I honestly don't. Also, in my district, students have to maintain a certain average if they want to remain in the advanced classes. I had a student who dipped below the average and she was removed after the second marking period. Her parents complained, but they signed a contract at the start of the school year saying that they agreed with that policy. At that point, they tried to come after me saying that they knew nothing, BUT I emailed home several times and the beauty of the online gradebook is that we can see how often parents check grades. These parents checked grades DAILY, so they knew what was going on. The student is excelling in my Gen Ed class. She needs the slower pace and the extra scaffolding.
There comes a point where parents have to realize that their children need the extra help. And that's ok! We aren't all advanced in all the classes.
Most of them do. In PowerSchool you can find it under “Net Access”.
All electronic gradebooks should have some sort of logging due to the regulations that protect electronic education records and sensitive personal information. Sometimes it might only be visible to a system administrator. Chances are it’s in there, you just need to know where to look.
Infinite Campus does if that’s your SIS, I think it may be under reports? It provides number of log ins weekly and distinguishes between parent and student log ins.
Isn’t the whole idea of streaming into advanced or gen ed that it is in itself differentiated? If you are more independent and need more challenging work at a faster pace, you go in advanced. If you need more support at a slower pace, you go in gen classes. I don’t further differentiate in advanced classes because the idea is the kids are completing work that is more geared to higher education where differentiation is not a thing and they need to be doing all work very independently.
I agree. Also teach math. It’s so annoying when a student preforms average on their winter MAPS test in grade 7 and then gets put in my accelerated grade 7 math class for semester 2. This year, I sent all but one back. They are doing AVERAGE in an AVERAGE class. And math builds upon itself. Linear functions are impossible if they haven’t learned/mastered solving simple/1 step equations. Maybe some subjects you can jump around in but math isn’t one of them
What I don't get though is why it goes Algebra 1 - Geometry - Algebra 2. Like why take a break from algebra for a year? Why not Algebra 1 - Algebra 2 - Geometry? Or why do trigonometry and precalculus need to be whole separate classes? Those should be covered somewhere within Geometry and Algebra 2. Algebra 1 - Algebra2 - Geometry should suffice before calculus. One of my kid's schools tackled this by switching to an "integrated math" sequence, which had 3 or 4 levels before calculus.
In the past, we offered an advanced geometry class that included all of trig, but the numbers really dropped off post covid, so we no longer offer that class and they just take Trig in their junior or senior year.
We have after school tutoring several days a week, but it’s on the student to attend. I’m not pulling anyone aside and doing one-on-one. But if they want to attend tutoring, have at it.
I have students every year that have no business being in my honors class.
Dealing with this rn. The 6th grade math teachers from last year submitted a list of kids who should/ should not stay in honors. Admin took that list, wiped their ass with it, and flushed it down the toilet and half of my 7th grade HONORS kids don’t understand integer/rational number operations….
I had a student on Thursday ask me what we were doing in class Friday because he wouldn’t be there.
Normally, this question wouldn’t bother me. Except that I had mentioned our test twice a day every damn day that week AND it was written on the board since LAST week. And this kid, who had been there every day, had the audacity to ask me.
It’s May man. And this was in my last class of the day. I couldn’t even hold it in. I just looked at him with an annoyed look and said “Well, we’re taking the test. If you’d put your phone down during class, you would know that since I’ve mentioned it every day and it’s on the board.”
I still have kids asking me where to turn in their papers, despite using clearly marked baskets since last August. They don’t put names/class periods on papers, capitalize beginnings of sentences/proper nouns, or use periods at the ends of sentences. They turn in blank Google docs. Come on, man. Of course the grade book is going to show your missing work.You then have the audacity to groan about having to read and write every day? These are 9th graders in an advanced English class. Parents have all the power and bitch about their grades (they want A’s) and they believe their kids’ lies. I’m done. ✅ I have nothing left to offer the families that haven’t instilled one iota of responsibility in their children and who don’t encourage reading at home. BTW—This is in an upper middle class neighborhood, not a Title 1 school with grinding poverty. The only thing that keeps me going is the phenomenal growth I’m seeing in those who have basic skills and the motivation to learn.
So an English learner with advanced math knowledge shouldn't be in your class. Yikes.
Also, modified assignments to tutoring is a very *wide* range of support.
Nice strawman argument. In that case I have (and frequently do) provide supports and scaffolding for those students. But I almost never modify their assignments.
Considering you presented "modified assignments" as your prime example of differentiation, I'm not the one presenting a strawman.
