鈥淭o some educators, it conjures visions of having to create a different lesson for every student in the room, and long nights of planning and grading,鈥� says veteran teacher and writer Larry Ferlazzo in a new explainer video for 澳门跑狗论坛. 鈥淭hat insanity is not what differentation is all about.鈥�
The animated video is the first installment in a multi-part video series about differentiated instruction from Ferlazzo and fellow teacher Katie Hull-Sypnieski. The two co-authored a book recently called .
The video fleshes out, with numerous examples, an often-muddied concept. 鈥淒ifferentiating instruction is really a way of thinking鈥攏ot a pre-planned list of strategies,鈥� says Ferlazzo. It involves getting to know students and being flexible about how they demonstrate their learning.
So one student may write an essay about football, while the rest of the class writes about natural disasters. And one student may sit on top of his desk to read, while the others sit in their seats. The key is that students are all ultimately reaching the same learning goal; they鈥檙e just taking individual paths.
To learn more about differentiation, check out this 澳门跑狗论坛 primer.
As with most topics in the realm of classroom instruction, there鈥檚 controversy over whether differentiation really is what鈥檚 best for students. See this widely read 2015 opinion piece by educational consultant James R. Delisle about why 鈥淒ifferentiation Doesn鈥檛 Work,鈥� and the response from education professor Carol Ann Tomlinson on why, in fact, it does.