Meeting students where they are is at the heart of differentiated instruction, whether you are a kindergarten teacher, a college instructor, or a tutor. It involves assessing where each student is in terms of her skills and structuring lessons to accommodate prior knowledge and learning preferences. According to the American Federation of Teachers, “differentiation means giving students multiple options for taking in information (Tomlinson 1999).”
While educators and researchers debate whether humans are born with innate learning style preferences, whether these preferences change over time, and/or whether we shift between styles depending upon the topic we are studying, veteran educators agree that classrooms are made up of what the AFT refers to as “diverse learners . . . who have diverse levels of expertise with reading, writing, thinking, problem solving, and speaking.” To that end, presenting information in a variety of ways and having students practice skills in different contexts is helpful.
WATCH this short video below, which defines & illustrates differentiated instruction
Tutors and Differentiated Instruction
Like instructors, tutors must meet students where they are if they are going to help their tutees to transition successfully from high school to college-level writing. As noted elsewhere in this training, keep in mind that one strategy or approach may work well one week with a student but not be as successful with a new assignment a month later. Keep experimenting.
REVIEW the strategies listed on the Prodigy website below (you may want to save this link in your web browser favorites or download the list below). Yes, this site was designed for K-6 educators, but many of these approaches are used in college classrooms
20 Differentiated Instruction Strategies and Examples
Here is a copy of the website’s list of strategies:
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