Discovering What Differentiated Instruction Means to Me

 

[Untitled photograph of word cloud]. Retrieved from http://oxleylearning.org/staff/files/2012/06/etherpad-wordle2.png

As I attended my first online class last week, I was asked to define what Differentiated Instruction (DI) meant to me. When I first heard these words, I couldn’t help but think about adapted instruction, modifying assessments, and meeting the needs of all students within my classroom. This seemed to be the common idea for all of my other classmates because many of their responses were similar to those concepts that I had just listed. My professor confirmed that we were all on the right track and explained that DI tends to focus on modifying three main aspects of one’s classroom. As teachers, we must be able to ensure success for all of our students by adapting our content, process, and product.

When I think of content, I think of learning about a main idea but in various ways. For example, when I’m at a water park with my friends, we might all go down different slides, but we always end up in the same pool of water at the bottom. It didn’t necessarily matter how we all got there, but what mattered the most is that we all got to the same destination. In school, our students will all have different ways of thinking, but as long as they understand the main idea, they can move onto the next big thing.

The next adaptation a teacher can make is in the process. When I think of process I automatically think about the different types of learners in a classroom such as a visual learners and an audio learners. The process is how one delivers their instruction and what materials might be used for the students to learn. This basically means that the teacher’s instruction should be modified daily so that students have a variety of learning opportunities that are different than the traditional lecture.  

The last way for a teacher to adapt their classroom is through the product. Traditionally, teachers have students take a test at the end of every chapter or unit. The best way for a teacher to allow all of their students to show high levels of performance would be to modify the end product. This might include letting the students create a portfolio or writing a paper where they can express their thoughts and ideas in a different way. Giving students this opportunity allows them to be more independent and gives them a chance to express their thoughts in the best possible way.

Differentiated Instruction is an opportunity to let students excel in a variety of ways. Not every student will become an astounding author, but they should be able to express their thoughts in complete sentences that are correctly punctuated. Not every student will become a doctor, but they should be knowledgeable in science and math and understand how it affects their daily lives and well-being. I think of my classroom as preparation for the real-world. Every student has their own future and their own way of living. It is my job to prepare them to excel in the world, not to fail.