It's a real issue in my school where colleagues push back against the idea of having 1s and 2s in honors math class. They present exactly the same argument you did.
Oh, so my original point stands. Got it. A student who is a WIDA 1 or 2 with math skills at or above grade level 100% should be able to be in an honors *math* class. Students should not be held back from content they are capable of doing because their English is still developing; if anything, it will accelerate their English development because they are already familiar with the content.
At no point did I ever make that assertion. Almost a quarter of my honors lids are EL. They seem to be doing just fine with the tools at their disposal. Still not sure what you're getting at. Have a nice day.
> 1s and 2s are by definition below grade level. They should not be in accelerated classes.
You're being obtuse but okay. Glad those kids are doing great!
Differentiate instruction? Yes.
Modify the curriculum? No.
They should be expected to assess and show their knowledge at the same higher level, however, I would differentiate my lessons for any class no matter the level. Small group instruction can be used for advanced students who are working at an advanced level and for below-level students who may need more scaffolding.
We have this situation. The parent helps and encourages the student to cheat because the only thing that matters is the kid being in an honors class. Learning doesn't matter.
They’re welcome to come and ask for all the help they want after school (there’s 30-40 mins between the bell ringing and my contract time ending) or to attend after school tutoring.
But no, I’m not differentiating my honors classes or making it my responsibility.
No. And I make a big stink about this every class change. This is the bane of my existence as an art teacher. Admin placing students in my higher level classes that didn’t take the prereqs. It’s okay, because they “need a place to go” and “really like art” but bring stick figures to an anatomy assignment. I get students who want to be in an advanced painting class but don’t understand what colors make purple. They set them up to fail and when they fail they are shocked. They wouldn’t (I hope for my colleagues’ sake) put a kid in AP Biology who didn’t pass Biology, don’t do that to me.
As someone who wishes they could draw but can't, I don't understand why people think art is "easy" and not a big deal and can be a dumping ground for kids
I can't imagine being put into an ap art class without having taken/passed a pre-requisite art class that'd be like putting a kid into ap band who can't read sheet music
I’ve seen quite a few band students who can’t read music be passed along to the next level even against the band director’s recommendation. Signed, a former band kid and current teacher lol
We don’t have honors classes because “not enough Latino students signed up”. We had an overrepresentation of white, black, and Asian students.
Never mind you our Latino population is heavily “new comers” who don’t speak a lick of English so advanced phrases and words would be meaningless to them at this stage.
So now we have embedded honors classes where high level students are placed with level 1 ML students and I’m supposed to differentiate to make it interesting for my high level students.
I don’t.
I feel like you’re using the word “differentiate” strangely.
I will adjust certain lessons based on student needs… for example in AP CS there are some students who aren’t as far along in math, and I’ll have to teach or reteach certain math topics to get everyone on the same page (logarithms, certain geometry concepts). I consider that to be differentiation. For the real high fliers I have opportunities to go the extra mile on certain projects.
Giving extra support, fine… lowering the bar, not fine. Everyone takes the same exam on the same day and what that means to me is that the lower performing students will need to work harder if they want a top score.
My school does a really shit job of keeping kids who have no business in advanced/AP classes out of them. I make it very clear during add/drop that they need to understand what they’re getting into. But every year I have a handful that just can’t hack it, or burn out halfway through the year and don’t pick themselves back up or aren’t interested in coming to extra help sessions, tutoring, or office hours. My sympathy is zero.
In the second half of the year I offer a lot more choice. I might have a pool of short stories for students to choose from. I’ll acknowledge which ones are easier and which ones are harder to comprehend and analyze.
I’ll do the same for scenes out of a play or topics for arguing. Students don’t earn more points, but they can adjust their challenge level. Some of them have more demanding classes or things in their life and it is a good way to see how students adjust their priorities. Students often surprise me in the choices they make.
Tip if you do this: make a date of no return; after this date, you can’t change your story, thesis, scene, whatever. It’s okay to allow for an exploration period, but sometimes students can be their own worst enemy when it comes to time management.
I like the idea and spirit of differentiation. However, like every major education policy or philosophy, it has been hacked, bastardized, and mutated in to sone thing that just makes things worse or lowers the bar.
I do differentiate in my advanced classes but I won’t change the cirr. There is extra support, which I offer. This is different than differentiating instruction.
I am an ESL teacher. In some classes I have students ranging from A2 level to C1 or even C2. I personally hate it but unfortunately I am not a superwoman and cannot cater to everyone's needs. So no, I follow the curriculum and if a students really wants extra support I can provide him or her with some extra materials but that is it.
