I learned that reading groups are established not for the ease of the tacher,
but for the betterment of the students. Students come in different readiness levels, different modes of learning, and different
interests. It makes no sense to teach such a diverse group with one flat method. Reading groups allow the teacher to segement
the class into groups based on their readingess level, modes of learning, and interest.
Differentiation is made of several elements: content, process,
and product. What this means is that teachers can differentiate in a variety of ways. Reading groups can read completely different
literature. Or they can learn through different methods. Or that can create a final product in different ways. Or, they can
do all three. Carolyn Tomlinson's chapters broke downt he different elements of differentiation and the different characteristics
of students in such a clear, concise way, that differentiation became a clear, obvious concept.
AFTER
Through my research, I discovered that the purpose of differentiation
is to provide each student with the instruction he/she needs. Students have different readiness levels, different modes of
learning, and different interests. In short, they are different. To teach such a diverse group by using one flat, generic
method would be pointless.
Not only is differentiation based upon
a student's characteristics, it is applied through several instructional elements: content, process, and product. In other
words, differentiation can take many different forms based upon the characteristics of the students and the elements of instruction.
This allows both teacher and students great variety in the teaching and learning processes. Tomlinson's chapters delineated
the elements of differentiation and characteristics of students with such precision that I finally gained a clear understanding
of the concept.
Used with the author's permission
