16 DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION STRATEGIES

Every student has their own preference and understanding of the learning processes. When a teacher adopts different types of instructions based on their student’s capabilities and potential, then the process is known as differentiated instruction. This advanced process of imparting education among the students is very beneficial. It analyzes the content, processes, products, and the learning environment of the students.

Here are sixteen effective strategies for implementing differentiated instruction practices in the classrooms:-

• CREATE LEARNING STATIONS

Provide varied content to the students by dividing the classroom into various stations. Each station can contain the content that caters to the needs and preferences of a particular group of students at the day or boarding school. Students can also rotate through these stations and learn about various processes. 

• USE TASK CARDS

Task cards are beneficial in providing students with a variety of content. Conduct group activities in which the students can be encouraged to answer the various task cards. Divide the class into groups to complete a particular task. Through this method, you can introduce a diversity of the content in the classrooms as opposed to the large-group learning in the traditional classroom environments.

• TARGET DIFFERENT SENSES WITH LESSONS

Try to improve your lesson imparting process by introducing more resources. You can use videos, infographics, charts, graphs, recorded sounds, and audiobooks, role-playing, or giving both spoken and written directions. Simply lecturing the students as per the conventional practices is not enough to keep them engaged. 

• INTERVIEW STUDENTS

To know about the individual needs and preferences of the students engage in frequent interviews with them. When deciding the stations in the classrooms, take the students aside and learn more about their learning styles. Through this method, you can analyze the needs of your class and introduce new content.

• SHARE YOUR OWN STRENGTH AND WEAKNESSES

Interact with the students and share your experiences and strategies with them. Tell them about the areas in which you struggled and how you overcome them and what solutions you applied for the same. The students will feel encouraged and more connected to the instructor because of this.

• USE THE THINK-PAIR-SHARE STRATEGY

Encourage the students to share their doubts or provide their perspective on a particular topic. Pair the students show they can share their points of view with each other. Also, tell each pair of the students to collaborate with other couples and discuss the topic and share their collective opinions to the classroom.

• MAKE TIME FOR JOURNALLING

Maintain a journal and note down your daily activities and observations. Also, ask the students to make a journal and note down their experiences. This will help them process the information. 

• RUN LITERATURE CIRCLES

Literature circles can be very beneficial for auditory learners. It can enhance their participation and understanding of things. It can also help them inform them about each other’s reading and information.

• IMPLEMENT REFLECTION AND GOAL SETTING EXERCISES

Ask the students to reflect on the essential lessons and set personal goals in the process. Encourage the students to engage in self-introspection and note down their favorite topics. They can also then use this data to work on themselves and improvise their skills.

• GROUP STUDENTS WITH SIMILAR LEARNING STYLES

When students with prevalent ideologies and opinions come together, they can work more cooperatively to achieve better results. The collaborative environment gets established, and students feel more encouraged and complacent in various learning practices.

• GIVE DIFFERENT SETS OF READING COMPREHENSION EXERCISES

Reading comprehension exercises can be very advantageous for the students to their aptitude and logical reasoning skills. Their critical thinking abilities also get enhanced in this process.

• GIVE DIFFERENT TYPES OF FREE STUDY TIME

Free study time in an exciting manner can generate more understanding among the students. You can provide books with relevant materials and also make stations with some challenging tasks. Also, make sure that you allocate a quiet place for the students who wish to study in their free rime. 

• ASSIGN OPEN-ENDED PROJECTS

Provide students with the projects and assignments which help them display and utilize their knowledge in an effective manner. Clearly define the expectations of each project. 

• ENCOURAGE STUDENTS TO PROPOSE IDEAS FOR PROJECTS

Ask the students to come up with ideas about the type of projects that they wish to do. A student must be able to analyze how their purposes can benefit their learning and meet the standards of their current grade.

• ANALYZE YOUR DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION STRATEGY ON A REGULAR BASIS

Upgradation as per the changing environment is essential. Therefore, analyze and research on the effectiveness of your strategy and introduce the relevant changes timely. 

• TEACH UP!

Increase your level. Staying at the same level, which is easily accessible by every student, can deteriorate the learning process. Make sure that you amp up the scale and introduce more difficult lessons. This will help in improvising the abilities of the students, and they will learn better.