Equality
Every child can learn. But let's not misconstrue this statement. Education is not a one-size-fits-all institution. Children, and people in general, learn at different speeds, to different extents, and through various methods. For instance, I typically picked up new materially quickly when I was in elementary, middle, and high school and retained that information. Lessons that involved a lot of listening to learn new material bored me. I was always more of a hands-on learner. My learning style was unique to me.
​
Each of my students has a unique learning style too. A disheartening challenge that you face when teaching in a critical needs school is that you have such a wide variety of learning styles and needs in one classroom that there is always at least one student (usually more) who needs are not being met in (and out) of the classroom. Unfortunately, I am not Supergirl, so creating five different versions of a lesson for my two (or three, my first year) preps was unrealistic.
In my first two years of teaching, I found smaller ways to incorporate differentiation in the classroom. Sometimes, that differentiation was intentional and other times it was improvised on the spot.
​
​
Newsela
Test Corrections
Flexible Grouping
Assignment Variation
Flexible grouping was a new technique I adopted in my classroom my second year. I only used it a handful of times because I had not developed the procedures for it very well. The idea, though, was that the students evaluated how well they understood new material.
​
Students who indicated '1' would work by themselves because they understood material. Also, the gifted students tended to get frustrated when they had to slow down for someone else. Students who indicated '2' would be paired up to help each other fill the smaller gaps in their learning after the lesson. Students who indicated '3' would work in a small group with me so that I could fill in the blanks where my general classroom instruction failed. Using this method allowed me to address the many academic levels within my classroom without overextending myself.​
​
​
Test corrections became a staple of my classroom during my second year of teaching. My assessments were more rigorous as I attempted to prepare my eighth graders for their state test.
By second semester, I had started including state-test passages and questions on my assessments. This proved challenging for many students whose reading levels were below grade level. The grammar sections of those tests also proved tricky as many students lacked knowledge on the basic parts of speech. As I adjusted my teaching methods - mainly incorporating more practice opportunities for new skills - I allowed students to correct missed questions on tests. Many of my students worked hard only to be disappointed by low test grades, again and again. I felt they deserved a second chance.
I had one stipulation, though: the student had to make their grade a priority and come to after-school tutoring. I didn't want test corrections to take away from class time, as they usually wasted a full day of instruction. Test correction days tended to be a management problem since everyone finished at different times and refused to read their AR books. Students swapped correct answers, rather than asking for my help and developing the skill to solve the test questions on their own. I could also provide more one-on-one assistance after school. I wanted my students to learn from their mistakes, otherwise what would be the point of this second chance?
​
​
When I say assignment variation, I mean two possible things. The first was straight forward differentiation, adjusting the assignment so that a student is assessed for the same skills but on a different grade level. This level of assignment variation has been lacking in my classroom. I might simplify an assignment on the spot for students I notice are struggling or reduce the number of multiple choice options for IEP students on an exam.
​
Another form of assignment variation I used, which I called Choice Board, was allowing students to choose the method in which they showed understanding of the material. I did this most often when having my students summarize a story. My students and I did not frequently agree on much, but we all felt that writing out a story summary was pretty boring. So I gave them some more creative options for summarizing. The examples below are from a Choice Board my eighth-grade students did to summarize Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart".
​
Essay Scaffolding
In my first year of teaching, I learned that students who were poor writers did not enjoy writing or planning an essay. My attempts to teach them how to outline ended in student protest: "Why do we have to do this Ms. Lindsay?! I can write essays just fine without these." These protests usually came from my weakest writers who would benefit the most from structured planning.
​
Eventually, I turned to intensive essay scaffolding. I created a basic outline for my students to use. As long as they followed the instructions for each section and filled in the blanks, they would have a well-structured outline as a basis for their essay. If I had them fill in the outline using complete sentences, they were that much closer to having a complete essay when they wrote the rough draft.
​
I have continued to use essay scaffolding in my second year of teaching as well (this outline courtesy of Liz Towle):
​
When I had students read informational texts individually, typically for reciprocal reading practice, I differentiated the text based on each student's reading abilities. Newsela has high-interest informational articles, covering anything from technology to politics to sports, which my students enjoyed discussing. With the adjustable reading level of each article posted to Newsela, I would assign a text knowing my students could read and understand the material and that they could confidently participate in a discussion about that text.
​
​
