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How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed Ability Classrooms
In this 2nd edition of a book that has provided inspiration to countless teachers, Carol Ann Tomlinson offers three new chapters, extended examples and information in every chapter, and field-tested strategies that teachers can use in today's increasingly diverse classrooms. Tomlinson shows how to use students' readiness levels, interests, and learning profiles to address student diversity.
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
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February 15, 2017
This book has a lot of contradictory information, and I'm also not convinced a lot of the arguments made are supported by evidence. There's no in-text citations, and, as I read, I really wanted to know what the recommendations were based on.
The first handful of chapters start by saying why differentiation is good. This was the best part of the book but extremely repetitive. We want to provide many different opportunities for students to learn, and we want to have high expectations for all students. I support these ideas, but kept wondering when the author would start telling us HOW to do those things instead of just repeating why differentiating is so important.
Then she covered examples of differentiation in some classrooms, and I felt like I didn't buy into most of the examples. In a math class example, he lets students test out of the semester, so they only have to sit in on the first few classes of each unit and then can work independently on research or on other classwork. Why not make the classroom an open-ended, problem-solving classroom, so that students can find and use different strategies, which would be at their individual level? In the science class example, he lectures and then gives a lab so students can test out what they learned about. But, typically, students learn better the other way: having the concrete experience first to provide context to their learning. Later in the book, she mentions moving from concrete to abstract, but her examples didn't demonstrate that at all.
When she talks about differentiating, she keeps going back to the idea that some students work well in groups and some work better individually. I think it's good to know that students have preferences, but we shouldn't necessarily cater to those. We need to help students succeed by providing different experiences so that all students are able to work both individually and collaboratively. Of course some students do better work on their own, but we know from social learning theory that they will learn more when they're exposed to other students' learning, too. I don't think we should deprive students of this by always giving them an "out" from collaborative work, as the author suggested.
She also connects differentiation to the idea of different types of learners--auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. As far as I'm aware, there is no evidence that students learn better if we present information according to their learning style. In fact, they do better if the learning style matches what it is that they are learning. I thought it was ridiculous when she suggested we have an auditory reader first read a book aloud to a kinesthetic learner who would pantomime it as it's read. My thought is that having students act out a scene from a book or play is fine, but having our "kinesthetic learners" always pantomime books is absurd.
Of course I support the idea of differentiating content in the classroom, but I think the suggestions on how to implement differentiation are severely dated and lacking in this book. They don't jive with best teaching practices. I'm still feeling frustrated about how she suggests to differentiate in math. She says if a student understands the process of converting fractions to decimals, then we don't need to worry about making sure they understand the underlying concept because they "must" already understand it to do the process. That's not true at all.
Perhaps there were good ideas in this book, but by the time I got to the meat of it, I was pretty closed off to her suggestions.
The first handful of chapters start by saying why differentiation is good. This was the best part of the book but extremely repetitive. We want to provide many different opportunities for students to learn, and we want to have high expectations for all students. I support these ideas, but kept wondering when the author would start telling us HOW to do those things instead of just repeating why differentiating is so important.
Then she covered examples of differentiation in some classrooms, and I felt like I didn't buy into most of the examples. In a math class example, he lets students test out of the semester, so they only have to sit in on the first few classes of each unit and then can work independently on research or on other classwork. Why not make the classroom an open-ended, problem-solving classroom, so that students can find and use different strategies, which would be at their individual level? In the science class example, he lectures and then gives a lab so students can test out what they learned about. But, typically, students learn better the other way: having the concrete experience first to provide context to their learning. Later in the book, she mentions moving from concrete to abstract, but her examples didn't demonstrate that at all.
When she talks about differentiating, she keeps going back to the idea that some students work well in groups and some work better individually. I think it's good to know that students have preferences, but we shouldn't necessarily cater to those. We need to help students succeed by providing different experiences so that all students are able to work both individually and collaboratively. Of course some students do better work on their own, but we know from social learning theory that they will learn more when they're exposed to other students' learning, too. I don't think we should deprive students of this by always giving them an "out" from collaborative work, as the author suggested.
She also connects differentiation to the idea of different types of learners--auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. As far as I'm aware, there is no evidence that students learn better if we present information according to their learning style. In fact, they do better if the learning style matches what it is that they are learning. I thought it was ridiculous when she suggested we have an auditory reader first read a book aloud to a kinesthetic learner who would pantomime it as it's read. My thought is that having students act out a scene from a book or play is fine, but having our "kinesthetic learners" always pantomime books is absurd.
Of course I support the idea of differentiating content in the classroom, but I think the suggestions on how to implement differentiation are severely dated and lacking in this book. They don't jive with best teaching practices. I'm still feeling frustrated about how she suggests to differentiate in math. She says if a student understands the process of converting fractions to decimals, then we don't need to worry about making sure they understand the underlying concept because they "must" already understand it to do the process. That's not true at all.
Perhaps there were good ideas in this book, but by the time I got to the meat of it, I was pretty closed off to her suggestions.
July 31, 2024
Introduction
Tomlinson's analogy comparing one-size-fits-all instruction to forcing all students to wear the same size and style of clothing is helpful. We allow students to dress according to their sizes and tastes, so let's also differentiate our instruction to make our teaching comfortable, engaging, and inviting for all students.
