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Using this Teacher Toolkit

Add resources and artifacts to any of the categories above. For each item make sure to:

Include a clear title describing the resource/artifact

Attach the relevant file or link

Provide a brief description of how this will be useful in the teaching practice

Rate what resources you use on usefulness so we can keep the toolkit relevant and tidy

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This is a standard lesson plan template and will be useful in the lesson planning process. This template allows ample space for lessons in classes where there is a high need for differentiation and modification. Choose this template for lessons that are time-constrained, require direct instruction, will be instructed by a sub, or when preparing for summative assessments.

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This is a 5e lesson plan template. The 5 E's are engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate. This template is helpful for STEM learning, discovery learning, project-based or collaborative learning, and topics requiring critical thinking and engagement.

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This is a GCU COE stardards-based lesson plan. This lesson is a great example for a classroom that is highly diversified. This lesson plan covers learning support for children with exceptionalities.

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The UDL guidelines provide a framework to design flexible learning environments that meet diverse learner needs by offering multiple ways to engage, represent, and express knowledge. This resource will help create inclusive lessons that support all students in accessing and mastering content effectively.

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The UDL Guidelines are a tool used in the implementation of Universal Design for Learning, a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn. Learn more about the Universal Design for Learning framework from CAST. The UDL Guidelines can be used by educators, curriculum developers, researchers, parents, and anyone else who wants to implement the UDL framework in a learning environment. These guidelines offer a set of concrete suggestions that can be applied to any discipline or domain to ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.

Reenvisioning the UDL Guidelines

Because the UDL Guidelines are meant to be informed by feedback from the field as well as new research, they have been updated several times in the past. We are in the process of updating the Guidelines once again in our UDL Rising to Equity initiative.

This update will focus specifically on addressing systemic barriers that result in inequitable learning opportunities and outcomes. CAST aims to develop a transparent, inclusive, and community-driven process. If you are interested in collaborating and staying updated on our progress, we invite you to complete a brief survey.

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The UDL Guidelines are a tool used in the implementation of Universal Design for Learning, a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn. Learn more about the Universal Design for Learning framework from CAST. The UDL Guidelines can be used by educators, curriculum developers, researchers, parents, and anyone else who wants to implement the UDL framework in a learning environment. These guidelines offer a set of concrete suggestions that can be applied to any discipline or domain to ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.

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This document samples how to "Unpack Standards" into learning objectives that effectively align with the standards to help teachers facilitate lesson planning and assessments, and help students reach their goals. Unpacking standards is part of the backwards design process and facilitates instructional alignment. Using this resource can help with designing effective learning objectives.

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The article explains that backwards design lesson planning starts with clearly defined, student-centered objectives and aligned assessments before planning activities, making lessons more purposeful and effective. Unlike traditional lesson plans that focus first on standards and activities, backwards design emphasizes measurable objectives, ongoing assessments, and targeted instruction to ensure students master the intended skills. This approach leads to more intentional teaching and better learning outcomes.

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Lesson Planning With Your Objective in Mind

As an educator, your lesson plans are the very foundation upon which your students' education is built, but how effective are your lesson plans? To answer this question, one must first identify the objective(s) to be achieved and evaluate the success of reaching said objective(s). This type of lesson planning is called Backwards Design, a method of lesson planning that is derived from student-centric learning objectives rather than solely focusing on state and national standards.

Traditional Lesson Plans vs. Backwards Design

You may be wondering what the difference is between traditional lesson plans and lesson plans that were created using Backwards Design. Using traditional methods, teachers tend to begin the planning process by reviewing state and national standards and learning objectives, planning instructional activities around them, and implementing assessments that aren't always tied directly to the activities students engaged in or the standards that have been set. Oftentimes, assessments using this method are more of an afterthought and may not be implemented at all. Lesson plans created using Backwards Design, however, begin with the end in mind. Lesson plans using this method require the teacher to create content objectives and plan the corresponding assessment(s) first, creating lesson plans that are more effective in obtaining favorable results.

