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When I started teaching in Arizona, everything felt completely new—from the standards to the school routines. My instructional coach differentiated the support she gave me by checking in on things. This made a huge difference because I wasn’t overwhelmed and could focus on learning one thing at a time. Having that targeted support helped me build confidence and grow as a teacher much faster than if I had been expected to figure everything out on my own.

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The last new thing I learned was our updated gradebook! I followed the steps on the curriculum website, but they were wrong. Our coach walked us through the steps, but also handed us a paper with steps we could follow. She even said, "You all learn differently, so do what you need to do. Follow me or the form!" We then could practice putting in grades on our own, with our team, or with our coach. I think teachers are told to differentiate, but it doesn't happen for our own learning as adults. My coach is a great example for us and I really appreciate her recognizing we need that too! Shoutout Lara Markes<3

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In June I was lucky enough to be selected to be part of a program called Teachers in the Wild. I spent a week at the Southwestern Researh Station learning about nature journaling. Differentiation was part of my learning. I got to choose my research project, how I collected my research and how I shared my research. since I am more comfortable creating than I am with technology, I was allowed to create a poster after spending a few days hiking in the woods

collecting galls among the different types of oaks. I also make ink from the galls. It did not end up working. But I had fun and learned more than I ever thought I would about oak trees because I was allowed to choose.

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When I began playing in band I was showing promise for being a successful musician so my teacher provided me with additional resources and connected me with private instruction. Other than that I don't recall receiving much differentiated instruction from what the whole class was being taught.

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As a learner, I had a lot of student choice in how I showed mastery of skills, which allowed me to be creative in my approach. However, that was the extent of the differentiation I experienced. It was helpful because it gave me the freedom to engage with the material in a way that played to my strengths, but I didn’t experience much beyond that in terms of personalized instruction.

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I remember in high school I had a hard time in geometry. My teacher would regularly sit with my before or after school and walk me though the homework. She took time out of her day to help me succeed. Reflecting back on that time I see the importance of sitting down with a student and helping them grasp the concept at their own pace.

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I loved SPACE as a kid! I remember in 6th grade, my teacher gave us a long list of space project choices, that would be used as our final Science grade. Looking back, I think the various projects were her way of differentiating for her students. While most kids completed the ONE required project, I accepted the list as a challenge and completed 6 of the space projects! I couldn't get enough. Offering choice like this to my own students has ALWAYS yielded amazing project results.

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I think that I was always a high achiever who liked to do the work and so I think my teachers were more happy that I was doing well that they didn't see the need to differentiate. In reflection there were things I struggled with which teachers probably could have helped with if I had more idea of what to ask. On most projects I would get started with a feverish desire and excitement, but every project ended up turned in with me staying up to the early hours finishing it the day before it was due. Some of this was due to me being so invested in my own idea of the project I would miss key components the teacher was asking for and wouldn't check the rubric until it was almost due. Or I would scrap my project because it wasn't up to my standards and start all over the week it was due. Or I would get so into it for a few weeks until I was done being interested and forgot about it. I don't think my teachers knew I was struggling with any of this because I always ended up turning in good work. I like to have a lot of time for my students to work on projects in class for this reason. I want to see their work process and see where I can help them build some study skills and time management into their work because I had to teach myself eventually.

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I don’t remember any differentiation as learner in school, I was pretty average, didn’t need any interventions and didn’t accelerate. I did have an experience as an adult when training for a triathlon. I had never been a competitive swimmer and so I signed up for an early morning swim master class at the ymca. The instructor caught on pretty quick that I basically had no idea what I was doing and moved me to a different lane and started meat the basics. I was so great full and learned so much and completed the triathlon successfully.

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My example was outside of the school setting, but is still classified as differentiation.

While taking a step aerobics class, our instructor showed us variations for the different movements, depending upon the difficulty level we could handle. I appreciated this because I wanted to increase my cardio, and she took the time to show me how to add hops to my turns along with swinging my arms above my head.

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During elementary school we were split into reading groups, and there were a few of us who advanced to the next grade level for both math and reading/LA. While completing my teaching degree, our Children's Literature professor used choice boards quite often allowing us to apply our strengths and interests to our assignments and projects. Not only did it accommodate the the different skill levels in our class, it was the perfect best practice model for us as future educators!

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I don't remember a lot of differentiated instruction in school. I do remember my orchestra teacher spending one on one with learning a new instrument. She marked my instrument for my hand placement and gradually took them off as I learned them. She offered to tutor me after school and gave me tips on how to practice at home.