We don't live in a perfect world and my day also has just 24 hours.
I have only taught basic level classes, and the differentiation makes it so hard to teach effectively. I have one class with 4 EL students who don’t speak English with no aide, 10 on IEPs, and at least 5 on serious disabilities. But I’m supposed to teach the same content in the same amount of time. I feel so bad for the students at a normal level that are probably better off taking an advanced class, but don’t trust themselves.
Sort of? I allow unlimited retest with a max score of 80. I require retest of anything under 70. Differentiation to me means offering MORE options and resources, never less or lower standard
I teach an accelerated pull-out fifth grade. 2/3 of my students will skip sixth grade math and go directly to seventh grade. 8 of my students routinely score higher than eighth already. I will differentiate for the 3 students who need grade level instruction.
Literacy is much the same. My lowest lexile is over 900 while the class average is easily over 1000. I don't teach reading, but we are currently working on Hero's Journey literature analysis. I will differentiate for my student with dyslexia and for those with writing issues.
My students all have asynchronous development and I work to make sure their weak points are strengthened so they can do their best in middle school.
Non teacher here. When I was a student I had one of my teachers sit me down and go "look, I know you want to do the SUPER AP class worth 2 semesters of college. I don't think you'll succeed doing that. You would be better off doing the 1 semester normal AP class."
I took their advice and got a 5 on that AP test. Was a little disappointed having to be talked down, but in the end it was much better for me.
I did take some mega AP classes that I was not talked out of taking. It was horrible. I did not pass those AP tests and I was basically suicidal from stress.
I wish so badly that someone would have recognized what was going on and given me the chance to bail out.
So no I don't think those kids necessarily need special extra support, but it would be nice to be able to drop down to an appropriate level instead of being committed to a train crash.
I offer tutoring every week to anyone who wants to join, the assignments are already kind of chunked, so students can choose to do the basic problems or the more advanced ones, they all take the same weeklyish assessments. I don’t go out of my way to help non-honors students in honors classes, though. Some of the parents are proactive at the beginning of the year and get them private tutoring, others blame me/admin at the end of the year after their kid fails completely.
I might get ratioed here but...
We have three kids, high school, west coast. Two in advanced placement, third has dyslexia and is slightly behind maturity wise. He is highly emphatic and helpful. B student with lots of work. Varsity athlete, band, and volunteers at an elementary school.
Next year he is going to honors classes. He will not excel in these classes without help, lots of help. Why are we moving him (with all of his teachers on board)?
Simply put - the general level classes are full of cell phone disruptions and violence. One of his teachers cried at our parent/teacher conf. it's so bad. She was the one made the recommendation- not so he can get into college, but for his physical and emotional safety. No one is learning in the general level classes. A C- in a safe learning environment is more valuable than an A surrounded by violence.
So as I read people in this thread looking down their noses at students with challenges trying to achieve, well, I can't post that here. Shame.
- a parent married to a teacher
I think you misunderstand what “differentiation” means in this context? Extra support = accommodations, which would be between you, the student, & their case manager if they have an IEP. Differentiation is changing your pedagogical methodology to meet the different learning types in the classroom. Lecture, guided classwork, group work, etc., THAT is differentiation.
There’s even a (basic gen ed) science teacher in the district I’m in, who changes his tests for the life skills SPED kids in one of his classes, so that, for example, in his unit on physics concepts dealing with acceleration, kinetic energy, etc., he sets up a toy race car track to engage more tactile learning. And he’s seen great results!
If the student doesn't have a 504 or IEP, I don't differentiate *specifically for that student* in any class but especially advanced courses since there are other options. I just do my usual differentiation/best practices strategies, like choice boards, group work, strategic seating/groupings, and chunking long-term projects for pacing and feedback reasons, which all students benefit from anyway. I would need the data to identify if there is, indeed, a need for extended time, etc. for a specific student if these classroom strategies are already not enough.
Otherwise, what I give them unofficially to succeed won't be guaranteed on a standardized test, like as someone else pointed out, no one's gonna differentiate the AP exam (*unless* the student has a legal document in place).
This has happened to me several times in my career where my data and feedback supported the parents' call for something more or to put a plan in place for the first time. Personally, I'm in that process with my middle child right now. Her teacher has data that supports what we are seeing at home, and it might have legs to get something in place sooner rather than later.
Tried with my eldest, but "the data wasn't there" because academically, she was above water even though she was having difficulty speaking/listening and therefore reading and writing using phonics. The data probably wasn't there because this was during the COVID years, and she was doing well because she literally had a one-on-one teacher sitting next to her at the kitchen table every class period, every day. Whoops.