Backwards Design: A Step-by-Step Process

Step One: Creating Student-Centric Learning Objectives

To create student-centric learning objectives, one must first ensure that they are clear, specific, and easily measurable. As such, each objective consists of three parts: the desired behavior you would like the student to do, the method by which they will perform this behavior (a formula, a learning tool, etc.), and the specific level of performance to demonstrate content mastery (percentage of correct responses, amount of action taken during a time limit, etc.). Once determined, you can take a look at your standards and begin to formulate the building blocks of your student-centric objectives. Want to put this into practice? Here's an example of a third-grade state reading, writing, and communicating standard:

"Apply knowledge of spelling patterns (orthography), word meanings (morphology), and word relationships to decode words and increase vocabulary."

This standard isn't necessarily specific or measurable in its current state, so the goal is to break it down to the three elements of a student-centric learning objective to make it easier to apply in the classroom and evaluate success. First, let's take a look at the desired behavior, which is to apply knowledge of spelling patterns, word meanings, and word relationships. To make this a little more specific, perhaps a teacher could identify a real-world application such as writing a letter to a pen pal. Taking such action requires the student to apply what they have learned about spelling, demonstrate their knowledge of the word meanings, and form relationships among words based on their level of understanding.

Next, we have to determine the method by which students are to complete the desired action. Using the above example, the teacher knows that their students will need to be provided vocabulary pertinent to the subject matter of the letter to equip students with what they need to properly execute the task. As such, providing a list of vocabulary words and their meanings would be the method students will use to arrive at the correct answer.

Last but not least, teachers will need to determine how they will evaluate mastery of this concept. Perhaps the teacher decides that their students will need to write a letter to a pen pal in a different country. As such, the teacher's student-centric objective will be:

"When given the proper vocabulary list, students will write a letter to a pen pal that uses correct spelling, word meanings, and connections among words."

This objective is clearly linked to state standards but takes it a step further in providing specificity in how it is to be demonstrated, the means by which to take action, and the metrics to evaluate mastery.

Step Two: Determine Assessment Methods

Now that you have decided on an appropriate student-centric objective, it is time to determine what type of assessment will provide an accurate depiction of student mastery. It is important to note that this does not refer to a single evaluation or test, but rather refers to assessments on an ongoing basis prior to introduction to new content. There are three types of assessments to consider when completing this step:

Pre-assessment: This type of assessment focuses on measuring prior knowledge students have of a particular subject to determine if they are prepared to be exposed to the content in question. Using the example above, a teacher may ask their students to write a journal prompt about the desired subject matter. Once received, these responses will allow the teacher to cater their lesson to fill the gaps in understanding.

Check for understanding: As previously stated, assessments of mastery should be ongoing, even while the information is still being taught. A check for understanding focuses on the progression of student understanding, identifying misconceptions your students may have, and allowing an opportunity to provide immediate feedback to combat them. This allows you to guide the learning process even while it is still underway as another means of keeping things on track. In alignment with our example above, the teacher may check in weekly on student progress using a multiple-choice activity at the end of class regarding the vocabulary their students are currently learning and use what they learn to cater to the gaps in understanding they find.

Final assessment: This assessment focuses on depicting the level of student mastery of the concept. This is where a teacher may pull in the mastery measurement they deemed sufficient such as successfully using the vocabulary words properly in their letter to a pen pal.

Step Three: Targeted Activities

Once you determine what your student-centric objectives are and how you plan to evaluate student mastery of these objectives, you are ready to create your lesson plans. With objectives in mind, teachers are able to determine the proper instructional methods. These instructional methods could include a variety of tactics such as direct instruction, watching informational videos, or interactive games to continue to build their skills.

No matter what the goal is, using Backwards Design lesson plans truly helps teachers focus on the goals they hope to achieve, making their time in the classroom more intentional and their lesson plans more effective in the production of the desired result.

References:

1. Model Teaching. "Backwards Design in Lesson Planning - Model Teaching." Model Teaching, Model Teaching, 19 Aug. 2019, https://www.modelteaching.com/education-articles/lesson-curriculum-planning/backwards-design-in-lesson-planning.

2. "2020 Colorado Academic Standards Online." Colorado Academic Standards Online, Colorado Department Of Education, 2020, https://www.cde.state.co.us/apps/standards/4,8,11/6,5,0/6,2,0.

