Differentiating Book Study, Part 1, Chapter 1

YAY!  I'm so excited to share this professional learning book with my readers.  If you have it and are reading it with me... that's just awesome!  I would love for you to post your own ideas on your blog and leave a link back to my blog.  If you do post on your blog, please leave a link to your post in the comment section below.  I would love to read what you have to say!  Or, if you don't have a blog, feel free to comment with your ideas.  Either way, I hope you all get great use out of the things I find useful from the text.  I will be posting my chapter summary as well connections every Saturday morning for you.  Read now or pin to read later!

I don't know about you, but the first page of chapter one made me have an aha! moment when Heacox explained what differentiation is.  I wanted to share this with you because I feel it is so important to teachers.  Often times, I feel a lot of teachers want to differentiate but they are unsure how.  She really put it out there.. plain and simple.  

I absolutely love the examples that Heacox gives on pages 5-6.  I think we can all relate to at least one of these teachers.  I know at one time I thought I was differentiating instruction for my students, but all alone I was "fluffing" to try to differentiate.  The truth is, I really had no idea what I was doing.  Differentiation is so important to me that I have spent many hours reading professional books on how to do it correctly.  I have come to the honest conclusion that you really have to dive into it and try it.  If you don't practice, keep what works, and toss what doesn't, you will never know what works for you.

I just love that quote from the text because it is sooo true!

Here are some other things I took away from the text that I thought were important.

• On pre-tests, students who mastered a skill should be given activities that involve that skill while others are being re-taught.
• Differentiation is a two-step process:
• Analyze current plans for the degree of challenge.
• Modify, adapt, or design new approaches in response to student needs, interests, and preference.
• Learning Styles:
• Boys are strong in math, struggle in reading.  They prefer action and exploration and benefit from regular physical activity.  They are essentially better at hands-on learning.
• Girls learn better from a variety of methods.  They enjoy manipulatives and asking questions.  They do better when learning with partners or collaborative groups.
• When differentiating, it is important to remember that gifted and talented students learn in 1/3 the time than their average learning peers.

Many people believe they are differentiating when they really aren't or they are unaware that they are differentiating.  You may not know it but you differentiate when you pre-assess students' skills and base their learning on those assessments, give choices to your students, and provide basic and advanced resources for your struggling and excelling learners.  However, differentiated instruction should involve modifications in one or more of these areas: content, process, and product.

There were so many wonderful points made in this chapter that I could sit here for hours.  I do thank you for staying with me until the end.  I do want to leave you with a profound quote from page. 14.  In order to differentiate learning, you really have to be in it for the kids.  It's a lot of hard work that I promise will pay off.

Couldn't have said it better myself!

So, what are some things that you loved about chapter 1?  What are some connections you made?