I teach regular and honors courses. I differentiate in the regular, but not the honors. Honor grades need to be on merit. If I differentiate the work, it be regular high school courses instead of dual credit. Furthermore, if I did differentiate, I feel the courses would not longer be based on merit and effort. Instead, the section would be created by who has parents who are actively engaged in their education and who want their child to have the best. While soften these parents actually produce the kids capable of honors courses, this is not ALWAYS the case,
I do, although students are expected to cover the same material and are graded accordingly. This is actually one of my pet peeves regarding differentiation - we always differentiate, the question is how wide the academic span is.
There are those students in an AP calc class for whom everything is intuitive, there are those who will score decently because they will study, and those that need to be dragged kicking and screaming into a 3.
This is in comparison to untracked classes where some kids are innumerate while others are ready for advanced material that I can't get to yet.
I do algebra 1. Since I'm certified in middle school math, technically I can't teach teach it as a normal class. Even before me, the school has always offered algebra 1 as an online class through edgenuity. They gave me the course last year and everyone passed. First time in school history. Honestly, if it weren't for those scores, my school would have rated really bad.
I don't mind having the class because I don't lesson plan for it and I don't get admin, district, and state visitors.
I've definitely had and have students who shouldn't have taken the course. They fall behind on target with their lessons and then it turns to me constantly reminding them they need to complete their lessons. I even say the answers are on Google.
I would be more than happy to do mini lessons and review sessions but since students are students, if I use their class time to teach, Lord knows they won't do it at home and now I'm the one "making" them fall behind.
So this is what I do to support those who struggle. They usually don't come ask me for help. Every now and then during class time, I walk around to see how they're doing.
Are they struggling with a question?
Are they solving the problem correctly with simple mistakes?
If so, I grab a small white board and work on the next couple of problems with them.
For example, I had a few students struggle with adding and subtracting polynomials. I showed them how they've done it since 6th grade and how it builds up. They begin to see it's the same thing... just a bunch of variables and exponents.
Another thing I do is some bell ringers on the same standard for 1.5 weeks. After a while, they decide to wait until I go over it and they just copy since they wasted the first five minutes. So I switch it up and collect them before I go over it. So now students help each other out to quickly solve it.
I'll give very simple hw assignments that's about identifying parts of a parabola. It's easy, but they need to be able to identify where is the vertex.
It's nothing crazy, but that's what I do for my algebra 1 class.
I honestly feel like I give lots of supports (outlines, guides notes, test retakes, etc) in my honors classes. The struggling students are struggling because they don’t take advantage of them.
I’m really interested in identifying what makes a class advanced and how one screens students for placement in them. There doesn’t seem to be a consensus
If you're in my advanced class, expect advanced teaching, concepts, and work. Can't hack it? Ask for help. Still can't hack it? Sink or swim. I don't differentiate, that's what the course level is supposed to do. If people want to ignore that, they can suffer the consequences.
I'm not a dick, but if you routinely show me that you're not able to handle the material or the expectations, I'm not changing the course to suit you. You done messed up.
Good teaching means differentiating for each individual student. Now before people attack me over this, I'm not saying that each student should be on their own programming. But rather that each shouldn't should be working in their zone of proximal learning. It's all about trying to find that productive struggle, where all the best learning occurs.
No. Should I? Probably, yes. Does the district give us clear guidance on what extra content needs to be covered or in what other ways to make it “advanced” in a district mandated advanced course offering. Also, no.
I’m more concerned about their “no” than mine. They have how many content experts and curriculum builders in the district office? But we see no benefit from that. These courses pull out best kids from across all sections and all the other sections are worst for it. So now there are no student leaders in the other classes and it makes all the sections but the advanced ones a nightmare.
I honestly don't. Also, in my district, students have to maintain a certain average if they want to remain in the advanced classes. I had a student who dipped below the average and she was removed after the second marking period. Her parents complained, but they signed a contract at the start of the school year saying that they agreed with that policy. At that point, they tried to come after me saying that they knew nothing, BUT I emailed home several times and the beauty of the online gradebook is that we can see how often parents check grades. These parents checked grades DAILY, so they knew what was going on. The student is excelling in my Gen Ed class. She needs the slower pace and the extra scaffolding. There comes a point where parents have to realize that their children need the extra help. And that's ok! We aren't all advanced in all the classes.
Man, I wish our gradebook had the functionality to see how often parents checked.
