“Differentiated instruction is doing what’s fair for students. It’s a collection of best practices strategically employed to maximize students’ learning at every turn, including giving them the tools to handle anything that is
undifferentiated. It requires us to do different things for different students
some, or a lot, of the time in order for them to learn when the general classroom approach does not meet students’ needs.”
Excerpt from “Fair Isn’t Always Equal.” by Rick Wormeli
I needed to take some time to ground myself after a conversation with a colleague this week. Our Learning Community has engaged in discussion around productive struggle versus unproductive struggle for students. Often, these discussions focus on what students are not doing, how they are struggling, and what is happening in classes to support the “right” kind of struggle.
At a post-meeting discussion, I was asked for my opinion on something. As Taylor Mali so eloquently stated in his poem “What Teachers Make”
“I have this policy about honesty and ass-kicking. If you ask for it, then I have to let you have it.”
I am not one to shy away from giving an opinion, but sometimes I have to temper the response in my head. With that said, this is what I heard, and what I WANTED to say.
After a discussion about struggle, differentiation, and ways in which we can attempt to meet our students where they are in their learning, thus empowering them to struggle productively, a colleague of mine bluntly stated the following.
“Ok, but what if I don’t believe in this? Some kids just can’t learn this.”
Initial reaction?
Um, what? In my head, I was so surprised to know that a seasoned, professional educator that shares students with me actually felt that way. Realistically, I blacked out for a second, shocked by the statement. When I came to, I was overwhelmed by the thought that, if this ever became me- if I felt that the kids were here for ME, not that I was there for them- then it is time for me to dust off the old CV and look for another line of work.
Let me be more direct. BELIEVING IN THE ABILITIES OF OUR STUDENTS IS OUR ONLY JOB! Feeling that I am not finding a way to adapt and change what I do to meet the needs of students keeps me up at night. To be effective, we have to adapt and change our daily practice to keep the rigor and standards, while making proficiencies accessible for all students.
Let’s step back for a minute.
Let’s step back to a time when roles were reversed. When you were the little person in the desk. We all have memories from our school days, especially the ones that deal with that mean teacher who hated children. This story is not about a teacher that hated children. (Although I would have debated that when in third grade.) Instead, it is a point that shaped me as a student to this day.
I was in third grade, taking our weekly “math test.” To date myself, this test was conveyed via vinyl record at what I remember as lightning speed. Realistically, it was 60 problems in two minutes. Pure recitation of multiplication facts, with a slight pause. My teacher, Mrs. H (*no relation), watched as a chubby, afroed third grader attempted to keep up with the facts being belted forth from the scratchy record. I remember trying to erase a mistake, only to have the cheap yellow paper rip, as two problems passed me by. She observed a child so frustrated that he crumpled his paper, slamming his pencil on the desk. I was trying to follow her logic when teaching multiplication, but I needed time, a chance to visually work through my thoughts. The concrete nature of seeing and manipulating things solidifies many concepts that I attempt to learn. I COULD do it, but not at that speed. If that is the only measure of understanding, then I was a failure. I could not demonstrate that standard in that particular way. If you are an educator reading this, what would you do? I can hear the responses, and many are exactly what I would want someone to do for my children.
However, that was not what I experienced. I vividly remember Mrs. H. gabbing a new sheet of paper, putting it on my desk, and explaining “You are just not good at math. Here, copy Jason’s paper. He is good at math.” At almost 8 years old, I was exposed to a teacher that openly had given up on helping me. I was not good, would never be good, and could not learn these concepts. That was it. I was done with third grade. As Rita Pierson so eloquently stated, “Kids don’t learn from people they don’t like.” Let’s just say that I was not a fan. To this day, it shapes my view of math. I teach science! I like math! But, NEVER would I say that I am good at it. Note: I CAN learn math. My pathway was different, which does not make it wrong. Once I discovered how I learned, multiple pathways were lit up. Those paths had speedbumps, but I started to believe that I could.
My own PTSD caused a visceral reaction when I heard that one of my fellow teachers uttered those words. To teach, you have to believe that every child has the capacity to learn. WE are the adults tasked with finding that pathway. If one avenue is not working, we see a route that works for each student. Yes, your eyes do not deceive you…..EACH student.
In attempting to shrink the grain size of this issue, it seems that the struggles come from feeling that the material is being “dumbed down” for students that struggle. Personally, differentiating tasks is about finding a way for students to learn how they learn best, as well as productively struggling to meet the standard. This means that teachers must be creative. I have said it over and over, educators are the nicest, most creative people I know, but we are not flexible. By flexibility, I mean that we need to be able to flex our own methodologies, but not our rigor and standards. By designing a curriculum with students in mind, we must know each one, their strengths and weaknesses, and what they may need in order to achieve. “They may need changes in content, process, product, affect, or learning environment”(Tomlinson 2003). Backwards Design becomes all the more important when differentiating for those students that COULD do it. Consider what pre or formative assessments need to be completed prior to beginning the unit. What are the most important things that you need them to demonstrate? How is the lesson sequence planned to accommodate the differing needs of students? What misconceptions or difficulties can you anticipate? What are Plans B, C, and D, if things jump the rails?
The most significant component of all is how you will gather the data that shows that students have learned the material. Is the criteria the same for everyone? What allowances might be needed for students that have greater needs? Can you, as the educator, see a pathway for each student that maintains the integrity of the standard, as well as the rigor? Students can learn without being curricular “fluff.”
Further, we can all be more deliberate with how we communicate standards. Transparency provides students with a clearly articulated goal. This goal is explicit, constant, and revisited each day, every formative assessment, to help both student and teacher measure growth towards the goal. Video games have meters to measure growth towards a goal. The levels get harder as they progress, with checkpoints being sought as the pathway forward. If you lay out the path in a way that encourages the risk-taking necessary for struggling students to achieve, that has a way towards success. Students disengage for many reasons, but our lack of planning and support should not be one of them. If they choose not to try, it is not because they hit complete frustration and are not supported to the best of their ability. Teaching is about the children. We are there for them because that is who the school is for. Admitting professional defeat by believing that some students just can’t learn is disingenuous, it points to something lacking. The answer is not that they can’t. It is not that they should cheat from the paper of someone who “can.” The answer lies in the teacher who is ruthless, fearless, and determined to provide every student with a way forward.
Mr. H's Not So Secret Classroom 