At its core, differentiated instruction means using what we already know about effective teaching practices to intentionally provide students with the support they need to access learning. It’s recognizing that barriers to learning are not always tied to a student’s ability or understanding of a concept.

Sometimes a student understands a concept long before they can comfortably explain it out loud or in writing. Other students may know exactly what to do but struggle to focus during certain parts of instruction due to distractions, noise, or the classroom pace. Differentiation asks teachers to carefully examine those situations before assuming a student simply doesn’t understand the material.

Because differentiated instruction does address so many unique needs, it can feel chaotic and overwhelming in theory. In practice, however, it often brings order to confusion. As with so many things in education, differentiation starts with classroom management. Simply understanding what a teacher expects and how students should move through the day can provide foundational support that helps reduce anxiety, sensory overload, and other learning barriers. From there, teachers are better able to focus on specific instructional strategies.

A good place to start when differentiating a lesson or unit is to consider three questions:

• Where will students struggle during this lesson?
• What can I do to prevent that struggle?
• How can I provide enrichment for students ready for a more challenging approach?

Tier 1 instruction is everyday teaching and learning, but that doesn’t mean it’s ordinary. Traditional models of education often relied on a single pathway to mastery, but modern classrooms recognize that students learn in many different ways and may need different supports to reach the same goal. That thinking sits at the heart of Tier 1 instruction.

The process starts with teachers deeply understanding the learning themselves and then planning for the very specific students sitting in front of them. It’s building language supports for multilingual learners and reading supports that help students stay focused on the task at hand rather than struggle with barriers unrelated to the learning itself. It’s reflecting after lessons, thinking about how to reteach or spiral back to difficult concepts, and addressing misconceptions.

Strong teachers notice what is happening during a lesson as it progresses. They pick up on misunderstandings and already have a plan for how to respond. They’ve already planned checks for understanding. They’ve built in supports like sentence stems and vocabulary scaffolds so unrelated deficiencies don’t impact the current learning. They provide time for students to discuss their learning with their teacher and peers. They use observation and formative assessment to adjust lessons as the work goes.

At its best, Tier 1 instruction allows more students to stay connected to grade-level learning before frustration and gaps begin to grow.

If you need something engaging that doesn’t take a lot of prep, virtual field trips are an easy win. Discovery Education’s k-12 online learning platform offers a wide range of virtual field trips that let students explore places and ideas they wouldn’t otherwise get to experience in the classroom.

There are enough options to match different interests, so you can pick something you know will land with your group and use it as a starting point rather than a standalone activity.

You can take it in a few different directions depending on your class. Sometimes it’s just a quick stop and jot about something they noticed, while other times you can lean into it with a simple project or hands-on follow-up. The goal isn’t to extend it too far, but rather to give them a way to stay with the learning a little longer.

If your group tends to rush through things, giving them one or two things to watch for ahead of time helps keep them more focused while they’re viewing.

Student-centered learning puts the student in the driver’s seat by giving them the autonomy to choose what and how they learn. Rather than acting as a vessel to be filled to the brim with knowledge, as in a traditional classroom setting, students in student-centered learning classrooms are active participants in building their own knowledge, with teachers serving as facilitators, guiding and providing continuous feedback. 

How are students constructing their own knowledge? Typically, in a student-centered learning classroom, this is accomplished through active inquiry, collaborative projects, project-based learning, and hands-on learning stations. In other words, the students are doing the heavy lifting instead of the teacher. As the guide or facilitator, the teacher’s goal is not to impart knowledge but rather to spark curiosity in students and encourage critical thinking skills such as questioning, investigating, discussing, and applying. These skills, as well as other lifelong learning skills, are honed as students construct knowledge of concepts through active engagement and discovery. 

In a student-centered learning classroom, learning is performance-based, with a focus on real-world application and student sensemaking. Self-assessment is also a critical component of student-centered learning, as students must take time to reflect on their knowledge construction and learn to make in-flight adjustments. This helps students build important self-awareness and self-management skills that will continue to serve them throughout life.