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Effective Lesson Plans: The Backwards Design Way | Learning A-Z

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Lesson Planning With Your Objective in Mind As an educator, your lesson plans are the very foundation upon which your students' education is built, but how effective are your lesson plans? To answer this question, one must first identify the objective(s) to be achieved and evaluate the success of reaching said objective(s).

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Direct link to Common Core ELA standards for quick reference during lesson planning.

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Direct link to Common Core Math Standards for quick reference during lesson planning.

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This article highlights 10+ tech tools for assessments and when to use them. This is a great resource for adding entrance and exit tickets via technology to the lesson plan, or online portfolio type summative assessments.

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Assessment is at the heart of our teaching practice. We use backward planning and start with the end in mind. We ask ourselves questions like, "what do we want our students to know?" and "what will our students be able to do?" Because assessment is so important, it's no surprise that there are a ton of tech tools for assessment. Trying to find what you're looking for is time-consuming! That's why we've picked the ten best tech tools for student assessment, keeping your goals in mind.

Goal: I want to find out what my students learned

I wish we could read students' minds, but since we can't, we use exit tickets. If you rely on this best practice to plan your next instructional move, you have a lot of options. I love Google or Microsoft Forms. They are easy to use, and you can create multiple choice or short answer questions for students to complete. All the data is there for you.

Learn more:

Goal: I want to hear from my students and watch them share what they've learned

Flipgrid is a social media-style video discussion platform great for generating class discussion around topics, videos, or links posted to the class grid. Students can video record their responses to share with the teacher or class. It's a great tool for supporting your students to make their thinking visible.

Learn More:

Goal: I want to do a quick check in during my lesson

Mentimeter lets you add polls, word clouds, Q&As, and more to presentations and create an interactive experience for students, who can vote on/respond to questions and engage with the presentation in real time. This made our list because there's so much variety in the types of formative assessments you can give in real time.

Learn More:

Goal: I want to see my students' thought process and their answer

Jamboard is a digital whiteboard that is compatible with the GSuite services. It's a game changer for emphasizing the process of learning over the product. Math teachers love how students solve and explain their solution. If you don't use Google, Padlet is our runner up.

Learn More:

Goal: I want to listen to my students' read to assess fluency

Students read aloud and answer questions on their device (almost any device works). Within 24 hours, you get a running record with scores for accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. A free basic account includes 10 reading assessments/month.

Learn More:

Goal: I want to include checks for understanding as my students learn

EdPuzzle is a video editor that allows both teachers and students to add voice-overs, comments, resources, and quizzes to existing or self-created online videos. Best part? All the students' answers are gathered for you so you can quickly assess.

Learn More:

Goal: I want to put checks for understanding in my slides

Pear Deck is an interactive presentation and lesson delivery tool. Students use their devices to follow along with the teacher's slideshow on a classroom screen. Throughout, teachers can pause at points where they've added interactive questions and collect real-time data about student understanding.

Goal: I want my students to give each other feedback

Once you set up your assignment, pick a feedback rubric (or create your own), and select your assignment. Your students take it from there. They submit work, review each others', and then act on the feedback. Best part? There's a teacher overview where you can see it all.

Learn More:

Goal: I want to give a quiz or test

There are a lot of options with this tool. You can include multiple choice, true/false, and short answer questions. I love how you see students' results in real time, and you can add explanations if students get a question wrong. Students can get instant feedback, or you can make the quiz self-paced or lead it yourself. My favorite feature: Space Race, a group quiz where students "race" to cross the finish line.

Learn More:

Goal: I want grading to take less time

No matter what grade and subject you teach, grading takes time that we don't have. Enter Floop. This tool is a cloud-based website where students get annotated feedback from you and their classmates. Using any internet-connected device, students upload images of an assignment to the platform, and you put markers in places where you want feedback. Students are able to see and respond to comments, creating a feedback loop.

Learn More:

Goal: I want one tool that does different types of assessment

Spiral is a free suite of four apps. Use Quickfire to give a formative assessment in real time and hear from all of your students. Discuss makes your slides more interactive for students. Team Up supports student collaboration, and Clip turns public-facing videos into a live chat with questions and quizzes.