Chapter 1
Tomlinson starts the chapter by listing many things that differentiation is NOT. Unfortunately, thinking I'm accommodating my students, I do many of these "NOTS": reduce the number of assignments for accommodated students, shorten assignments for accommodated students, and grade accommodated students "easier."
Then Tomlinson lists what differentiation is (each of the following is a section): proactive; qualitative; rooted in assessment; providing multiple approaches to (1) content, (2) process, and (3) product; student-centered; a blend of whole-class, small group, and individual instruction (on p. 6 Tomlinson provides a graphic of an oscillating wave showing the flow between whole-class, small group, and individual instruction in a differentiated classroom; in the graphic Tomlinson says that students should select their own groups, a suggestion I'm curious to learn more about); and organic.
What stood out to me about these sections was that assessment needs to come at the beginning and continue throughout the unit. Also, in the "student-centered" section, her use of the word "investigation" struck me—for a second I thought I could rename "units" in my class to "investigations" in the same way that gamified classrooms rename units "quests." But I quickly thought otherwise, for that would confuse students, especially since we have an all-school grading policy regarding no late work allowed after the end of a "unit." However, it would be good to emphasize what we are investigating in each unit, and perhaps I could pose the unit's essential questions as "investigations." And speaking of gamified classrooms, in those classrooms SX (student experience) is central; this same idea Tomlinson, under a slightly different name, says is an integral part of a differentiated classroom.
Furthermore, the threefold terminology of (1) content (what students learn), (2) process (how students wrestle with and assimilate the content), and (3) product (how students demonstrate what they've learned) is basic, but it's nice to have clear names for these 3 pillars of teaching.
Finally, I loved the idea of "organic": teachers never arrive at knowing everything about differentiation, but are constantly "monitor[ing] the match between learner and learning and mak[ing] adjustments.... every hour of teaching, every day in the classroom can reveal one more way to make the classroom a better match for its learners" (5).
Chapter 2
When Tomlinson describes what NOT to do in this chapter—namely, give out the "real" assignment to most students, an accommodated assignment to struggling learners, and a longer and more challenging assignment to gifted learners—she describes what I do currently in my classroom. Yikes!
Overarchingly, Tomlinson says teachers must (1) recognize the wide variety of learners in their classrooms, (2) teach with excellence and clarity a high-quality curriculum, and (3) build bridges between our varied learners and our curriculum (9). Gifted students, Tomlinson warns, can become lazy since good grades come easily, which undermines lessons they could and should learn about grit, perseverance, and the necessity of failing on the way to reaching true success. Regarding struggling learners, Tomlinson paraphrases John Dewey from 1938: "If school isn't for today, it will often turn out to be for nothing" (13). Our curriculum director reminds us to teach with the student as a 50-year-old in mind; what will stick with them then from our lessons today? I believe the best teaching is relevant both for today and 35 years from now.
I appreciate Tomlinson's advice to look for the best in our struggling students and cater assignments to them. Don't water down the curriculum for them, but provide them scaffolds to build their way up to learn the curriculum. She mentions using many "modalities" to teach students, which is a good word to keep in mind. Instead of accommodating assignments, I can offer more choices that span many different modalities. Adults don't spend their days doing things that are difficult for them; neither should we bog down students' days with tasks that are difficult for them. Finally, Tomlinson makes a great point that self-efficacy is not built by watering down learning goals but by giving students the chance to push themselves, to struggle and perhaps fail before they achieve something that they had believed was out of their reach. This is what builds self-efficacy in students.
I like the last sentence of the chapter: "The most effective teachers spend a career meticulously cultivating their appreciation for children not so easy for them to automatically embrace, while continuing to draw energy from those students whom they more automatically find delightful" (15).
Chapter 3
This hit me: "Differentiation calls on a teacher... to recall daily that no practice is truly best practice unless it works for the individual learner" (17). I've been searching for the best practices for high school English teaching, but this quote explains why this should not be my ultimate goal. However, it does help me to learn as many best practices as I can so, like tools in a toolbox, I have them to pull out when I am working with an individual learner.
One of the "rules of thumb" Tomlinson gives for differentiation is, "Be clear on the key concepts and generalizations or principles that give meaning and structure to the topic, chapter, unit, or lesson you are planning" (19). I thought I'd put this into practice by stating what I think the main principle of this chapter is: challenging teachers to shift their paradigm from a teacher- to a student-centered classroom. In a student-centered classroom, teacher is a coach who applies various learning opportunities to students as they need them in order for the students individually and collectively to perform well.
This sentence, backed by a research study, hit me: "We now know (Means, Chelemer, & Knapp, 1991) that many learners who struggle would find learning more natural and sensible if they were consistently presented with problems, issues, dilemmas, and unknowns that required them to use more of what they have learned" (20).
Chapter 4
This chapter highlights the need for classrooms to be welcoming, where students feel a sense of belonging and safety to take risks. And the teacher must head this effort: "The teacher sets the tone for the classroom environment. It is a heavy responsibility and a wonderful opportunity to help students shape positive lives... We [teachers] can get better and better at modeling what we want students to learn—joy in work, pleasure in one another, patience, kindness, and a big heart. Those things help students construct sturdier and more rewarding lives. Working toward them helps the teacher become a wiser person and better professional as well" (24).
