How can I differentiate my classroom?

There are many different ways teachers can differentiate in their classrooms. According to an article I found online, it states, "Just as everyone has a unique fingerprint, each student has an individual style of learning. Not all students in a classroom learn a subject in the same way or share the same level of ability. Differentiated instruction is a method of designing and delivering instruction to best reach each student.

According to Tomlinson, teachers can differentiate instruction through four ways:

1. content
2. process
3. product
4. learning environment

Differentiating instruction may mean teaching the same material to all students using a variety of instructional strategies, or it may require the teacher to deliver lessons at varying levels of difficulty based on the ability of the students needs. Teachers practicing differentiation may:

• design lessons based on students' learning styles
• group students by shared interest, topic, or ability for assignments
• assess students' learning using formative assessment
• manage the classroom to create a safe and supportive environment
• continually assess and adjust lesson content to meeting students' needs.

There are many ways to differentiate your classroom and many different positive reasons doing so is important. YOU as a teacher need to get to know YOUR students in order to best reach their needs and begin to differentiate from there.

http://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/teaching-strategies/examples-of-differentiated-instruction/