Study.com: Making Differentiation A Whole Lot Easier

The word differentiation in education seems like it is one of those growing buzzwords that some teachers struggle with due to large class sizes, diverse student needs, abilities, and learning styles. The idea of putting one more thing on a teacher’s already full plate is the reason for feeling overstuffed with just one more thing to do. Perhaps this is because differentiation is often perceived as developing a separate lesson plan for every single student, instead of presenting students with several learning options or different paths to learning for them to take in and make sense of the content.  When you have the right knowledge and tools to make this big, scary word seem smaller and doable, you’ll find that differentiated instruction is a smart solution to plan lessons and experiences that match the learning styles and needs of all students, as well as the differing levels of ability and understandings.

Here’s where Study.com comes in. If you haven’t read my post, Study.com: A Practical Resource For Enhancing Curriculum, you’ll want to check out all the benefits of the Teacher’s Edition and their certification and test prep materials here. The Teacher Edition alone offers 10,000 teacher resources including 50,000 high-quality video worksheets, lesson plans, activities, games, project ideas, flashcards, and assessments. You can search for just about any subject on a variety of grade levels. It’s really impressive!

I’ve had the privilege to review and explore study.com’s newest resource, their Differentiated Instruction hub, which includes 9 chapters with 55 lessons of differentiated instruction strategies and example resources. Even as a teacher for 20 years, I am no expert in differentiated instruction, so I found these resources to be both extremely helpful and useful and made me excited, (yes—excited!!!), about differentiated instruction. As crazy as that may sound, it reminded me that differentiation is not this big to-do, it is a problem-solving strategy to help teachers proactively develop a variety of teaching materials so that all students in the classroom can learn effectively regardless of learning styles or academic skills.

In my career, I read about differentiated instruction and I was expected to differentiate for my students, which I did, but I wasn’t given the tools and resources I needed to become an “expert” at it. Study.com’s differentiated instruction hub offers a wide range of lessons that show you how to differentiate the:

Content: What the teacher teaches (skills and concepts)

Process: The way the teacher instructs (small groups, whole groups, partner work, and independent activities)

Product: What the students produce to show understanding (different types of assessment to reflect and apply higher order thinking and creativity–projects, presentations, portfolios, quizzes, etc.)

Learning environment: The way the classroom works and feels (the tone and the physical space)

The lessons and resources that study.com provides make differentiation look incredibly easy, offering ways to modify content, process, and product for beginners, on-level, and advanced learners. A teacher’s dream of saving time in planning and preparation for meeting the needs of ALL students. All lessons are self-paced, and include engaging videos, worksheets, quizzes, and more! This was the missing piece and exactly what I needed to become an expert in differentiated instruction.

Here’s a snapshot of the lessons included for differentiated instruction.

Study.com even offers a course where you can earn transferable credits. It’s called Education 104: Differentiated Instruction. It has 10 chapters which include 64 lessons. After taking this course you’ll be a differentiated instruction pro in no time.

When teachers are given the proper tools and professional development, they can meet the needs of all their students without feeling overwhelmed and overworked, and do it well! Let study.com help you make differentiation a whole lot easier.

If you think you need professional development or resources in differentiated instruction or just need a refresher, it’s worth looking into and educating your admin about. Some districts invest in quite a few pricey curriculum programs and supplemental resources, but perhaps study.com could be the ONE that’s invested in the long term. Use this link to save 25% off the first month.

What are your thoughts about differentiated instruction? Share in the comments below.

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