I like how Tomlinson, in that quote, looks beyond the curriculum of the classroom to the personal growth that can take place in our classrooms, for students and for the teacher. Here's another quote that speaks along the same lines: "All students need to be guided in assuming a growing degree of responsibility and independence as a learner and member of a community of learners. Not only is that essential in a differentiated classroom, but it's a huge part of success in life as well" (23).
In her figure on types of scaffolding, I saw "modeling," which surprised me. I use modeling especially for writing papers, never thinking of model papers as a scaffold. But they are! An important implication of this is that some students don't need scaffolds. They can write a paper without needing a model.
It's worth copying her "Teacher checklist for group work" in its entirety since I struggle so much with group work—what happens often in my classroom is one or two students in each group work hard while others coast, or groups fall apart due to infighting or lack of communication.
� students understand the task goals
� students understand what's expected of individuals to make the group work well
� the task matches the big picture learning goals of the unit
� most students find the task interesting
� the task requires an important contribution from each group member based on the student's skills and interests
� the task is likely to be demanding of the group and its members
� the task requires genuine collaboration to achieve shared understanding
� timelines are brisk (but not rigid)
� individuals are accountable for their own understanding of all facets of the task
� there's a "way out" for students who are not succeeding with the group
� there is opportunity for teacher or peer coaching and in-process quality checks
� Students understand what to do next after they complete their work at a high level of quality
Finally, I wanted to mention that Tomlinson advocates "using a variety of grouping strategies, [which] keeps students from feeling that they are 'pegged' into a given classroom niche" (26).
Chapter 5
This chapter gives several examples of differentiated classrooms. "Compacting," which Mr. Rakes uses in his H.S. math class, was new to me. According to the appendix, which explains several differentiation strategies, compacting is "a 3-step process that (1) assesses what a student knows about [the new unit], (2) plans for learning what is not known and excuses the student from what is known, and (2) plans for freed-up time to be spent in enriched or accelerated [independent or group] study" (98).
Chapter 6
Acknowledging the difficulty of managing a differentiated classroom in which students work on different assignments at different speeds and at different times, Tomlinson encourages teachers to just start, even if it takes five years to move to a fully differentiated classroom. She then gives 17 tips for managing a differentiated classroom. The tips that stood out to me were "#4 Use an 'anchor activity' [such as vocab] to free you up to focus your attention on your students", "#10 Make a plan for students to turn in work," "#11 Teach students to rearrange the furniture", "#13 Promote on-task behavior [by rewarding focus with a plus sign on your clipboard, holding off-task students accountable with a minus sign, and giving the rest of the students checkmarks", Have a plan for "#14 quick finishers" and "#15 calling a halt [ending a unit], and "#16 give your students as much responsibility for their learning as possible," including "#17 engagi[ing] your students in talking about classroom procedures and group processes" (35-8).
Chapter 7
What I got most out of this chapter was the example of Mrs. Middleton's middle school English class—in order to introduce differentiation to her students, she starts the school year with the graphing activity, modeling her own graph and then having students graph their ability on things like reading, spelling, writing, plus other categories of their choice. For the first few weeks of school, she has a handful of students present their graph to the class; after the whole class has finished, she tapes them to the wall by hour, then has the students reflect on what patterns they notice in the graphs. From that discussion, she asks how she, as a teacher, should best meet the needs of her differing-ability students.
Chapter 8
It's probably because I am rather a novice in differentiation that I don't see much difference between the scales of student readiness that Tomlinson delineates. For example, the spectrum going from "simple to complex" seems exactly the same as "concrete to abstract" and nearly the same as "foundational to transformational," "small leap to great leap," and "more structured to more open." In fact, I believe Tomlinson's eight spectrums can be boiled down to three: simple to complex, slow to fast, and single facet to multiple facets.
What was most helpful in this chapter was not the spectrums but the examples that show how to differentiate assignments in English specifically according to student readiness level. She says, "For example, grasping the idea of plot (more concrete) typically has to precede investigations of theme (more abstract). But ultimately, all students need to delve into the meanings of stories, not just the events. The issue here is readiness or timing" (46). Along the same lines: "Some students may be ready to work with the theme in a story (a single abstraction), while other students look at interrelationships between themes and symbols (multiple abstractions, or complexity)" (48).
Of all the chapter, this quote hit me the hardest: "We err most often as teachers by planning a single task that is easy enough for most students to complete. That has the effect of establishing both 'middling' or low expectations for many learners and expectations still out of the reach of others" (49).
Chapter 9
"Sharing quads, in which each student presents to three others, may be more effective than whole class sharing... You may want to think about having students share interest-based products with adults who have a similar interest. (In that case, have the student find her own audience as part of the product requirements.) Students can create exhibits for perusal by others [what I would call a gallery walk] rather than oral presentation" (57).
I liked the idea of "sidebar studies" as a way for students to investigate their own interests in a way that ties into the curriculum. Students could do a sidebar study on their own or with a partner.
I also like the suggestion that not only do students need time to work in their area of interest, but they also need time to explore to expand their new interests. Tomlinson also suggests protocols that can be used to support interest differentiation: I-Search, Orbitals, Design-A-Day, Group Investigation, WebQuests, Jigsaw, Literature Circles, and Negotiated Criteria (58-59). One idea I had while I read this section was having students write an I-search paper on college majors/programs they didn't know about that seemed interesting.
Chapter 10
The figures on pp. 67-70 are excellent: the first two pages show very clearly how to change a one-size-fits-all classroom unit into a differentiated unit, and the final two pages show an excellent example of a learning survey pre-assessment.