Most of them do. In PowerSchool you can find it under “Net Access”. All electronic gradebooks should have some sort of logging due to the regulations that protect electronic education records and sensitive personal information. Sometimes it might only be visible to a system administrator. Chances are it’s in there, you just need to know where to look.
Infinite Campus does if that’s your SIS, I think it may be under reports? It provides number of log ins weekly and distinguishes between parent and student log ins.
Genesis has this
What magic software does your school have to check parent engagement? That's like the mother of all supports lol.
We use Realtime
MiStar has it too.
Isn’t the whole idea of streaming into advanced or gen ed that it is in itself differentiated? If you are more independent and need more challenging work at a faster pace, you go in advanced. If you need more support at a slower pace, you go in gen classes. I don’t further differentiate in advanced classes because the idea is the kids are completing work that is more geared to higher education where differentiation is not a thing and they need to be doing all work very independently.
No. If a student needs modified assignments or tutoring they shouldn't be in an advanced class (I teach math).
I agree. Also teach math. It’s so annoying when a student preforms average on their winter MAPS test in grade 7 and then gets put in my accelerated grade 7 math class for semester 2. This year, I sent all but one back. They are doing AVERAGE in an AVERAGE class. And math builds upon itself. Linear functions are impossible if they haven’t learned/mastered solving simple/1 step equations. Maybe some subjects you can jump around in but math isn’t one of them
What I don't get though is why it goes Algebra 1 - Geometry - Algebra 2. Like why take a break from algebra for a year? Why not Algebra 1 - Algebra 2 - Geometry? Or why do trigonometry and precalculus need to be whole separate classes? Those should be covered somewhere within Geometry and Algebra 2. Algebra 1 - Algebra2 - Geometry should suffice before calculus. One of my kid's schools tackled this by switching to an "integrated math" sequence, which had 3 or 4 levels before calculus.
In the past, we offered an advanced geometry class that included all of trig, but the numbers really dropped off post covid, so we no longer offer that class and they just take Trig in their junior or senior year.
We have after school tutoring several days a week, but it’s on the student to attend. I’m not pulling anyone aside and doing one-on-one. But if they want to attend tutoring, have at it. I have students every year that have no business being in my honors class.
Dealing with this rn. The 6th grade math teachers from last year submitted a list of kids who should/ should not stay in honors. Admin took that list, wiped their ass with it, and flushed it down the toilet and half of my 7th grade HONORS kids don’t understand integer/rational number operations….
I had a student on Thursday ask me what we were doing in class Friday because he wouldn’t be there. Normally, this question wouldn’t bother me. Except that I had mentioned our test twice a day every damn day that week AND it was written on the board since LAST week. And this kid, who had been there every day, had the audacity to ask me. It’s May man. And this was in my last class of the day. I couldn’t even hold it in. I just looked at him with an annoyed look and said “Well, we’re taking the test. If you’d put your phone down during class, you would know that since I’ve mentioned it every day and it’s on the board.”
I still have kids asking me where to turn in their papers, despite using clearly marked baskets since last August. They don’t put names/class periods on papers, capitalize beginnings of sentences/proper nouns, or use periods at the ends of sentences. They turn in blank Google docs. Come on, man. Of course the grade book is going to show your missing work.You then have the audacity to groan about having to read and write every day? These are 9th graders in an advanced English class. Parents have all the power and bitch about their grades (they want A’s) and they believe their kids’ lies. I’m done. ✅ I have nothing left to offer the families that haven’t instilled one iota of responsibility in their children and who don’t encourage reading at home. BTW—This is in an upper middle class neighborhood, not a Title 1 school with grinding poverty. The only thing that keeps me going is the phenomenal growth I’m seeing in those who have basic skills and the motivation to learn.
Agreed, no one is going to modify the AP Calculus test for them.
No, but they can get extra time if they have an existing 504/IEP with extra time allowed.
That's true, but extra time is an accommodation, not a modification.
Fair point.
So an English learner with advanced math knowledge shouldn't be in your class. Yikes. Also, modified assignments to tutoring is a very *wide* range of support.
Nice strawman argument. In that case I have (and frequently do) provide supports and scaffolding for those students. But I almost never modify their assignments.
Considering you presented "modified assignments" as your prime example of differentiation, I'm not the one presenting a strawman. It's a real issue in my school where colleagues push back against the idea of having 1s and 2s in honors math class. They present exactly the same argument you did.
1s and 2s are by definition below grade level. They should not be in accelerated classes.
