I’ve been tagged by Stephanie Sandifer as part of the ‘differentiation meme’ going round the edublogosphere. So I’ll play along… :p

1. Do you differentiate by content, instructional method, assignment or some other way?

At the moment, as I’ve blogged about, I’m explicitly differentiating by groupings based on CAT scores. I have ‘islands’ of tables which reflect the quadrants within which each students are located. I’ve told the students that it’s based on learning styles which, in essence, it is.

In addition to this, I’ve done learning styles quizzes with them and then given them a choice of activities in some lessons – which is kind of differentiation by informed choice… :)

2. For whose benefit do you differentiate?

For both myself and my students, but primarily for my students. I’m all for ‘personalising’ learning, but there needs to be some kind of group cohesion, a sense of corporate identity and teamwork. Sometimes, to differentiate can mean a lot of extra work for teachers. My golden rule is that it shouldn’t take me longer to prepare the activity than the students take to complete it!

3. To what percentage do you differentiate you assignments? 100%, 50%, 10%?

This doesn’t really have any meaning to me, as the UK education system isn’t really based on assignments. And to put a percentage on something which is done by instinct by experienced teachers is nonsensical. :s

4. What are the immediate student benefits of differentiation?

Engagement, accessibility and enjoyment, I would say. If it’s differentiation by group work then there’s social benefits as well.

5. What are the long term benefits for teachers?

Student progress, although it depends upon the extent and methods employed. Differentiation by worksheet will not lead to progress, as far as I’m concerned!

6. Were you taught about differentiation before or after you became a teacher?

Before, during my PGCE (teacher training). It was hammered home, to be fair, and it was something we had to show evidence of in all our planning, teaching and evaluations. When did I qualify? This is my third year of teaching, so 2004. :D

7. Does differentiation take more of your time to implement than other instructional approaches?

Yes, but it’s swings and roundabouts if done properly. On the one hand it may take longer, but if it leads to learning gains and/or produces resources that can be used again, then it’s worth the time. This is where sharing of resources and ideas is important – hence historyshareforum.com

8. How do you keep from differentiating only to your own interests and styles?

Well, I try to read what other people are doing and be inspired by them. The Teacher’s Toolkit is also excellent for suggesting different methods. On the other hand, teaching to one’s interests and styles isn’t such a bad thing – at least students are likely to get a variety of styles across subjects and teachers!

9. Is there such a thing as too much differentiation?

Although, as I’ve said, I’m all for making learning more personal to individual students, I’d have to answer yes to this. If you’re forever pointing out the differences between students, you can miss the bigger picture and the similarities between students. After all, students don’t only differ in their ability in your subject! There’s emotional aspects, and the multiple intelligences that I’ve mentioned in a series of posts before… :D

10. Have you ever sat through a lecture on differentiation? Bonus: Did you find it ironic?

Yes, I found it rather patronising, although there were some good ideas in it. :p

Now I’m supposed to continue the meme by naming 5 people. Let’s try the following:

• Noel Jenkins
• Ollie Bray
• Andrew Ross
• Chris Craft
• Jeff Utecht