This quote stood out to me: "Even when the teacher does not have time to structure or craft several learning-profile options for a lesson, much can be accomplished by asking students to make their own choices" including where to sit, whether to work with a partner, with a group, or alone, whether to sit in a well-lit area or dim, whether to work silently or with music, etc. (63).
I liked the example of Mr. Larsen's "Menus for Success," which gives students a literal menu of options for exploring the day's content. Mr. Larsen encourages his students to choose carefully off the menu, just as if they were choosing carefully off a restaurant menu "to support healthy living" (65).
Chapter 11
This hit me: "Being sure of key concepts and principles in what you teach is a great way to begin thinking about differentiation. It also makes your teaching more relevant and potent" (74). Related to this is the "digests of key ideas" strategy, a "one- or two-page capsule of ideas in a unit. Such a digest can be of great assistance to students who struggle... [the digest might] spotlight key vocab and provide essential questions the unit is designed to address. Such digests also help teachers clarify their own thinking about the core of a unit or topic" (77).
Some other strategies Tomlinson lists are learning contracts (good to keep students who are working on different things accountable during independent work time), mini-lessons directed to students who need them, highlighted print materials to help students who struggle with reading to just read the key ideas that you've highlighted for them in advance, note-taking organizers, and peer and adult mentors.
Chapter 12
"A good activity is something students [do]
� using an essential skill(s) & essential info
� to understand an essential idea or answer an essential question
differentiation adds
� in a range of modes, varying in sophistication and time spans
� using varying teacher/peer support (scaffolding)" (80).
There were three new (to me) protocols on p. 80: cubing, cooperative controversy, PMI (listing pluses, minuses, and interesting points about an idea under investigation).
I loved differentiated journals, different prompts for various levels of student readiness, and how Mrs. Miller implements them. Instead of having all students write journals at the same time, like I do, leading to students finishing at different times, she "distribute[s to students] their journal assignment sheets, instructing them to read at least the first 25 pages of the novel, letting them be free to work as long as necessary in class on their journal prompt and complete the rest at home that night" (83-4).
Chapter 13
"Good differentiated curriculum and instruction—whether content, process, product—first have to be good curriculum and instruction" (87-8).
Projects are longer than activities and often replace tests. P. 89 has a huge list of project ideas. P. 87 emphasizes clarity: "Develop [products] that clearly say to the student: you should show you understand and can do these things; proceeding through these steps; in this format; at this level of quality." Zap procrastination. Use check-in dates. Stretch students. Coach for success.
Chapter 14
"Ample evidence indicates that traditional grades may not communicate or motivate," but since I can't throw out traditional grades, here's what I can do (93):
� "You don't have to throw out your grade book! [For example,] Fract/4-9 [means] grades are on whatever assignment students completed on April 9 related to fractions" (95)
� "Share as much record-keeping responsibility with your students as you can" (95)
� "A teacher who practices this principle [that not all work has to be formally graded] may make daily jottings on a clipboard (which she carries around during her interactions with students) to note who is or is not engaged in their work, questions students asks, points of difficulty and clarity for varied students, and so forth... This info can be used to develop upcoming assignments for students" (96).
Tomlinson's analogy comparing one-size-fits-all instruction to forcing all students to wear the same size and style of clothing is helpful. We allow students to dress according to their sizes and tastes, so let's also differentiate our instruction to make our teaching comfortable, engaging, and inviting for all students.
Chapter 1
Tomlinson starts the chapter by listing many things that differentiation is NOT. Unfortunately, thinking I'm accommodating my students, I do many of these "NOTS": reduce the number of assignments for accommodated students, shorten assignments for accommodated students, and grade accommodated students "easier."
Then Tomlinson lists what differentiation is (each of the following is a section): proactive; qualitative; rooted in assessment; providing multiple approaches to (1) content, (2) process, and (3) product; student-centered; a blend of whole-class, small group, and individual instruction (on p. 6 Tomlinson provides a graphic of an oscillating wave showing the flow between whole-class, small group, and individual instruction in a differentiated classroom; in the graphic Tomlinson says that students should select their own groups, a suggestion I'm curious to learn more about); and organic.
What stood out to me about these sections was that assessment needs to come at the beginning and continue throughout the unit. Also, in the "student-centered" section, her use of the word "investigation" struck me—for a second I thought I could rename "units" in my class to "investigations" in the same way that gamified classrooms rename units "quests." But I quickly thought otherwise, for that would confuse students, especially since we have an all-school grading policy regarding no late work allowed after the end of a "unit." However, it would be good to emphasize what we are investigating in each unit, and perhaps I could pose the unit's essential questions as "investigations." And speaking of gamified classrooms, in those classrooms SX (student experience) is central; this same idea Tomlinson, under a slightly different name, says is an integral part of a differentiated classroom.
Furthermore, the threefold terminology of (1) content (what students learn), (2) process (how students wrestle with and assimilate the content), and (3) product (how students demonstrate what they've learned) is basic, but it's nice to have clear names for these 3 pillars of teaching.
Finally, I loved the idea of "organic": teachers never arrive at knowing everything about differentiation, but are constantly "monitor[ing] the match between learner and learning and mak[ing] adjustments.... every hour of teaching, every day in the classroom can reveal one more way to make the classroom a better match for its learners" (5).