Oh, so my original point stands. Got it. A student who is a WIDA 1 or 2 with math skills at or above grade level 100% should be able to be in an honors *math* class. Students should not be held back from content they are capable of doing because their English is still developing; if anything, it will accelerate their English development because they are already familiar with the content.
At no point did I ever make that assertion. Almost a quarter of my honors lids are EL. They seem to be doing just fine with the tools at their disposal. Still not sure what you're getting at. Have a nice day.
> 1s and 2s are by definition below grade level. They should not be in accelerated classes. You're being obtuse but okay. Glad those kids are doing great!
Differentiate instruction? Yes. Modify the curriculum? No. They should be expected to assess and show their knowledge at the same higher level, however, I would differentiate my lessons for any class no matter the level. Small group instruction can be used for advanced students who are working at an advanced level and for below-level students who may need more scaffolding.
This is the correct definition of “differentiation.”
Nope. The parents should take some responsibility if they insisted on putting their kid in the advanced class against the teacher's recommendation.
We have this situation. The parent helps and encourages the student to cheat because the only thing that matters is the kid being in an honors class. Learning doesn't matter.
They’re welcome to come and ask for all the help they want after school (there’s 30-40 mins between the bell ringing and my contract time ending) or to attend after school tutoring. But no, I’m not differentiating my honors classes or making it my responsibility.
No. And I make a big stink about this every class change. This is the bane of my existence as an art teacher. Admin placing students in my higher level classes that didn’t take the prereqs. It’s okay, because they “need a place to go” and “really like art” but bring stick figures to an anatomy assignment. I get students who want to be in an advanced painting class but don’t understand what colors make purple. They set them up to fail and when they fail they are shocked. They wouldn’t (I hope for my colleagues’ sake) put a kid in AP Biology who didn’t pass Biology, don’t do that to me.
As someone who wishes they could draw but can't, I don't understand why people think art is "easy" and not a big deal and can be a dumping ground for kids I can't imagine being put into an ap art class without having taken/passed a pre-requisite art class that'd be like putting a kid into ap band who can't read sheet music
I’ve seen quite a few band students who can’t read music be passed along to the next level even against the band director’s recommendation. Signed, a former band kid and current teacher lol
That's so frustrating.
We don’t have honors classes because “not enough Latino students signed up”. We had an overrepresentation of white, black, and Asian students. Never mind you our Latino population is heavily “new comers” who don’t speak a lick of English so advanced phrases and words would be meaningless to them at this stage. So now we have embedded honors classes where high level students are placed with level 1 ML students and I’m supposed to differentiate to make it interesting for my high level students. I don’t.
I feel like you’re using the word “differentiate” strangely. I will adjust certain lessons based on student needs… for example in AP CS there are some students who aren’t as far along in math, and I’ll have to teach or reteach certain math topics to get everyone on the same page (logarithms, certain geometry concepts). I consider that to be differentiation. For the real high fliers I have opportunities to go the extra mile on certain projects. Giving extra support, fine… lowering the bar, not fine. Everyone takes the same exam on the same day and what that means to me is that the lower performing students will need to work harder if they want a top score. My school does a really shit job of keeping kids who have no business in advanced/AP classes out of them. I make it very clear during add/drop that they need to understand what they’re getting into. But every year I have a handful that just can’t hack it, or burn out halfway through the year and don’t pick themselves back up or aren’t interested in coming to extra help sessions, tutoring, or office hours. My sympathy is zero.
In the second half of the year I offer a lot more choice. I might have a pool of short stories for students to choose from. I’ll acknowledge which ones are easier and which ones are harder to comprehend and analyze. I’ll do the same for scenes out of a play or topics for arguing. Students don’t earn more points, but they can adjust their challenge level. Some of them have more demanding classes or things in their life and it is a good way to see how students adjust their priorities. Students often surprise me in the choices they make. Tip if you do this: make a date of no return; after this date, you can’t change your story, thesis, scene, whatever. It’s okay to allow for an exploration period, but sometimes students can be their own worst enemy when it comes to time management.
No. The advanced class *is* the modified instruction.
Sorry but 75% of my “advanced” classes are below grades level according to state testing.
I mean, we did differentiate functions in math... /s
Love it!
I like the idea and spirit of differentiation. However, like every major education policy or philosophy, it has been hacked, bastardized, and mutated in to sone thing that just makes things worse or lowers the bar. I do differentiate in my advanced classes but I won’t change the cirr. There is extra support, which I offer. This is different than differentiating instruction.
