The Ultimate Guide to Differentiation: Achieving Excellence for All

The Ultimate Guide to Differentiation
Highly practical & realistic guide to types, methods & approaches to differentiation in real life classroom situations

136 pages
2018
ISBN: 9781472948960

Differentiation is a huge concern for teachers: how can they adapt to the needs of every child in their class, yet at the same time stretch and challenge them? Managers and inspectors want to see effective differentiation going on in classrooms, but what exactly does effective differentiation look like? This book answers that question so that teachers feel confident to say 'THIS is differentiation'.

There is a great deal of confusion around what the term 'differentiation' means, what different kinds of differentiation look like, and concerns about how differentiation can add to a teacher's workload. This book passionately outlines the pedagogical necessity of differentiation, and is also a highly practical and realistic guide to 'doing differentiation' in a real life classroom situation. The book demonstrates how teachers already differentiate much of the time, in subtle and creative ways. Sue Cowley shows that we need to understand, acknowledge and celebrate the variety of approaches that teachers already use to differentiate, as well as helping them to develop additional strategies.

This book takes the form of a manual, looking at the different types, methods and approaches to differentiation in the style of a step by step guide to using each strategy. For instance, the section on extensions is written as a guide to building a lesson extension. The areas covered include: questions and questioning, timing and targets, supports and support staff, resources, group work and groupings, technology, extensions, teacher talk, vocabulary, assessment, thinking skills, scenario based learning, projects, homework.

Introduction: what is differentiation, why differentiate, how to use this book

Part One: The Planning