Chapter 2
When Tomlinson describes what NOT to do in this chapter—namely, give out the "real" assignment to most students, an accommodated assignment to struggling learners, and a longer and more challenging assignment to gifted learners—she describes what I do currently in my classroom. Yikes!
Overarchingly, Tomlinson says teachers must (1) recognize the wide variety of learners in their classrooms, (2) teach with excellence and clarity a high-quality curriculum, and (3) build bridges between our varied learners and our curriculum (9). Gifted students, Tomlinson warns, can become lazy since good grades come easily, which undermines lessons they could and should learn about grit, perseverance, and the necessity of failing on the way to reaching true success. Regarding struggling learners, Tomlinson paraphrases John Dewey from 1938: "If school isn't for today, it will often turn out to be for nothing" (13). Our curriculum director reminds us to teach with the student as a 50-year-old in mind; what will stick with them then from our lessons today? I believe the best teaching is relevant both for today and 35 years from now.
I appreciate Tomlinson's advice to look for the best in our struggling students and cater assignments to them. Don't water down the curriculum for them, but provide them scaffolds to build their way up to learn the curriculum. She mentions using many "modalities" to teach students, which is a good word to keep in mind. Instead of accommodating assignments, I can offer more choices that span many different modalities. Adults don't spend their days doing things that are difficult for them; neither should we bog down students' days with tasks that are difficult for them. Finally, Tomlinson makes a great point that self-efficacy is not built by watering down learning goals but by giving students the chance to push themselves, to struggle and perhaps fail before they achieve something that they had believed was out of their reach. This is what builds self-efficacy in students.
I like the last sentence of the chapter: "The most effective teachers spend a career meticulously cultivating their appreciation for children not so easy for them to automatically embrace, while continuing to draw energy from those students whom they more automatically find delightful" (15).
Chapter 3
This hit me: "Differentiation calls on a teacher... to recall daily that no practice is truly best practice unless it works for the individual learner" (17). I've been searching for the best practices for high school English teaching, but this quote explains why this should not be my ultimate goal. However, it does help me to learn as many best practices as I can so, like tools in a toolbox, I have them to pull out when I am working with an individual learner.
One of the "rules of thumb" Tomlinson gives for differentiation is, "Be clear on the key concepts and generalizations or principles that give meaning and structure to the topic, chapter, unit, or lesson you are planning" (19). I thought I'd put this into practice by stating what I think the main principle of this chapter is: challenging teachers to shift their paradigm from a teacher- to a student-centered classroom. In a student-centered classroom, teacher is a coach who applies various learning opportunities to students as they need them in order for the students individually and collectively to perform well.
This sentence, backed by a research study, hit me: "We now know (Means, Chelemer, & Knapp, 1991) that many learners who struggle would find learning more natural and sensible if they were consistently presented with problems, issues, dilemmas, and unknowns that required them to use more of what they have learned" (20).
Chapter 4
This chapter highlights the need for classrooms to be welcoming, where students feel a sense of belonging and safety to take risks. And the teacher must head this effort: "The teacher sets the tone for the classroom environment. It is a heavy responsibility and a wonderful opportunity to help students shape positive lives... We [teachers] can get better and better at modeling what we want students to learn—joy in work, pleasure in one another, patience, kindness, and a big heart. Those things help students construct sturdier and more rewarding lives. Working toward them helps the teacher become a wiser person and better professional as well" (24).
I like how Tomlinson, in that quote, looks beyond the curriculum of the classroom to the personal growth that can take place in our classrooms, for students and for the teacher. Here's another quote that speaks along the same lines: "All students need to be guided in assuming a growing degree of responsibility and independence as a learner and member of a community of learners. Not only is that essential in a differentiated classroom, but it's a huge part of success in life as well" (23).
In her figure on types of scaffolding, I saw "modeling," which surprised me. I use modeling especially for writing papers, never thinking of model papers as a scaffold. But they are! An important implication of this is that some students don't need scaffolds. They can write a paper without needing a model.
It's worth copying her "Teacher checklist for group work" in its entirety since I struggle so much with group work—what happens often in my classroom is one or two students in each group work hard while others coast, or groups fall apart due to infighting or lack of communication.
� students understand the task goals
� students understand what's expected of individuals to make the group work well
� the task matches the big picture learning goals of the unit
� most students find the task interesting
� the task requires an important contribution from each group member based on the student's skills and interests
� the task is likely to be demanding of the group and its members
� the task requires genuine collaboration to achieve shared understanding
� timelines are brisk (but not rigid)
� individuals are accountable for their own understanding of all facets of the task
� there's a "way out" for students who are not succeeding with the group
� there is opportunity for teacher or peer coaching and in-process quality checks
� Students understand what to do next after they complete their work at a high level of quality
Finally, I wanted to mention that Tomlinson advocates "using a variety of grouping strategies, [which] keeps students from feeling that they are 'pegged' into a given classroom niche" (26).
Chapter 5
This chapter gives several examples of differentiated classrooms. "Compacting," which Mr. Rakes uses in his H.S. math class, was new to me. According to the appendix, which explains several differentiation strategies, compacting is "a 3-step process that (1) assesses what a student knows about [the new unit], (2) plans for learning what is not known and excuses the student from what is known, and (2) plans for freed-up time to be spent in enriched or accelerated [independent or group] study" (98).