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I remember minimal differentiation in elementary school. I do remember being in the lowest spelling group...now spellcheck is one of my favorite tools. In high school there were different levels of classes and because I had an older brother that excelled in physics I was told to take the highest level of physics. It was not for me. Teachers were looking at my siblings assuming I was the same as them. As we all know siblings can be very different from each other.

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This summer has been so much new learning because I was able to figure out through teaching last year what I needed to know more about. The ability to do self-paced courses has helped immensely because I can use my learning style of hyper focused reading to read all the articles for module after module and highlight and think up ideas. Then I come in and type up responses for all the modules I read. It isn't a method of learning that works for a due date oriented class. 

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This summer has been so much new learning because I was able to figure out through teaching last year what I needed to know more about. The ability to do self-paced courses has helped immensely because I can use my learning style of hyper focused reading to read all the articles for module after module and highlight and think up ideas. Then I come in and type up responses for all the modules I read. It isn't a method of learning that works for a due date oriented class. 

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I attended college in Iowa but took summer classes at the University of Minnesota. When the instructor found out how much public speaking experience I had, she offered to let me test out of the class if I just presented the final. It seemed like a great deal at the time (less work but full credit!), but I wonder how much I could have grown as a speaker if I would have remained in the course and completed all the assignments.

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In high school I had the best Jewelry teacher that would let me basically create my own projects after I showed I knew the techniques well, and could teach others how to do certain processes he was teaching us. I took Jewelry 2 the next year even though I didn't need the credit, and I knew it was just for fun. While I rarely create my own jewelry now, that class gave me so much confidence as a learner and made me believe in my creative ideas and abilities. I sure can fix most things around our house, will never throw out a good silver necklace if I can save it, and I'm not afraid of a sawdering iron or working with fire or scary tools!

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In middle school we would take math tests weekly/bi weekly across the grade level. Students who showed proficiency would have a block of the time during the day to participate in an enrichment activity where students who were minimally or partially proficient would get re-teach on the standard. It was a great way to give students more of what they needed on both sides.

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In Journalism, we were always allowed to pick the topics that we wrote about, and that felt like the most direct differentiation we received. Writing for the whole school is tough, so having to apply the inverted pyramid to reporting made it doubly tough. By allowing us to pick our topics, it added safety to a risky elective.

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I went to school in the 80s and 90s and I don't remember a lot of differentiation. I think the closest thing I remember is we switched classes for math in 4th grade and I'm pretty sure they divided up by our skills and abilities. I also remember having different "timed tests" in math with different skills depending on your abilities.

I think that made it more engaging and made it feel like you were in competition with yourself more than with classmates.

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I think back to learning how to play softball, and some years there was waaaaay more scaffolding and differentiation than others. Some coaches had us working in groups, some would be practicing hitting techniques, others would be practicing running the bases and sliding, and others would be working on throwing the ball. But within that, in the batting group, some would be working on bunting the ball while others were working on identifying pitches.

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Knowing that I am a hands on learned my dad would regularly let me just "figure it out" on my own and then wait until I asked for help. has it made me stubborn? Possibly. But I am resilient and know how I best learn.

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I don't recall specific differentiation as a learner, but I will never forget practicing reading out loud to my mom every night in 2nd grade. One day, when my teacher called my reading group, the yellow group, to read with her, she told me to stay in my seat and wait for the next group, the rainbow group. Everyone in my class knew what that meant—I had moved up to the group with the best readers in the class! I was so excited to tell my mom when I got home!

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In elementary school, I experienced what I thought was a tracking system but now realize may have been the SCGM. I was also subject-matter accelerated in math in elementary, middle, and high school. In high school, I took AP classes in all core areas. I was and am appreciative of these opportunities, but I also always believed I was capable of more. It was sometimes challenging to balance the workload of multiple AP classes, but the content remained easily accessible and easily mastered. Throughout most of my schooling, the expression of knowledge was differentiated through choice boards and other such strategies, but I don't recall the depth of content or thinking skills being differentiated. Maybe I'm confusing differentiation and acceleration?

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I don't remember anything being differentiated in all my schooling. When I look back it was always "everybody does the same thing."

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I can't think of any specific new learning experience, but I remember a Jr. High Social Studies teacher who (from what I recall) spent the majority of the time lecturing/yelling and who only assigned boring, dry assignments. In classes like this, I was usually bored and wished they would just let me read the textbook, take the tests, and move on because I was sure I could learn it soooo much more quickly than he was teaching it. It just felt like a lot of wasted time.

