Differentiating Instruction

This new year, as I venture into teaching once more, I am now learning a new thing which I need to work on: differentiating instruction. This is not something I have been taught, however I have heard the term over and over and now I am beginning to realize why I need it so bad.

The way the classes at my school work is in sections. Each section stays together the whole school year and they each move from one class to the next together. Each section was not put together randomly though. Each student was selected for their section based on grades and testing scores. So brighter students are often seen in higher sections and slower students are all in their own lower sections. Unfortunately, I was prepared for this kind of class set up, and I quickly noticed that one lesson plan for the whole grade was not going to work. Lower sections and higher sections can NOT do the same work. First off, higher sections need more challenging work, and lower sections need easier work. Forgetting this concept, I went into the school year with one lesson plan for the whole grade and my lower sections suffered greatly for this. What I mean by suffer was that a lot of them struggled to understand and cope with the challenges of the lesson. I was a little perplexed at first, because there are some very basic things I expect from a middle schooler, basic things they should already know. But now I am beginning to realize that some students just don't have the ability to grasp even simple concepts. With that in mind, I am going to have to assess where these lower section students lie and figure out how to teach them basic things without going overboard.

I guess it is all about experience really, its a time thing. It's only the beginning of the year, so I am sure with some time I am going to figure these kids out and what they need and what they don't. I just wish I had this all in mind before starting this new year, but hey, at least I am learning and accepting that this is something I need to work on. Until next time...