Chapter 6
Acknowledging the difficulty of managing a differentiated classroom in which students work on different assignments at different speeds and at different times, Tomlinson encourages teachers to just start, even if it takes five years to move to a fully differentiated classroom. She then gives 17 tips for managing a differentiated classroom. The tips that stood out to me were "#4 Use an 'anchor activity' [such as vocab] to free you up to focus your attention on your students", "#10 Make a plan for students to turn in work," "#11 Teach students to rearrange the furniture", "#13 Promote on-task behavior [by rewarding focus with a plus sign on your clipboard, holding off-task students accountable with a minus sign, and giving the rest of the students checkmarks", Have a plan for "#14 quick finishers" and "#15 calling a halt [ending a unit], and "#16 give your students as much responsibility for their learning as possible," including "#17 engagi[ing] your students in talking about classroom procedures and group processes" (35-8).
Chapter 7
What I got most out of this chapter was the example of Mrs. Middleton's middle school English class—in order to introduce differentiation to her students, she starts the school year with the graphing activity, modeling her own graph and then having students graph their ability on things like reading, spelling, writing, plus other categories of their choice. For the first few weeks of school, she has a handful of students present their graph to the class; after the whole class has finished, she tapes them to the wall by hour, then has the students reflect on what patterns they notice in the graphs. From that discussion, she asks how she, as a teacher, should best meet the needs of her differing-ability students.
Chapter 8
It's probably because I am rather a novice in differentiation that I don't see much difference between the scales of student readiness that Tomlinson delineates. For example, the spectrum going from "simple to complex" seems exactly the same as "concrete to abstract" and nearly the same as "foundational to transformational," "small leap to great leap," and "more structured to more open." In fact, I believe Tomlinson's eight spectrums can be boiled down to three: simple to complex, slow to fast, and single facet to multiple facets.
What was most helpful in this chapter was not the spectrums but the examples that show how to differentiate assignments in English specifically according to student readiness level. She says, "For example, grasping the idea of plot (more concrete) typically has to precede investigations of theme (more abstract). But ultimately, all students need to delve into the meanings of stories, not just the events. The issue here is readiness or timing" (46). Along the same lines: "Some students may be ready to work with the theme in a story (a single abstraction), while other students look at interrelationships between themes and symbols (multiple abstractions, or complexity)" (48).
Of all the chapter, this quote hit me the hardest: "We err most often as teachers by planning a single task that is easy enough for most students to complete. That has the effect of establishing both 'middling' or low expectations for many learners and expectations still out of the reach of others" (49).
Chapter 9
"Sharing quads, in which each student presents to three others, may be more effective than whole class sharing... You may want to think about having students share interest-based products with adults who have a similar interest. (In that case, have the student find her own audience as part of the product requirements.) Students can create exhibits for perusal by others [what I would call a gallery walk] rather than oral presentation" (57).
I liked the idea of "sidebar studies" as a way for students to investigate their own interests in a way that ties into the curriculum. Students could do a sidebar study on their own or with a partner.
I also like the suggestion that not only do students need time to work in their area of interest, but they also need time to explore to expand their new interests. Tomlinson also suggests protocols that can be used to support interest differentiation: I-Search, Orbitals, Design-A-Day, Group Investigation, WebQuests, Jigsaw, Literature Circles, and Negotiated Criteria (58-59). One idea I had while I read this section was having students write an I-search paper on college majors/programs they didn't know about that seemed interesting.
Chapter 10
The figures on pp. 67-70 are excellent: the first two pages show very clearly how to change a one-size-fits-all classroom unit into a differentiated unit, and the final two pages show an excellent example of a learning survey pre-assessment.
This quote stood out to me: "Even when the teacher does not have time to structure or craft several learning-profile options for a lesson, much can be accomplished by asking students to make their own choices" including where to sit, whether to work with a partner, with a group, or alone, whether to sit in a well-lit area or dim, whether to work silently or with music, etc. (63).
I liked the example of Mr. Larsen's "Menus for Success," which gives students a literal menu of options for exploring the day's content. Mr. Larsen encourages his students to choose carefully off the menu, just as if they were choosing carefully off a restaurant menu "to support healthy living" (65).
Chapter 11
This hit me: "Being sure of key concepts and principles in what you teach is a great way to begin thinking about differentiation. It also makes your teaching more relevant and potent" (74). Related to this is the "digests of key ideas" strategy, a "one- or two-page capsule of ideas in a unit. Such a digest can be of great assistance to students who struggle... [the digest might] spotlight key vocab and provide essential questions the unit is designed to address. Such digests also help teachers clarify their own thinking about the core of a unit or topic" (77).
Some other strategies Tomlinson lists are learning contracts (good to keep students who are working on different things accountable during independent work time), mini-lessons directed to students who need them, highlighted print materials to help students who struggle with reading to just read the key ideas that you've highlighted for them in advance, note-taking organizers, and peer and adult mentors.
Chapter 12
"A good activity is something students [do]
� using an essential skill(s) & essential info
� to understand an essential idea or answer an essential question
differentiation adds
� in a range of modes, varying in sophistication and time spans
� using varying teacher/peer support (scaffolding)" (80).
There were three new (to me) protocols on p. 80: cubing, cooperative controversy, PMI (listing pluses, minuses, and interesting points about an idea under investigation).
