scholars to grow and develop, acknowledging

that personal improvement is the primary goal of learning (Tomlinson, 2001).

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During my time as a student-teacher, I spent three weeks observing a middle school

English Language Arts (ELA) class in which the instructor differentiated very little, if at all. The

students were never given a choice as to how they wished to learn, their work was not tailored to

their learning needs or interests in any way, and they were discouraged from asking

questions/speaking to others. Their teacher assigned them graded worksheets and tests. They

never worked in groups, and they were rarely fed information in more ways than one. After

everything I had learned about differentiated instruction and how easy it is to incorporate it into a

lesson plan, I was astounded to see that there were educators who were unwilling or unaware that

they ought to do so. During my observation period, I was given the opportunity to teach a couple

of lessons. I wanted to drastically change the way in which these students had been taught to

learn. For one of my lessons, I led a section on stem words (prefixes and suffixes), grouping

the kids into teams of five and giving them colored flashcards to arrange. There were three parts

to this lesson: matching stems with their definitions, finding words that properly used stems, and

participating in a game in which the students shared their words aloud and earned points for each

unique word they had. Throughout the lesson, the students were encouraged to collaborate with

one another, use their computers, notes, and peers as resources, utilize the flashcards and arrange

them creatively, etc. Based on the poll I took afterwards, the students absolutely loved it. From

what I gathered, that was the first time in their ELA class that year that theyd been given the

chance to experience truly differentiated learning. It is amazing to see how simply varying the

way information is presented can change the tone of a classroom and enlighten students to the

fact that education can (and is supposed to be) fun.

Differentiation can make a classroom a space in which students feel understood,

supported, and successful. It is one of the most significant things a teacher can do to help their
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students find excitement and enjoyment in education. Differentiated instruction can lead young

scholars to become lifelong learners. A powerful educator values differentiation as the most

prized tool in their tool belt. They incorporate it into lesson plans, activities, field trips, and all

other learning experiences. They understand that they have the power to positively change a

students educational trajectory simply by recognizing and meeting that students learning needs.

Differentiation acts as a key that can unlock student potential in classrooms around the world.
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References

The Glossary of Education Reform. (2013). Differentiation. Retrieved from

http://edglossary.org/differentiation/.

Tomlinson, C. A. (2008). The goals of differentiation. Educational Leadership, 66(3), p. 26-30.

Tomlinson, C. A. (2001). How to differentiate in a mixed-ability classroom: 2nd edition.

Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.