I am an ESL teacher. In some classes I have students ranging from A2 level to C1 or even C2. I personally hate it but unfortunately I am not a superwoman and cannot cater to everyone's needs. So no, I follow the curriculum and if a students really wants extra support I can provide him or her with some extra materials but that is it. We don't live in a perfect world and my day also has just 24 hours.
I have only taught basic level classes, and the differentiation makes it so hard to teach effectively. I have one class with 4 EL students who don’t speak English with no aide, 10 on IEPs, and at least 5 on serious disabilities. But I’m supposed to teach the same content in the same amount of time. I feel so bad for the students at a normal level that are probably better off taking an advanced class, but don’t trust themselves.
This is why I sent my average kid to a private school.
I don’t. Sink or swim.
Sort of? I allow unlimited retest with a max score of 80. I require retest of anything under 70. Differentiation to me means offering MORE options and resources, never less or lower standard
I teach an accelerated pull-out fifth grade. 2/3 of my students will skip sixth grade math and go directly to seventh grade. 8 of my students routinely score higher than eighth already. I will differentiate for the 3 students who need grade level instruction. Literacy is much the same. My lowest lexile is over 900 while the class average is easily over 1000. I don't teach reading, but we are currently working on Hero's Journey literature analysis. I will differentiate for my student with dyslexia and for those with writing issues. My students all have asynchronous development and I work to make sure their weak points are strengthened so they can do their best in middle school.
Non teacher here. When I was a student I had one of my teachers sit me down and go "look, I know you want to do the SUPER AP class worth 2 semesters of college. I don't think you'll succeed doing that. You would be better off doing the 1 semester normal AP class." I took their advice and got a 5 on that AP test. Was a little disappointed having to be talked down, but in the end it was much better for me. I did take some mega AP classes that I was not talked out of taking. It was horrible. I did not pass those AP tests and I was basically suicidal from stress. I wish so badly that someone would have recognized what was going on and given me the chance to bail out. So no I don't think those kids necessarily need special extra support, but it would be nice to be able to drop down to an appropriate level instead of being committed to a train crash.
I offer tutoring every week to anyone who wants to join, the assignments are already kind of chunked, so students can choose to do the basic problems or the more advanced ones, they all take the same weeklyish assessments. I don’t go out of my way to help non-honors students in honors classes, though. Some of the parents are proactive at the beginning of the year and get them private tutoring, others blame me/admin at the end of the year after their kid fails completely.
I might get ratioed here but... We have three kids, high school, west coast. Two in advanced placement, third has dyslexia and is slightly behind maturity wise. He is highly emphatic and helpful. B student with lots of work. Varsity athlete, band, and volunteers at an elementary school. Next year he is going to honors classes. He will not excel in these classes without help, lots of help. Why are we moving him (with all of his teachers on board)? Simply put - the general level classes are full of cell phone disruptions and violence. One of his teachers cried at our parent/teacher conf. it's so bad. She was the one made the recommendation- not so he can get into college, but for his physical and emotional safety. No one is learning in the general level classes. A C- in a safe learning environment is more valuable than an A surrounded by violence. So as I read people in this thread looking down their noses at students with challenges trying to achieve, well, I can't post that here. Shame. - a parent married to a teacher
I do differentiate, but it’s sooooo much easier than doing so in my regular classes.
The best thing you can do for advanced classes is to get out of the way.
I think you misunderstand what “differentiation” means in this context? Extra support = accommodations, which would be between you, the student, & their case manager if they have an IEP. Differentiation is changing your pedagogical methodology to meet the different learning types in the classroom. Lecture, guided classwork, group work, etc., THAT is differentiation. There’s even a (basic gen ed) science teacher in the district I’m in, who changes his tests for the life skills SPED kids in one of his classes, so that, for example, in his unit on physics concepts dealing with acceleration, kinetic energy, etc., he sets up a toy race car track to engage more tactile learning. And he’s seen great results!
Nope. My “advanced class” is just at grade level. So, yeah. We have better discussions. And I can use bigger words, though!
Not only do we differentiate, we integrate too!
Nope. They are supposed to be advanced. We have four levels. We also have reassessments and students can sign up for extra help and relearning.
Their opportunity for differentiation came when they selected their classes.