I loved differentiated journals, different prompts for various levels of student readiness, and how Mrs. Miller implements them. Instead of having all students write journals at the same time, like I do, leading to students finishing at different times, she "distribute[s to students] their journal assignment sheets, instructing them to read at least the first 25 pages of the novel, letting them be free to work as long as necessary in class on their journal prompt and complete the rest at home that night" (83-4).
Chapter 13
"Good differentiated curriculum and instruction—whether content, process, product—first have to be good curriculum and instruction" (87-8).
Projects are longer than activities and often replace tests. P. 89 has a huge list of project ideas. P. 87 emphasizes clarity: "Develop [products] that clearly say to the student: you should show you understand and can do these things; proceeding through these steps; in this format; at this level of quality." Zap procrastination. Use check-in dates. Stretch students. Coach for success.
Chapter 14
"Ample evidence indicates that traditional grades may not communicate or motivate," but since I can't throw out traditional grades, here's what I can do (93):
� "You don't have to throw out your grade book! [For example,] Fract/4-9 [means] grades are on whatever assignment students completed on April 9 related to fractions" (95)
� "Share as much record-keeping responsibility with your students as you can" (95)
� "A teacher who practices this principle [that not all work has to be formally graded] may make daily jottings on a clipboard (which she carries around during her interactions with students) to note who is or is not engaged in their work, questions students asks, points of difficulty and clarity for varied students, and so forth... This info can be used to develop upcoming assignments for students" (96).
July 9, 2024
I'm glad I read this. As a new teacher, I have lofty ideas and goals. Some tell me these are naive, but I think the problem is really that it's a really hard job and it takes so much knowledge and experience to achieve those goals. Differentiating is a way to do this, but learning how to differentiate well within limited time is a long-term endeavour. This was just an introduction.
December 6, 2016
I read this book for class. I think it is a great book on differentiation for beginners or for new teachers. It provides a lot of good examples and best practices that can be done in the classroom for each of the ideas presented, but without bogging you down with too much detail or depth. I used this in conjunction with another book on differentiation which took Tomlinson's ideas and stretched them out to give more depth, detail and examples of how things can be done.
This was a little daunting to me however. While I do work with a lot of the ideas in this book in my preschool and adult learners classes, I'm still a new teacher that hasn't worked in a secondary classroom. So I honestly feel like I don't know where to start. And that scares the crap out of me.
This was a little daunting to me however. While I do work with a lot of the ideas in this book in my preschool and adult learners classes, I'm still a new teacher that hasn't worked in a secondary classroom. So I honestly feel like I don't know where to start. And that scares the crap out of me.
November 10, 2017
I am guessing that when this book came out it must have been all the rage. However, as it stands now in my first reading of it, not so much. I know the strategies, I understand the pedagogy, I've already decided what I want to own or dismiss in terms of differentiation and I can find most of what she's talking about online with a tech-enhanced option.
While it is good (maybe for the first year teacher), I'm not sure why it's the required texts in a graduate level course. There must be something (that even Tomlinson has written) that is more in-depth and has a more modern approach.
While it is good (maybe for the first year teacher), I'm not sure why it's the required texts in a graduate level course. There must be something (that even Tomlinson has written) that is more in-depth and has a more modern approach.
November 17, 2008
Not as helpful as I though it'd be.
February 4, 2012
Too much theory. Not enough apps.
May 14, 2022
I read this as part of my differentiation class for my MSE program in Curriculum and Instructional Design. However, it was a very basic book, more of an introduction into differentiation rather than anything in-depth. I am disappointed it was the choice of my Masters level class as I think it would’ve better suited an undergrad teaching program. I didn’t learn anything new about differentiation from this book. It described a few new strategies that I hadn’t previously used or heard of, but there were no real descriptions, step by step instructions, or real-life examples that came with it. My professor would periodically post handouts that seem to come from a workbook used in conjunction with this book, but we didn’t have the full thing. I think that would’ve worked better in conjunction.
November 20, 2017
This is a useful primer for the beginning teacher in how to differentiate their content to their diverse community of learners in their classroom. I am nervous as a "student teacher" that I will not be successful in guiding my students to helpful material because I am not properly scaffolding the content. This book may very well serve as a gateway to further inquiry into differentiation in the realm of education. Overall, this book garners a solid 3.5 stars from me.
July 23, 2019
Good reminder that differentiated instruction is NOT different tasks, different goals, or different lessons. It is also not a bunch of classroom activities. Instead, the writer reminds the audience that it is a mindset. It is a systematic approach to education that considers how many ways a teacher invites students to access information.
It was a bit of a slog to get through, but the ideas were salient.
It was a bit of a slog to get through, but the ideas were salient.
October 12, 2019
This book is for beginning educators or teachers who have never differentiated in their classrooms. I found that there weren't enough examples of what differentiation actually looks like in order for me to really deepen my understanding. Ironically, the book was differentiated enough for my level of understanding.
July 29, 2018
Really good book with some great ideas I plan to implement. However, it doesn't seem like it would be possible to do this all the time and still be able to fulfill state and district requirements. So the book's content is excellent in theory; I'm just not sure how practical it is in reality.
July 2, 2018
Fine as a refresher but it isn’t groundbreaking. And, if you follow her guidelines, aspects of differentiated instruction will kill you.
August 7, 2019
Basic foundational text, so good to start with. Found in other, more specific texts.
