Greatest and Least Impactful Factor in Creating a Differentiated Classroom

I recently completed an online class called Try DI (differentiated instruction). The course I took prior to it, Why DI, described the benefits of DI and why every classroom teacher should consider implementing differentiated instruction into their classrooms. In Try DI, we learned strategies for how to implement DI into our individual classrooms. One assignment asked us to describe what we felt were the greatest and least impactful factors in making DI a reality in our teaching environments. We were given a handful of factors to pick from. The following is my response to this question based on my twelve years of experience working in a Title One school (a school with a high concentration of low income students that receives supplemental funding from the government to support its students and teachers in meeting educational goals), in a kindergarten classroom with an instructional aide who worked part-time in our class. 

Least impactful factor in implementing DI- Not settling for good and aiming for great

Because of the area and school I committed to teacher in, I determined very early on, in order for every student to be successful and experience academic growth, I was not going to be able to teach each content area and each lesson simply as written in the curriculum. I was going to have to meet each of my students where they were, while still making sure they were being taught each skill or subject area indicated by our grade level content objectives and standards. 

I understood that this would mean extra work, extra planning, extra activities, and extra creativity. But I was and have always been dedicated to doing everything I could to give my students every opportunity to be successful. So that, in turn, meant making the commitment to not settle for being a good teacher, because there would be many students that would fall through the cracks. I had to stretch and grow in my own thinking, reflecting, planning, knowledge, and teaching styles in order to give my students the best. At times my efforts were successful; at other times, they were not. But I was willing. 

A few years ago, our staff read the book “Teach Like A Pirate” as a professional development activity, meant to motivate us to create more engaging classroom environments and reignite our spark for teaching. One quote from the book has stuck with me since I read it. “When you’re passion-filled, you also become more personally fulfilled as an educator. It’s fun and exciting to share what is uniquely ‘you’” (Burgess, 2012).This was encouraging to read as I was embarking in creating a more differentiated classroom. I am passionate about helping students grow and learn and I was excited to use my skills and ideas to accomplish that goal.

Most impactful factor in implementing DI- Isolation

During my career as a teacher, a majority of the time I spent reflecting, planning and working to create and sustain my differentiated classroom, was spent alone. Some of this was of my own choosing and some was due to the lack of opportunity given by administration to collaborate with grade-level partners and other colleagues. 

I have the kind of personality where I like to work alone, so that was a barrier that I had to face when it came to collaborations. But added to that were all the responsibilities that we have as teachers, which made time planning for additional activities, management strategies, and differentiation techniques limited. So I felt my time was best used concentrating on my class and my students.

There were occasions when talking to other teammates and colleagues was beneficial, like at IEP and grade level meetings. The problem was these meetings only happened every 6 weeks or so at the most and they were only scheduled for students who had a very severe need. Meetings like this didn’t happen for all of the other students in my class who may have needed enrichment strategies or enhancement techniques, but didn’t rise to the level of needing an IEP. 

Coming up with helpful strategies at grade-level meetings was difficult due to the limited amount of time. Additionally, there were so many students with needs that it would have been impossible for us to come up with ideas for all of them in the 50 minutes of meeting time we had. I was more than willing to talk with my colleagues if they were stuck, lost, and needed help but we, teachers, were all so busy trying to do our best for our own students that we just didn’t have the time be instructional coaches and consultants, too.

It may have been helpful to sit in on a “master teacher” and learn by their example. The only time I ever saw my colleagues teach was when I passed by a classroom during my planning period or while taking my class to the bathroom or lunch. I believe there is value in watching other experienced teachers and gleaning good practices and strategies in all of the many areas that fall under the umbrella of teaching (ie instruction, organization, management, ect). Every teacher runs their room in their own unique way and have tools and practices that could be helpful to others. If only there was time and availability to share. Although it would take a lot of planning and coordination, I believe it could be extremely worth while. 

In the journal “From Teacher Isolation to Teacher Collaboration: Theoretical Perspectives and Empirical Findings”, the authors describe teacher isolation in two different ways: the condition in which a teacher works and conditions that make it difficult for teachers to collaborate and the degree to which teachers want to work together and collaborate (Ostovar-Nameghi & Sheikhahmadi, 2016). These factors made it very easy for me to stay to myself and figure many things out on my own, as I’m sure is the case for many teachers. However, I wonder about all the strategies and techniques I missed out on by not being given more of an opportunity to collaborate and by not making making more of an effort to initiate those collaborations. 

In thinking about your own classroom, consider what is the biggest factor holding you back from making your classroom and your students’ experience within it better than it is now. Is your commitment to your craft and your students strong enough to encourage you to find ways around that factor? If yes, what practical steps can you take to overcome the hurdle that is keeping your classroom from being great?

Resources

Burgess, D. (2012) Teach Like A Pirate. San Diego, CA: Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc.

Ostovar-Nameghi, S.A. & Sheikhahmadi, M. (2016) From Teacher Isolation to Teacher Collaboration: Theoretical Perspectives and Empirical Findings. English Language Teaching, 9(5), 197. doi: 10.5539/elt.v9n5p197