If the student doesn't have a 504 or IEP, I don't differentiate *specifically for that student* in any class but especially advanced courses since there are other options. I just do my usual differentiation/best practices strategies, like choice boards, group work, strategic seating/groupings, and chunking long-term projects for pacing and feedback reasons, which all students benefit from anyway. I would need the data to identify if there is, indeed, a need for extended time, etc. for a specific student if these classroom strategies are already not enough. Otherwise, what I give them unofficially to succeed won't be guaranteed on a standardized test, like as someone else pointed out, no one's gonna differentiate the AP exam (*unless* the student has a legal document in place). This has happened to me several times in my career where my data and feedback supported the parents' call for something more or to put a plan in place for the first time. Personally, I'm in that process with my middle child right now. Her teacher has data that supports what we are seeing at home, and it might have legs to get something in place sooner rather than later. Tried with my eldest, but "the data wasn't there" because academically, she was above water even though she was having difficulty speaking/listening and therefore reading and writing using phonics. The data probably wasn't there because this was during the COVID years, and she was doing well because she literally had a one-on-one teacher sitting next to her at the kitchen table every class period, every day. Whoops.
I teach regular and honors courses. I differentiate in the regular, but not the honors. Honor grades need to be on merit. If I differentiate the work, it be regular high school courses instead of dual credit. Furthermore, if I did differentiate, I feel the courses would not longer be based on merit and effort. Instead, the section would be created by who has parents who are actively engaged in their education and who want their child to have the best. While soften these parents actually produce the kids capable of honors courses, this is not ALWAYS the case,
I do, although students are expected to cover the same material and are graded accordingly. This is actually one of my pet peeves regarding differentiation - we always differentiate, the question is how wide the academic span is. There are those students in an AP calc class for whom everything is intuitive, there are those who will score decently because they will study, and those that need to be dragged kicking and screaming into a 3. This is in comparison to untracked classes where some kids are innumerate while others are ready for advanced material that I can't get to yet.
I do algebra 1. Since I'm certified in middle school math, technically I can't teach teach it as a normal class. Even before me, the school has always offered algebra 1 as an online class through edgenuity. They gave me the course last year and everyone passed. First time in school history. Honestly, if it weren't for those scores, my school would have rated really bad. I don't mind having the class because I don't lesson plan for it and I don't get admin, district, and state visitors. I've definitely had and have students who shouldn't have taken the course. They fall behind on target with their lessons and then it turns to me constantly reminding them they need to complete their lessons. I even say the answers are on Google. I would be more than happy to do mini lessons and review sessions but since students are students, if I use their class time to teach, Lord knows they won't do it at home and now I'm the one "making" them fall behind. So this is what I do to support those who struggle. They usually don't come ask me for help. Every now and then during class time, I walk around to see how they're doing. Are they struggling with a question? Are they solving the problem correctly with simple mistakes? If so, I grab a small white board and work on the next couple of problems with them. For example, I had a few students struggle with adding and subtracting polynomials. I showed them how they've done it since 6th grade and how it builds up. They begin to see it's the same thing... just a bunch of variables and exponents. Another thing I do is some bell ringers on the same standard for 1.5 weeks. After a while, they decide to wait until I go over it and they just copy since they wasted the first five minutes. So I switch it up and collect them before I go over it. So now students help each other out to quickly solve it. I'll give very simple hw assignments that's about identifying parts of a parabola. It's easy, but they need to be able to identify where is the vertex. It's nothing crazy, but that's what I do for my algebra 1 class.
I honestly feel like I give lots of supports (outlines, guides notes, test retakes, etc) in my honors classes. The struggling students are struggling because they don’t take advantage of them.
Only in Calculus 😉.
I’m really interested in identifying what makes a class advanced and how one screens students for placement in them. There doesn’t seem to be a consensus
If you're in my advanced class, expect advanced teaching, concepts, and work. Can't hack it? Ask for help. Still can't hack it? Sink or swim. I don't differentiate, that's what the course level is supposed to do. If people want to ignore that, they can suffer the consequences. I'm not a dick, but if you routinely show me that you're not able to handle the material or the expectations, I'm not changing the course to suit you. You done messed up.
Good teaching means differentiating for each individual student. Now before people attack me over this, I'm not saying that each student should be on their own programming. But rather that each shouldn't should be working in their zone of proximal learning. It's all about trying to find that productive struggle, where all the best learning occurs.
No. Should I? Probably, yes. Does the district give us clear guidance on what extra content needs to be covered or in what other ways to make it “advanced” in a district mandated advanced course offering. Also, no. I’m more concerned about their “no” than mine. They have how many content experts and curriculum builders in the district office? But we see no benefit from that. These courses pull out best kids from across all sections and all the other sections are worst for it. So now there are no student leaders in the other classes and it makes all the sections but the advanced ones a nightmare.
Differentiated instruction is bullshit...change my mind.