5 Easy Ways to Differentiate in Your Classroom {with Mrs. Thompson's Treasures}

Trying to differentiate activities in your classroom can take a lot of time and effort. Sometimes it's necessary to put in a lot of work to make sure that each student is getting what they need, but other times there are some quick and easy ways to make sure your lessons and activities will work for all your students! Here are 5 easy ways to differentiate in your classroom:

1) Less is more: Some students will benefit from multiple questions covering the same topic (i.e. addition and subtraction problems) but for some students the drill & kill is just not necessary! Mark out a row of or two of problems for those students who get frustrated and burned out with too many of the same thing.

2) More time: We all work at our own pace, so sometimes allowing some students a little extra time to complete something will take the pressure off and help them be successful.

3) Answering orally: For those students who get bogged down with writing answers, let them give the answers orally sometimes. This works well with subjects like science and social studies. You can even have them record their responses on a iPad with a recording app.

4) Peer learning: Letting students work together on things is a great way to include those who need a little help while teaching them collaboration and social skills at the same time!

5) Environment: Sometimes students just need a different place to do work, with less noise and distractions. Try having a spot in a different area of the room, or in the library, where a student can go to complete work if necessary.

One more note: I like to tell students that in our classroom, I try to make everything fair, not equal. Equal would mean that everyone gets the same thing all the time, but fair means that everyone gets what they need to succeed. I compare it to those students who need glasses. If everything was equal, then no one could have their glasses. But this wouldn't be fair to those students who need their glasses to see the board and do their work. When we give each student what they need (glasses or differentiated instruction) then we have a fair classroom!