Differentiation - An “Aha” Moment for Me

Laurian Phillips
May 10, 2010

When it comes to differentiation, the one thing I found most helpful was to create a chart of my students' learning strengths and weaknesses. After about a month or so of school, you begin to really learn what works and what doesn't for each student. You discover what I call their "learning characteristics."

In the past, I created my task, and then tried to come up with ways to differentiate the task from books and from what I learned in trainings, or whatever I could think of because that was what I was supposed to do - differentiate, right? But none of the things I was doing was actually helping my students. I failed to take into account the most important detail - the students' needs.

So, I started with a chart similar to the one below:

Then, looking at the characteristics and the differentiation needs, I adjust the task so that it meets all of my students' needs. In the following example, the task requires students to fill in a matrix to classify and categorize quadrilaterals and then to create a product to explain their findings to the class. To differentiate the task, students choose one box from each row as they complete the task:

When I compare the choice board to the learning characteristics table, I find that I am keeping students' needs in mind as I differentiate the task, rather than finding ways to differentiate and hope that they fit my students' needs. This is the purpose and intent behind differentiation. It must meet MY students' specific needs. When I begin with the students in mind, my outcome is much more valuable. This was my "Aha" moment about Differentiation. What's your's?