Learn More:

Plus, check out 50 Free Seesaw Activities and Resources For Every Kind of Classroom

Want more articles like this? Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter so you can get our latest picks.

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The 10 Best Tech Tools for Student Assessment

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Assessment is at the heart of our teaching practice. We use backward planning and start with the end in mind. We ask ourselves questions like, "what do we want our students to know?" and "what will our students be able to do?"

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Things to keep in mind while using technology

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Things to keep in mind while using technology

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This article highlights the benefits and challenges of using technology in the classroom. Not sure if your technology resource is relevant to your lesson? This resource may help you decide.

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Benefits and Challenges Using Technology in the Classroom to Enhance Teaching and Learning

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Are you considering using technology in the classroom to enhance teaching and learning? Learn about the potential benefits and challenges that come with it.

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This resource highlights 4 ways to boost vocabulary acquisition. It covers leveraging contextual learning, using repitition and reinforcement, implementing multimodal learning, and personalization through data-driven insights. This resource is useful when you have students who need extra help with vocabulary or ELL's and you need to improve vocab aqcuisition in the classroom.

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4 Strategies to boost vocabulary acquisition and uses

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Vocabulary acquisition and uses are critical for student learning. Explore vocabulary acquisition strategies and activities for teaching.

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This document lays out a brief description and application of different instructional strategies. Additionally, it offers a sample of differentiation for above grade-level and below grade-level students. Use this resource when deciding which instructional method will help students reach content mastery in a unit or lesson.

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This sample document highlights one ELA activity and one Math activity and differentiation for each. It covers differentiation methods for ELL's, gifted students, above and below grade level, early finishers and students with disabilities. It is useful when trying to brainstorm ideas for differentiation.

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20 Differentiated Instruction Strategies and Examples

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20 Differentiated Instruction Strategies and Examples

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This resource highlights 20 different differentiation strategies and how to use them. Use this resource when you need some additional ideas for differentiation and need to think out of the box.

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As students with diverse learning styles fill the classroom, many teachers don't always have the time to plan lessons that use differentiated instruction (DI) to suit their distinct aptitudes.
This can involve adjusting:

Content - The media and methods teachers use to impart and instruct skills, ideas and information

Processes - The exercises and practices students perform to better understand content

Products - The materials, such as tests and projects, students complete to demonstrate understanding

To help create lessons that engage and resonate with a diverse classroom, below are 20 differentiated instruction strategies and examples. Available in a condensed and printable list for your desk, you can use 16 in most classes and the last four for math lessons.

Try the ones that best apply to you, depending on factors such as student age.

1. Create Learning Stations

Provide different types of content by setting up learning stations - divided sections of your classroom through which groups of students rotate. You can facilitate this with a flexible seating plan.

Each station should use a unique method of teaching a skill or concept related to your lesson.
For example, students can rotate between stations that involve:

Watching a video

Creating artwork

Reading an article

Completing puzzles

Listening to you teach

To help students process the content after they've been through the stations, you can hold a class discussion or assign questions to answer.

2. Use Task Cards

Like learning stations, task cards allow you to give students a range of content. Answering task cards can also be a small-group activity, adding variety to classes that normally focus on solo or large-group learning.

First, make or identify tasks and questions that you'd typically find on worksheets or in textbooks.

Second, print and laminate cards that each contain a single task or question. Or, use Teachers Pay Teachers to buy pre-made cards.

Finally, set up stations around your classroom and pair students together to rotate through them.

You can individualize instruction by monitoring the pairs, addressing knowledge gaps when needed.

3. Interview Students

Asking questions about learning and studying styles can help you pinpoint the kinds of content that will meet your class's needs.

While running learning stations or a large-group activity, pull each student aside for a few minutes. Ask about:

Their favourite types of lessons

Their favourite in-class activities

Which projects they're most proud of

Which kinds of exercises help them remember key lesson points

Track your results to identify themes and students with uncommon preferences, helping you determine which methods of instruction suit their abilities.