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I went to private elementary school and I don't recall much differentiation ever happening. The only thing I can recall was when I was in the 2nd grade, my teacher contacted my parents because I wasn't reading at the level I should have been. My teacher, on her own time, decided to start reading intervention in the mornings before school twice a week. I went for about 3 weeks and then told my parents that I did not need to return. I was just too shy to read aloud in class because I could not see. It turned out I needed glasses and was only able to talk to my teacher about it in small group. I remember this teacher so well because she was the only teacher in my elementary years that seemed to care about the well being of her students.

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I was learning about the policy rate that the Federal Reserve uses to stabilize the economy. Unfortunately, the instructor did not differentiate the material which was such a shame. He spent a majority of his time going over the basics of the Fed and I already knew that information. I was eager to get the policy rate information and we never got the depth I had hoped for. I was impatient and lost interest part of the way through.

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Kim Housley- Elementary 3rd/4th combined classes.

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Kim Housley- Elementary 3rd/4th combined classes.

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The experience that I can remember where differentiation was definitely present was in elementary school was when I had a combined 3rd and 4th grade class with Mrs. Cornett. Yes, I still remember her name, possibly because I loved this class. This teacher was amazing and probably because she worked so hard to differentiate instruction. I remember doing this particular project where we created a market store and learned all about buying, selling, and economics. I was in this class both my 3rd and 4th grade years and it is one that I do remember most about my elementary school years.

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I am lucky enough to have been educated in New York. I went to Montessori through 5th grade, and their classes are multi-grade level. As I remember, we learned at our level within a band, not only with grade level peers. For high school, I went to a magnet school. I tested in, and our classes were ability grouped.

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My positive experience with differentiation was in high school.  My AP Language Arts teacher, Mrs. Davey was masterful with differentiation.  She did a small amount of direct teaching, but wanted us to learn proper grammar and writing skills through trial and error.  She graded hard!  However, her feedback was incredibly specific and personal to each student.  She allowed multiple drafts of essays, with opportunity to submit "sincere improvements," to earn a better grade.  We loved the competition!  If we did not understand her feedback, she was always available to meet individually to explain concepts further. I am so thankful to her for helping me grow my writing skills.

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I don't remember differentiated learning when I was growing up.  I do remember having options to show what was already learned but that didn't happen until I was in college.  I remember how excited I was to have the option to show what I knew about the playwright Sam Shepherd using any format I wanted. I chose to write my own short play in his style. It was so fun to me and it was one of my most favorite school experiences ever.

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Sadly, I don't recall much differentiation as a learner in public schools. We moved a lot, so I was either really ahead or really behind depending on the place! In college I did a summer internship in Europe. I think this is the first time I really felt like there was differentiation occurring - we were grouped based on our strengths in different areas. I was a beginner in one group, but a leader in another. 

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Sadly, I don't recall much differentiation as a learner in public schools. We moved a lot, so I was either really ahead or really behind depending on the place! In college I did a summer internship in Europe. I think this is the first time I really felt like there was differentiation occurring - we were grouped based on our strengths in different areas. I was a beginner in one group, but a leader in another. 

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When I was in school I remember being given options for different types of book reports for example: paper, diagram, comic book or presentation. I think giving students different options for book reports lets students present the information in a way that best suites them.

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My husband recently taught me how to drive a stick shift. I rode manual quads as a child and so he was able to content to my prior knowledge to help me translate the skills I already had to my new learning.

When I was in school, I know my teachers made special accommodations to help me learn. I have always been very active and have a hard time focusing. Teachers would allow me to stand while doing my work. The best differentiation I had was my english teacher in high school. He knew I read faster than he could read aloud, he would allow me to go outside and read at my own pace. I finished the book and all the assignments that went with it before the class was halfway done with the book. He knew by making this little change, I would be more engaged and less likely to complain. I was then able to work on other assignments while the class finished the book.

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When I think of differentiation I think of the opposite of one-size-fits all learning. I think of giving students what they need to be successful in an individualized or small group kind of way. I don't remember much differentiation in elementary school. I would have benefited from more hands-on projects and physical activity. I remember zoning out and not completing assignments when I was young probably because I was immature. I loved art projects and creative writing but I do not remember having many choices until I was older. I also think of differentiation as project choice. Meaning will you display your knowledge with a diorama, a play, a song or picture. I remember getting more choices in high school. I first heard about something similar to PBL's when I was working in the FWUSD and we were trained on math problem based learning. I had fun experimenting with problem based learning with presentations and students working in teams. I loved the idea of the students figuring out things on their own and presenting their ideas. I also loved when they students could agree, disagree, question or compliment each other. I use this now in math, writing and project presentations. I am interested in working more on Project Based Learning. In the past two years I have not done too much of this. My students loved the projects we did last year and they love to feel like problem solvers. I can think of many ways to differentiate but it can get overwhelming. I think of simple things like flexible seating, breaks, movement, choices and not the same product for every student.