August 9, 2019
A must-read for a beginner teacher. An experienced educator can find useful information and examples, although the descriptions are not very detailed.
August 19, 2019
Not as many concrete ideas to try as I was hoping. Still no idea how to implement this in high school.
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July 2, 2020grad school book
July 22, 2020
It gives a good introduction and some strategies to consider in applying differentiation strategies in secondary classrooms, although I found that the book was a bit repetitive.
July 1, 2021
This is truly a “how-to� guide and is filled with practical applications for the classroom.
January 26, 2012
The author offers the explanation of the differentiated classroom to best accommodate diverse learning styles. Focused on multiple activites and multiple methods to provide a varied learning experience to build on knowledge, the author emphasizes how imperative it is to initially establish ground rules, expectations, directions, and the scope and sequence in order to promote an effective differentiated classroom. The author delves into how the mind works, and how people best learn, revealing that people need hands-on activities, collaboration, and other diverse methods of instruction to promote learning in order to keep them actively involved. She provides examples of various differentiated classrooms and gives ideas from what learning looks like, what classroom environment looks like, and what the process and products look like. The idea of the differentiated classroom is to make sure that all students are being challenged at their level of learning to retain interest and to draw on their personal interests and strengths.
February 3, 2017
I got so many insights from this book about how to structure learning with various ability levels and interest in students. Marvelous! Took many notes! She has great ideas for activity starters you can try for opening-up student thinking and leveling-up learning challenges to create intrigue in the classroom setting. It could've used a another edit for slight errors in sentence structure- a very few misspelled words, and typos. But, those things do not take away from the gem of information inside the pages for teachers of any type!
May 24, 2011
Honestly, this just freaked me out and made me feel hopelessly inadequate. I know the point is not to do EVERYTHING, but rather to know so many strategies and options that you can adapt when/where possible/desirable. I know that intellectually...but reading it still gave me heart palpatations. I have tried many of the strategies already (to mixed success) and I have affixed copies of several of the diagrams to my desk so that I can glance down and pull-up a strategy when I'm feeling overwhelmed and frustrated with a student's lack of success or cooperation. I'm probably going to need to revisit this several times throughout my teaching career. Baby steps, right?
December 7, 2016
Helpful book on how to differentiate instruction in a classroom. I have mixed opinions about the value of differentiation in my own field (the classics/humanities), since I feel like differentiation is more relevant for skill-based subjects like Math or Science than in discussion-and-idea-based subjects, but I was still able to glean profitable ideas from this. Tomlinson did a good job of being practical and providing lots of examples, and so I appreciated this book a lot. For educators looking to understand differentiation better, this is a good introductory work.
Rating: 4 Stars (Very Good).
Rating: 4 Stars (Very Good).
January 23, 2013
So I didn't actually finish this book. It was for a class, and I had to return it before I finished. It's a great book on differentiation. The problem is that I don't buy into differentiation in high school math. The only suggestion for it in the whole book was to allow kids to test out of math units. That's not differentiation.
Edit: I ended up finishing the book. It has some good theory and suggestions. I still don't see how differentiation will help me teach Algebra, but this book would be great for an English teacher.
Edit: I ended up finishing the book. It has some good theory and suggestions. I still don't see how differentiation will help me teach Algebra, but this book would be great for an English teacher.
July 26, 2011
This book offers some excellent examples of teaching methods. It really inspired me to use differentiated instruction as a part of my PDP goal as an initial educator. One of my favorite sections is the one addressing the introduction of differentiated instruction to students and parents. I plan on using some of Tomlinson's examples to help students see why their content, processes, and products will vary from their classmates at times.
August 25, 2012
This book has a lot of great info about using differentiated instruction in mixed ability classrooms. However, it is more directed at K-12 differentiation for the novice. As an adult educator with over 6 years of experience, I have been using many of these techniques for years. I just did not know what all of them were called. So now I can update my lesson plans to have the terminology rather than my silly attempt to apply my own adjectives to what I have been doing for years.
June 28, 2014
This book gives a simple, bare bones explanation of differentiated instruction. Admittedly, there are lots of ideas that would be overwhelming to try and apply in the classroom all at once. Tomlinson suggests choosing a few and building as the strategies become natural extensions of what you do. I'd recommend this book for anyone wanting to begin the exploration process...it is only 97 pages, so not too scary!
August 10, 2022
A great reference for means of differentiating for both struggling and gifted students. I liked the anecdotes and practical, implementable advice. The brevity of this text makes it easy to grab and reference, but also means it lacks a bit of depth. I read this along with Susan Winebrenner's "Teaching Gifted Kids in Today's Classroom" and found reading both helped grow my understanding and toolkit for differentiation.
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November 25, 2023I love learning more and more about differentiated instruction.
My thoughts:
*The teacher in me is fascinated.
*The perfectionist in me is proud that I already do a lot.
*The OCD in me is freaking out over the lack of organization.
*The laziness in me is freaking out over the amount of planning.
My thoughts:
*The teacher in me is fascinated.
*The perfectionist in me is proud that I already do a lot.
*The OCD in me is freaking out over the lack of organization.
*The laziness in me is freaking out over the amount of planning.
January 25, 2010
A good set of guidelines for setting up a classroom for differentiated instruction. There are some good scenario situations that provide a good picture of what takes place with D.I. in effect. However, not all of the ideas appear immediately realistic.
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