4. Target Different Senses Within Lessons

A lesson should resonate with more students if it targets visual, tactile, auditory and kinesthetic senses, instead of only one.
When applicable, appeal to a range of learning styles by:

Playing videos

Using infographics

Providing audiobooks

Getting students to act out a scene

Incorporating charts and illustrations within texts

Giving both spoken and written directions to tasks

Using relevant physical objects, such as money when teaching math skills

Allotting time for students to create artistic reflections and interpretations of lessons

Not only will these tactics help more students grasp the core concepts of lessons, but make class more engaging.
Prodigy, for example, is a hyper-engaging way to gamify math class in a way that worksheets simply cannot. 👇 Try Prodigy today - it's free, forever!
5. Share Your Own Strengths and Weaknesses

To familiarize students with the idea of differentiated learning, you may find it beneficial to explain that not everyone builds skills and processes information the same way.

Talking about your own strengths and weaknesses is one way of doing this.

Explain -- on a personal level - how you study and review lessons. Share tactics that do and don't work for you, encouraging students to try them.
Not only should this help them understand that people naturally learn differently, but give them insight into improving how they process information.
6. Use the Think-Pair-Share Strategy

The think-pair-share strategy exposes students to three lesson-processing experiences within one activity. It's also easy to monitor and support students as they complete each step.

As the strategy's name implies, start by asking students to individually think about a given topic or answer a specific question.

Next, pair students together to discuss their results and findings.

Finally, have each pair share their ideas with the rest of the class, and open the floor for further discussion.

Because the differentiated instruction strategy allows students to process your lesson content individually, in a small group and in a large group, it caters to your classroom's range of learning and personality types.

7. Make Time for Journaling

A journal can be a tool for students to reflect on the lessons you've taught and activities you've run, helping them process new information.
When possible at the end of class, give students a chance to make a journal entry by:

Summarizing key points they've learned

Attempting to answer or make sense of lingering questions

Explaining how they can use the lessons in real-life scenarios

Illustrating new concepts, which can be especially helpful for data-focused math lessons

As they continue to make entries, they should figure out which ones effectively allow them to process fresh content.

8. Implement Reflection and Goal-Setting Exercises

An extension of journaling, have students reflect on important lessons and set goals for further learning at pre-determined points of the year.

During these points, ask students to write about their favourite topics, as well as the most interesting concepts and information they've learned.
They should also identify skills to improve and topics to explore.
Based on the results, you can target lessons to help meet these goals. For example, if the bulk of students discuss a certain aspect of the science curriculum, you can design more activities around it.

9. Run Literature Circles

Organizing students into literature circles not only encourages students to shape and inform each other's understanding of readings, but helps auditory and participatory learners retain more information.

This also gives you an opportunity to listen to each circle's discussion, asking questions and filling in gaps in understanding.

As a bonus, some students may develop leadership skills by running the discussion.

This activity makes written content - which, at times, may only be accessible to individual learners with strong reading retention -- easier to process for more students.

10. Offer Different Types of Free Study Time

Free study time will generally benefit students who prefer to learn individually, but can be slightly altered to also help their classmates process your lessons.

This can be done by dividing your class into clearly-sectioned solo and team activities.
Consider the following free study exercises to also meet the preferences of visual, auditory and kinesthetic learners:

Provide audiobooks, which play material relevant to your lessons

Create a station for challenging group games that teach skills involved in the curriculum

Maintain a designated quiet space for students to take notes and complete work

Allow students to work in groups while taking notes and completing work, away from the quiet space

By running these sorts of activities, free study time will begin to benefit diverse learners - not just students who easily process information through quiet, individual work.

11. Group Students with Similar Learning Styles

Heterogenous grouping is a common practice, but grouping students based on similar learning style can encourage collaboration through common work and thinking practices.

This is not to be confused with grouping students based on similar level of ability or understanding.

In some cases, doing so conflicts with the "Teach Up" principle, which is discussed below.

Rather, this tactic allows like-minded students to support each other's learning while giving you to time to spend with each group. You can then offer the optimal kind of instruction to suit each group's common needs and preferences.

12. Give Different Sets of Reading Comprehension Activities

Instead of focusing on written products, consider evaluating reading comprehension through questions and activities that test different aptitudes.