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I know that when I went to college, my teachers were all about differentiating and giving us freedom to learn in different ways. An example may be that they provide a text book of what we will learn, a power point that they will send out, a video that they would play as well as a lecture to cover the information.

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In school, I don't remember getting differentiated instruction.  I generally did well and just learned as the teacher taught. However, I do remember a time when I was learning something new outside of school.  Growing up, I started band in 4th grade and choir in 5th grade. Everything music for me was "paper based" which means I needed to see it. I needed to be able to read the music. Teachers did very little with learning music aurally, so it wasn't a skill that I had. After college, I began singing on my church's worship team. The worship director would sign my part for me so that I could learn it that way, because I did not have the ability to just "hear" the melody. There wasn't anything written, everything was aural. And since I didn't have the skills to just figure it out, he would sing it for me. Through this (over 5 years time), I grew in this area and although it's still an area I have to work at sometimes, my aural ear is definitely a lot stronger.

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I recall being given choices on how to cover a reading assignment. I ended up choosing the poetry option and it was something that spoke to me. I did so much better because it was a challenge and I wasn't bored by just writing a simple summary. The "buy in" was there for me so I really put in my best effort. I feel that I retained more learning, too.

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I do not recall receiving differentiated instruction in elementary school.  I remember there was REACH, Amphi's equivalent of GEM, but I don't remember anything other than that.  When I was in middle and high school, there were more accelerated paths for math, but that was about it.  I have a feeling there was more going on, but I didn't see it.  I feel like I would have benefited from it especially in math, because math was always a struggle for me throughout school. I feel like it was very much everyone moved at the same pace and many thrived, but others like me had trouble staying afloat.

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Recently I wrapped up my graduate classes & internship in order to earn my Principal's certification. There were many new experiences and learning opportunities for me to tackle. One such experience was creating a sample budget. I was able to read through the instructions, and was able to discuss what budgets impact daily in our schools with our Principal's Secretary. I was struggling though, to conceptualize how to make each demand fit within the limited budget. One differentiation that I asked for was to see a model or a sample. Having multiple sources of information was very helpful for me and I was able to complete the assignment successfully.

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I feel like my teachers differentiated when I was in elementary school. I don't remember all of the specifics or if they did it all the time. I know we were sometimes given choice in the product for assignments and projects. We were also provided small group instruction at our level. In some grades, I received accelerated instruction in math. In middle and high school we were placed in different classes depending on our level but I am not sure how much differentiation actually happened in any of those classes.

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I remember I had differentiated instruction in the form of a small pull out reading group that worked with higher level books. We also had the whole accelerated reader program, I'm not sure if that counts as a form of differentiation. But I also remember when I was in 4th grade, we had my teacher, a 5th grade teacher and a 6th grade teacher that we switched around in for math and reading.

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Differentiated for myself!       Bethany Dizon

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Differentiated for myself!       Bethany Dizon

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When I was a learner I was handed the one type of learning and in my experience I learned to read through the lines to create my own type of differentiation… as long as it interested me. If it was interesting I wanted to understand the concept fully. I would add my own creative spin on assignments often leading to comments like, “great ideas but was not the assignment” or “please redo”.

As an educator this is something that I’ learn to do through training and practice. I always make sure that I look through the standards and the assignment to make sure that I provide multiple opportunities for students to understand and make connections.

Differentiation is a critical piece in education. Breaking down information into meaningful chunks(insert Michelle here) and at a level students can access is the cornerstone for learning. I’ve only experienced differentiation as a way to “lower” the access. I’m excited to read about how to “increase” the access!!!

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To be honest I don't remember differentiation much in elementary school. Either I was oblivious to it or it was not happening I honestly cannot remember. In middle and high school there were different tracks and AP classes that could be taken. In middle school there were "high and low tracks" which did not help self esteem as I was assigned the low track. In high school I took some advanced classes but not any AP classes in high school and that is the extent of what I remember about differentiation in school.

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I did not personally experience differentiated instruction until I was in High School. As a senior, I was given the opportunity to work in an Independent Study of my own design, as well as AP English. Both of these classes were different from anything that I had previously expereinced in school. I truly enjoyed both of them an learned what I was interested in learning and not limited to what a teacher determined I needed to learn.

