Differentiation - Keeping it simple

Differentiation helps students of all learning levels to achieve and progress. Every student that passes through your classroom is an individual. It is not possible for all of our students to learn at the same pace or to learn in the same way. Through differentiation, we as teachers are helping our students to maximize their learning.

The process of differentiation does not have to be a complicated one. Firstly, one of the most important elements of differentiation is getting to know your students. Their interests, strengths and needs allow us to begin to build the foundation for differentiation when needed. This information can be gained through conversation, student work, discussions in the classroom and assessment.

Differentiation, will more often than not happen naturally within lessons. Offering students a choice, creating mixed ability groups and creating specific seating plans will in turn help to differentiate in a more natural manner during lessons.