Although written answers may still appeal to many students, others may thrive and best challenge themselves during artistic or kinesthetic tasks.
For example, allow students to choose between some of the following activities before, during and after an important reading:

Participating in more literature circles

Delivering a presentation

Writing a traditional report

Creating visual art to illustrate key events

Creating and performing a monologue as a main character or figure

Offering structured options can help students demonstrate their understanding of content as effectively as possible, giving you more insight into their abilities.

13. Assign Open-Ended Projects

Similar to evaluating reading comprehension, give students a list of projects to find one that lets them effectively demonstrate their knowledge.

Include a clear rubric for each type of project, which clearly defines expectations. Doing so will keep it challenging and help students meet specific criteria.
By both enticing and challenging students, this approach encourages them to:

Work and learn at their own paces

Engage actively with content they must understand

Demonstrate their knowledge as effectively as possible

As well as benefiting students, this differentiated instruction strategy will clearly showcase distinct work and learning styles.

14. Encourage Students to Propose Ideas for Their Projects

As well as offering set options, encourage students to take their projects from concept to completion by pitching you ideas.

A student must show how the product will meet academic standards, and be open to your revisions. If the pitch doesn't meet your standards, tell the student to refine the idea until it does. If it doesn't by a predetermined date, assign one of your set options.

You may be pleasantly surprised by some pitches.

After all, students themselves are the focus of differentiated instruction - they likely have somewhat of a grasp on their learning styles and abilities.

15. Analyze Your Differentiated Instruction Strategy on a Regular Basis

Even if you're confident in your overall approach, Carol Ann Tomlinson - one of the most reputable topic thought-leaders - recommends analyzing your differentiated instruction strategies:
Frequently reflect on the match between your classroom and the philosophy of teaching and learning you want to practice. Look for matches and mismatches, and use both to guide you. Analyze your strategy by reflecting on:

Content - Are you using diverse materials and teaching methods in class?

Processes - Are you providing solo, small-group and large-group activities that best allow different learners to absorb your content?

Products - Are you letting and helping students demonstrate their understanding of content in a variety of ways on tests, projects and assignments?

In doing so, you'll refine your approach to appropriately accommodate the multiple intelligences of students.

16. "Teach Up"

Teaching at a level that's too easily accessible to each student can harm your differentiated instruction efforts, according to Tomlinson.

Instead, she recommends "teaching up." This eliminates the pitfall of being stuck on low-level ideas, seldom reaching advanced concepts:

We do much better if we start with what we consider to be high-end curriculum and expectations -- and then differentiate to provide scaffolding, to lift the kids up. The usual tendency is to start with what we perceive to be grade-level material and then dumb it down for some and raise it up for others. But we don't usually raise it up very much from that starting point, and dumbing down just sets lower expectations for some kids.
Keeping this concept in mind should focus your differentiated teaching strategy, helping you bring each student up to "high-end curriculum and expectations."
Differentiated Math Instruction Strategies and Examples

17. Use Math EdTech that Adjusts Itself to Each Student

Some EdTech tools - such as certain educational math video games - can deliver differentiated content, while providing unique ways to process it.
For example, Prodigy adjusts questions to tackle student trouble spots and offers math problems that use words, charts and pictures, as well as numbers.
To the benefit of teachers, the game is free and curriculum-aligned for grades 1 to 8. You can adjust the focus of questions to supplement lessons and homework, running reports to examine each student's progress.
Join over 90 million students and teachers benefitting from Prodigy's differentiating power today. 👇 Try Prodigy today - it's free, forever!
18. Relate Math to Personal Interests and Everyday Examples

Clearly linking math to personal interests and real-world examples can help some learners understand key concepts.

Working with 41 grade 7 students throughout an academic year, a 2015 study published by the Canadian Center of Science and Education used contextual learning strategies to teach integers and increase test scores by more than 44%.

Striving for similar benefits may be ambitious, but you can start by surveying students. Ask about their interests and how they use math outside of school.

Using your findings, you should find that contextualization helps some students grasp new or unfamiliar math concepts.

There are many math-related games and activities to find inspiration to implement this tactic.