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I did not personally experience differentiated instruction until I was in High School. As a senior, I was given the opportunity to work in an Independent Study of my own design, as well as AP English. Both of these classes were different from anything that I had previously expereinced in school. I truly enjoyed both of them an learned what I was interested in learning and not limited to what a teacher determined I needed to learn.

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Gayle McClure

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I was in a self contained gifted program in the Paradise Valley School District. We did projects for part of our grade. We picked our own products to make. It seemed like it was even pretty open on content, because I did a wall hanging, sang a song, and did a book report. I am betting the book report was the main product.

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When I was in elementary school, they put you in reading groups based on your ability. I was in the high reading group and I remember for several years from 2nd- 6th grade, we rotated reading groups(classes) and I was always in the highest reading group. When I was a sophomore in high school we moved to Arizona from Idaho. They wouldn't put me in the advanced classes because despite my records, I had not been in their program in middle school.

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I remember receiving differentiated instruction in a few different ways throughout my educational career. When I was in elementary school differentiation looked like giving students choice with projects or activities to do, guided reading groups by reading level, and leveled math classes (teachers would switch up kids based on academic level). In middle and high school differentiation looked more like accelerated classes.

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Unfortunately, the first time I experienced acceleration was in middle school, then high school, and on to college because that’s when I was finally able to have choice in what I learned. I really didn’t know I was capable of doing great things until I hit college. I made the Dean’s list semester after semester. Each semester I would receive a letter, but I still thought it was just a fluke. When I was invited to join the Honor’s College at the U of A, it finally hit me and that’s when I knew that I was capable of doing great things! It really boosted my self-confidence!
Jenny

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When I was in school I remember the students who were going to different classes, but it was never me.  I remember that my class was always taught at the same level with students just sitting and learning one particular way.  

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When I was in school I remember the students who were going to different classes, but it was never me.  I remember that my class was always taught at the same level with students just sitting and learning one particular way.  

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I don't recall learning being differentiated when I was in school, but I do have strong memories of big projects that we did in Social Studies. We did a "world project" where each group created a country, population, flag, exports, imports, language, culture, GDP, etc... This was such an involved project that we were all completely engaged in all of the aspects and content that we were learning about. I know my teacher was one of the Houston sisters from Amphi- this was a long time ago :)

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The last time I learned something new was when I was asked to bake a tres leches cake for my dad's birthday back in July. I like to think I am a pretty good baker, but I was nervous to make this birthday treat. I read over the recipe and the instructions- which typically works for my type of learning style. However, some of the steps were a little vague and new to me. So, in order to differentiate for myself, I switched over to videos to help walk me through the more complicated steps.

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I don't know that learning was every differentiated for me as a learner in the general education classroom. I don't feel like many schools did that 20-30 years ago. I had one day every other week when I went to a gifted class, and other students were pulled out for other things, but all of my teachers taught the exact same thing the exact same way to all students.

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I remember when I was in school there were many students getting pulled out of class. But it wasn't ever me. I never really knew why until I was much older.

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I recall a particular time when instruction was differentiated for me and it was in college. Specifically, I was in my methods class for Social Studies and we were talking about diversity, I believe. We had to communicate our understanding of a particular chapter or article and we were given choice on how to do that. I ended up writing a spoof to a Violent Femmes song that included my understanding in the lyrics. I was enthused and excited. 

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I recall a particular time when instruction was differentiated for me and it was in college. Specifically, I was in my methods class for Social Studies and we were talking about diversity, I believe. We had to communicate our understanding of a particular chapter or article and we were given choice on how to do that. I ended up writing a spoof to a Violent Femmes song that included my understanding in the lyrics. I was enthused and excited. 

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I don't ever remember having my learning differentiated. If I go WAY back to elementary school, the only differentiation I can think of is more of acceleration/advanced classes as a whole rather than differentiation. It makes me wonder though if students can even tell that differentiate is happening?

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This summer I took a course in world PBL. The class was very fast paced but instructor was amazing was able to quickly differentiate in discussions and activities so that even though all of us were at different levels with PBL, different grade levels, different types of learning communities, we were all able to participate in the discussion with one another. For example, she would give an activity or prompt for us, and if we were unable to share on one topic, or didn't feel like we understood the material, she would allow us to join a breakout group with her, or provide an alternate activity for some more information for us to feel more confident in our learning.

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When I think about differentiation I received, I think about the cohort training I've received over the last three years. The fact that we attend a class, participate in examples of learning we can use with students, but also our self-reflection in writing, and conversations with peers and coaches, really helps the learning stick because of the different ways that we can interact with the information and make it our own. It's always been exceptionally helpful for me.

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I do no have any particular memories of differentiated learning in school, but it was probably happening! I do recall more during sports practices though. I know we would be grouped according to skills that needed practice. One group would work on pop fly defensive positioning (where to put your glove, foot work etc), another would be learning to cut back and forth and track the ball etc.

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I started my current position this year. When our team would meet and I didn't understand something that was discussed Michelle would come over and fill in the missing gaps in my knowledge. It was helpful because I couldn't operate at the same level as the group until I had the understanding that she provided for me. This is the opposite experience of what gifted learners go through, but the differentiation was great for me to reflect on.

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When I think about differentiated instruction, I don't really remember it happening all that often. I know that I received different instruction as a GEM student and in small groups but I don't remember it standing out to me.

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When I think about receiving differentiated instruction there are only a few times when can think that it truly happened. I'm hoping it happened more often and I just can't remember. I'm a very hands-on learner so whenever a teacher or coach would explain something but then actually have us do it through movement is when things would "click."

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When I think about receiving differentiated instruction, I can only think about when I was put in reading groups, our teacher did not really see our group because we were seen as the "higher" group, so they felt they didn't have to visit with us as much, which makes sense, but honestly that is the only thing I can remember.

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The only time I ever received any sort of differentiation was in 4th grade because I was awful at math. I got taken out of class with two other girls to work on my math skills (multiplication and division) and ended up missing story time after lunch! I remember hating these sessions because I missed story time but my math skills did improve during this time.

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I don't remember receiving any differentiation as a learner. That doesn't mean it didn't happen, I just don't remember a lot of the specifics from when I was in school. It could be because I recently found an old report card where the teacher commented that I would do better if I paid attention and talked less. Oops! While I know that I had some wonderful teachers who likely did provide differentiation, I either did not notice or just don't remember.

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My earliest memories of differential began in middle school myself mostly in the Spanish classes I took and the history classes - we were grouped by abilities to create plays in Spanish based on the amount of language we had already acquired and ability to speak to one another "on the spot" in our new language. In addition, in S.S. for the amount of interest we showed with mapping, acting out historical events, writing essays, creating videos, or making visual timeline posters of events. we were given groups with like-minds to work between and the teacher taught to us with those interests. My favorite memory was about creating paper/plaster of peris models of Egyptian mummies and a large map of Egypt. We were afforded learning in different ways in the classroom based on our passions.

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I don't remember there be any differentiation when I was in school for myself.  Very few teachers took the time to extend the lesson if I already knew the material - I was forced to work along side the other students to show that I was actively participating.

However, in grad school, there was differentiation, especially given that I had an official ADHD diagnosis. My professors made sure to tweak our learning to help us all learn, as well.

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To ber perfectly honest, I don't remember school much in any way. I had a lot going on as a child and school is not something I can recall much of, especially any differentiated learning. I also have not really seen it first hand so I am excited to see what suggestions and ideas come up in this next module.

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I can't recall much differentiation being used in the classroom way back when I was a student.  I was moved into the next grade level for Reading and Math classes, but everyone in the class was working on the same things.

In the workplace, I have always appreciated training/PD days that allow individuals to choose from a number of breakout rooms the topics that they are interested in learning. The days go by much faster and I leave feeling inspired. It's much better than a "one size fits all" training when I feel like I've been talked at all day and leave exhausted.

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Reading through everyone’s responses brings back memories! In kindergarten when I finished all of the “books” of writing patterns, letters, shapes, numbers, etc. I remember that there was nothing for me to do so I got to go around and mark my classmates’ papers to tell them if they did their work correctly or not. I too was in the top “bird” reading group, etc. It was my fifth grade teacher that truly brought learning to life through differentiation, a project based style of instruction and helping to inspire our interests. I was always a hard working student who didn’t settle for just completing an assignment, but I think that Mrs. Barison was the first teacher who showed me that learning was really fun and you could go above and beyond on assignments in so many different ways.

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I don't remember much differentiation happening when I was a K-12 student or during my undergraduate work. However, one of the reasons why I have loved learning so much over the past decade is because my masters program and my professional learning opportunities in MUSD were/are always differentiation. I could make my own meaning this way and do things my way!

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During my learning, I think the time that differentiation was most present was in my student teaching placement. My university supervisor was ineffable kind and positive, yet ireffutably brutal. She challenged and pushed me to be constantly moving forward and learning, and my progress was always met with the saccharine equivalent of "I told you you could do better. Here's what you need to work on next"

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Some of the best instruction that I remember came from learning using different mediums with hands on practices that might have caused me to fail and adapt.