19. Play a Math-Focused Version of Tic-Tac-Toe

Help students practice different math skills by playing a game that's a take on tic-tac-toe.

Prepare by dividing a sheet into squares - three vertical by three horizontal. Don't leave them blank. Instead, fill the boxes with questions that test different abilities.
For example:

"Complete question X in page Y of your textbook"

"Draw a picture to show how to add fraction X and fraction Y"

"Describe a real-life situation in which you would use cross-multiplication, providing an example and solution"

You can hand out sheets to students for solo practice, or divide them into pairs and encourage friendly competition. The first one to link three Xs or Os - by correctly completing questions - wins.

So, depending on your preferences, this game will challenge diverse learners through either individual or small-group practice.

20. Create Learning Stations, without Mandatory Rotations

Provide differentiated math learning opportunities for your students by setting up unique learning stations across your classrooms, but forgoing mandatory rotations.

The idea comes from a grade 9 teacher in Ontario, who recommends creating three stations to solve similar mathematical problems using either:

Data - Provide spreadsheets, requiring students to manipulate data through trial and error

People - Group students into pairs or triads to tackle a range of problems together, supporting each other's learning

Things - Offer a hands-on option by giving each student objects to use when solving questions

Only allow students to switch stations if they feel the need. If they do, consult them about their decision. In each case, you and the student will likely learn more about his or her learning style.

Supplemented by your circulation between stations to address gaps in prior knowledge, this activity exposes students to exercises that appeal to diverse abilities.

Downloadable List of Differentiated Instruction Strategies and Examples

Click here to download and print a simplified list of the 20 differentiated instruction strategies and examples to keep at your desk.

Differentiated Instruction Strategies Infographic
Here's an infographic with 16 ideas from this article, provided by Educational Technology and Mobile Learning - an online resource for teaching tools and ideas.
Wrapping Up

With help from the downloadable list, use these differentiated instruction strategies and examples to suit the diverse needs and learning styles of your students.

As well as adding variety to your content, these methods will help students process your lessons and demonstrate their understanding of them.

The strategies should prove to be increasingly useful as you identify the distinct learning styles in - and learn to manage - your classroom.

Differentiated instruction strategies overlap in important ways with a number of other pedagogical approaches. Consider reviewing these supplementary strategies to find more ideas, combine different elements of each strategy, and enrich your pedagogical toolkit!

Active learning strategies put your students at the center of the learning process, enriching the classroom experience and boosting engagement.

As opposed to traditional learning activities, experiential learning activities build knowledge and skills through direct experience.

Project-based learning uses an open-ended approach in which students work alone or collectively to produce an engaging, intricate curriculum-related questions or challenges.

Inquiry-based learning is subdivided into four categories, all of which promote the importance of your students' development of questions, ideas and analyses.

Adaptive learning focuses on changing - or "adapting" - learning content for students on an individual basis, particularly with the help of technology.

👉 Create or log into your teacher account on Prodigy - a free game-based learning platform that delivers differentiated instruction, automatically adjusting questions to accommodate player trouble spots and learning speeds. Aligned with curricula across the English-speaking world, it's loved by more than 90 million students and teachers.
Create your account - it's free, forever!

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20 Differentiated Instruction Strategies and Examples [+ Downloadable List]

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As students with diverse learning styles fill the classroom, many teachers don't always have the time to plan lessons that use differentiated instruction (DI) to suit their distinct aptitudes.

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For those of the Christian Faith, this document gives a compelling argument for why one should continually allow faith integration into their workplace through their thoughts and actions. This belief extends outward from the individual, impacting peers or coworkers, and even students. This document can be reviewed at any time to ensure faith and action alignment in the workplace.

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This document shares how to serve our students by integrating faith in public school. While being mindful of the seperation of church and state, this article written by a Harvard Professor gives ideas on how to share the love of God in public schools. This resource can be used for inspiration.

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Faith in Public Schools: A Third Way — Harvard ALI Social Impact Review

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Despite today’s polarized views about the role religion should play in U.S. public education, Dr. Irvin Scott, Senior Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, argues that partnerships between faith groups and schools can provide critical support for our most vulnerable children.