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When I started school I was an advanced reader.  When I was in first grade my teacher had me go to a second grade class for my reading group. I did that for several years.

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I don't remember much differentiation during my childhood education.  We did participate in ability reading groups.

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One memory that stands out to me was in fifth grade. I remember working as a whole class to recreate a Magic School Bus Book. My teacher divided us into various groups, and we were assigned different roles to create the final product. I assume that the groups were differentiated by ability as well as interest.

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I do not remember much differentiation as a child, but this could be due to my teachers making everyone feel welcome and not making their differentiation obvious. I do remember acceleration as I got older but that is different and not the same. I also recall extensions given to those of us who finished quickly.

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The first experience of differentiation I can remember was when I was in first grade.  I was a struggling reader, so I was placed in a leveled group for struggling readers.  I don't remember any specifics, just the struggle to read and not really liking my teacher (probably due to my own academic frustration).  Somewhere along the line though, it all click and I took off as a reader.  Later, in fourth grade, I had a teacher that was AMAZING at helping us tap into our interests.  We did tons of PBL and if something interested us, she would encourage us to dive into it.  She was always open to our crazy ideas for extension projects and allowed them to take place - even if they didn't work our or get completed.  She was just excited to see us enthused and using our curiosity to learn.

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Interestingly enough, as I think back about learning how to play the flute in 5th grade, I don't remember being differentiated for in the music classroom.  However, I did end up taking private lessons, and that made a huge difference in how I perceived music and practicing to get better at runs and such.

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The first thing that comes to mind is when I did PBL training last summer. What I loved is that we learned by DOING. And that is definitely my jam. The different techniques and activities were taught by literally participating in them to learn them. Does that make sense? It was fantastic! I was engaged, retained what I learned, and had many questions answered before I had the chance to ask them as I participated.

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Well, when I was in elementary school in the eighties, we had reading groups named after birds! So, I was a Bluebird and that was the highest reading group and the lowest group were the Robins and everyone knew it. I assume we read a higher level text, but honestly, I am not sure. I do recall my 2nd grade teacher being very in tune with my needs and doing things differently for me , but telling me not to tell the other students. She would have math centers and while the rest of the class practiced math facts, I played with fractions. I know it made me feel like someone recognized something in me that had gone unnoticed before and I felt supported in her class.

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When I was in school I was tested for Special Education. When my results came back I needed some extra help in reading comprehension. I was attending a private school where there were no special education services so my mom had to drive me to a public school to get those services. While at the catholic school I don't recall getting "differentiation instruction" I had to complete the same work everyone had to. However, when I was taking my special ed classes I recall it being differentiated instruction because if I could not comprehend a book they would find other ways to help me understand what I was reading. I am really thankful for those teachers because as an adult I love reading and they also help me get through middle school and education in general. I still use the tools they gave me when I struggle to understand what I am reading.

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I am trying to think on something I "learned" recently in a formal setting that was differentiated for me and am drawing a blank lol.   BUT I can easily say that when something the district has presented has been done in non-traditional ways it has made a significant impact.  I like doing and taking notes so those modalities work well for me.  I have appreciated that...

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I don't remember any type of differentiation in school.  As an adult learner I seek it out myself.  I am preparing to make face masks.  Finally.  I watched videos online, researched patterns and chatted with others in the fabric store.
I think the ultimate goal of differentiation in the classroom is figuring out what learning styles work best for you and how you can go about acquiring new skills outside of the classroom.

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I do not remember anything about 'differentiated instruction' when I was in school.  I remember everyone getting the same worksheets.  I do recall reading groups having '3' levels, and everyone knew who was in the high group.  As far as I am concerned, it did not exist!

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There was not much differentiation when I was in school many moons ago. I was fortunate enough to be in a gifted program in elementary school. We had pull out classes once a week that supported project based learning. We were apply to apply concepts to real world scenarios, allotted choices, and had freedom to create. I still remember some of the projects I participated in because of how much I learned and retained from those experiences.

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I don't remember instruction being differentiated when I was in the school setting back east, where I'm from. However, my husband was wonderful about teaching me all about flying. When I used to fly commercially I would become frightened at every sound the plane was making. Then, he became a flight engineer and passed his knowledge on to me. As we would fly he would describe what was going on when a sound was made. Whether it was the setting the flaps, to the landing gear, to the bleed air valves, he explained everything in great detail. It was easy to follow what he was saying and piece together the unknown information.  I remember telling him, "wow, flying is really boring" compared to the magic I thought happened in the cockpit. hahahaah

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Sheila Callahan                                    

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Sheila Callahan                                    

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When I lived in the midwest, there wasn't really a lot of differentiation for students.  I don't really think there was the resources and the time period, it probably wasn't a thing.  When I got to high school and moved to Arizona, I quickly demonstrated my ability to be able to achieve at higher levels.  I was placed into the AP courses and the advanced math courses.  It was the first time I had been challenged, so to say.

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I recieved differentiation classes in middle school and High School for math and English. I remember both teachers pulling me out to practice for a competition. 

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I recieved differentiation classes in middle school and High School for math and English. I remember both teachers pulling me out to practice for a competition. 

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I remember when I was in private school there was limited differentiation. I struggled with reading and soared in math. The only differentiation I received was outside of school (tutoring). In high school was when I really noticed a difference when I started taking AP/honors courses and was being challenged

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When I first started dating my significant other, he was pursing a PhD in something nearly entirely foreign to me- physics. He would constantly throw around terms such as quantum mechanics, general relativity, and spacetime during a casual explanation of his day, which made my head spin. Eventually, I began to ask him to explain what some of these concepts meant. His first attempt at teaching consisted of a rapid-fire listing of definitions. After I still expressed confusion, he thought about it more and differentiated by providing me with visuals, as he drew various diagrams to demonstrate terms, and compared unimaginable physics forces to things I could wrap my head around (making a connection to prior knowledge). The second, more engaging round led to more success from me as a learner.

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I received most my differentiation in middle school. I guess. I really don't remember a whole lot of it.  I took accelerated math classes in middle school and high school.

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The only differentiation instruction I received in elementary school was moving to a "higher" math class. To be honest, I don't even remember if it was at a faster pace or the content was different. I just remember having to leave my classroom and join another class for math. When I started middle and high school, I do remember taking AP classes and having the opportunity to duel enroll at our community college. I didn't see much differentiation between students but we did learn at a faster pace.

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The only really differentiated instruction I received was from early reading instruction. My teachers had guided reading groups with a high, middle, and low ability groups. Differentiation in middle and high school for me was being able to chose honors and AP level courses. There wasn't really much differentiation within those courses however.

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Within the last year, I've started a new set of workout classes. These classes were something I had never tried before and I only even tried them out because a friend wanted me to go with her. I learned through these classes that I could differentiate the movements as well as differentiate the weights I was using in class. The instructors are great at giving us different levels we can work on starting with basic movements and then adding on to more complex movements if we want to. I've really enjoyed learning how to participate in the class and pushing myself to improve my fitness.

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I remember in elementary school I really struggled with reading so I was pulled out of class to go to the reading room. All of the lessons were differentiated to my level so that I could feel successful. Since things were being differentiated I was able to enjoy tasks that before would have been really stressful and really hard for me.

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Most of the differentiation I received occurred in middle school and high school.  When I was in middle school, my teachers noticed that I was not being challenged in math.  They sent me (with 2 of my peers) to a math class that was a grade higher.  Academically it was more of a challenge and I loved being able to go into a higher group.  The teacher, though, kept us completely separate from the class...we sat at the back table away from everyone else which was a bit awkward.  In high school, though, I was placed on a separate 'track'  for math & science.  My classes were incredibly small compared to others and we covered topics at a much faster rate.   I loved it and was much more excited to attend these classes than my others.  Within my actual classes, I don't remember any specific differentiation that occurred though...it was mostly just my class placement.

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In my first internship I had to learn how to ear notch piglets for identification. My coworker was amazing. He first showed me a paper diagram of how to read notches, and what each one meant. He could tell I was not going to understand solely on that diagram so he took me to each littler for a few weeks and helped me to look at physical notches and memorize patterns within the groups. He then allowed me to notch a few littles with his supervision. He was amazing at scaffolding his lesson and I'm sure he had no idea he was doing it. All skills must be taught and scaffolding and differentiating is always helpful

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Luckily, I am new teacher in MUSD. I say luckily because our district does such a wonderful job with our induction program. Through this program new teachers are exposed to a million different ways to present information. The best resource they have given me has been a thick purple notebook filled with different ideas on how to differentiate. As a student they present these different lessons on our pd days.

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When I was in college, I had to learn to work with several digital tools that we used to analyze language. I didn't know much about coding or how computer programs worked, but I wanted to learn. During my class, we went to a small lab and were given step by step instructions on how to use the tool. I actually found this pretty easy and when my teacher noticed this, she encouraged me to explore the tool on my own so that I could learn more about it. Being able to go beyond what my classmates were doing really helped me find that time meaningful for my learning.