5 Ways to Differentiate Instruction During Remote Learning that You Need To Know
We as teachers know that all classrooms have a wide range of learners and it is our job to accommodate and meet the needs of all learners in our class. So, how do you do that when your students are outside of your classroom and remote learning is your new reality?
Differentiation can and NEEDS to happen during remote learning. It is a huge part of a teacher’s job, not only for special education teachers but for general education teachers also. Differentiation is not the same as individualized learning; rather, it’s an adjustment to one or more of the following: “the content (what students learn); the process (how students learn); or the product (how students demonstrate their mastery of the knowledge or skills),” (Tomlinson and Strickland, 2005). Successful differentiation can happen by utilizing students’ strengths and areas of growth to enhance their learning experiences. Yes, even during remote learning.
“So, how can I differentiate classroom materials while I am remote teaching?” you might be wondering. Let's look at 5 ways to differentiate instruction in remote learning that you NEED to know in order to meet the needs of all of your learners. All of these ideas you can implement immediately. You might already be doing some of them without even realizing it!
#1 Guided Reading using Online Libraries
The importance of guided reading cannot be understated. If you were teaching in person, you would have assigned groups coming to your guided reading table to receive explicit instruction from you at their reading level. Obviously, table time can’t happen during remote learning, but the emphasis on guided reading needs to remain, as well as differentiation in remote learning.
This is where a few key online platforms enter in! Are you already using any wonderful online libraries that have books and stories at multiple reading levels? Two of my favorites are Epic and Reading A-Z.
Epic is free for teachers and Reading A-Z does have a yearly subscription cost but most schools will offer to buy memberships to this for their staff or you could split the membership cost with a fellow teacher, depending how many students are on your roster.
The great thing about both of these platforms is that you can assign books to students. Most have short 5 question quizzes after reading so that you can monitor your students’ reading comprehension, as well. Books can be read independently by the student or the computer will read the book aloud to them. Some books even have multiple versions at different reading levels so you might be able to use one book for 3 different guided reading groups but the content will be at the group’s reading level. Reading A-Z even monitors skills that the student struggles with and skills the student does well with after they take the quizzes, which is great for data purposes. In addition, Reading A-Z typically has 3 worksheets and a comprehension test to go with each story as well.
#2 Voice Notes
Do you have auditory learners? Do you have students in your class who are reading below grade level? They may need some accommodations to be able to read and comprehend grade level content or even assignment directions. Have you tried out Google Chrome’s extension “Talk and Comment”? This amazing tool allows you to create voice notes inside countless websites and in Google Docs, too! You can also create a voice recording of your own narration on sites like YouTube.com or on worksheets you assign within Google Classroom.
You simply download the Chrome extension onto your computer, record your voice from the widget inside your browser, and paste the generated voice link anywhere that you want. You can paste it on certain student’s assignments or just give the link to the whole class. Google’s Talk and Comment tool would also be perfect to use for providing feedback to students on their assignments during remote learning.
#3 Different Versions of Assignments
This may sound obvious, but hear me out. Do you know how quick and easy it is to create and assign multiple versions of the same assignment? And unlike face-to-face learning, students will never know if what they’re assigned differs slightly from what their neighbors are assigned.
This is a HUGE positive of remote learning, in my opinion, because students DO notice this kind of differentiation, especially in the upper grades.
You can either differentiate your assignments on your own by quickly making duplicate copies of assignments and making small alterations to them.
To assign different versions of assignments to students:
In Seesaw, you will create the assignment and when assigning, click “edit students” and the class roster will appear. Click on the names of any students that you want that specific assignment to go to. Then, simply upload the other version and assign to the remainder of your class!
For Google Classroom, it is pretty much the same: Create the activity, click the drop-down menu where it says “All Students” and then check the box next to the student’s name that you want to assign it to. Easy peasy!
Or, you can grab digital resources that have the differentiation done for you. For starters, check out this list of FREE differentiated passage sets. Each passage can be shared with students digitally on different reading levels. These resources can be used for discrete differentiation for face-to-face learning because the differentiated reading levels are indicated by small shapes hiding in the upper corner of each passage. There are plenty more differentiated reading passages available here to help you get through the year. You can use these passages along with guided reading lessons, in social studies or science for easy integration, for homework, or as an independent class assignment.
#4 Open-Ended Prompts
Open-ended prompts are great to use for natural differentiation in your class for in-person or remote learning. For example, let’s say that you have students work in a writing journal in your class. It is very simple to create open-ended prompts for journal writing. You could ask students to write 3 characteristics about the main character in the book that they are reading or ask them to write about their weekend. Some students will write more than others and if you wanted to privately set expectations with each student, you absolutely could. Maybe one student needs to write 7 sentences for their writing journal while a different student only needs to write 4 sentences because that could be a challenge for them. They are both writing based on the same prompt but you have differentiated the activity. The question about the main character can work great also because although everyone will be reading books on different levels, all stories should have a main character. Open-ended questions can really make all students in your class feel successful, especially during remote learning.
#5 Ask Your Students What They Need!
I always say that one of the best things to do is to go to the source. Simply ASK your students what they need in order to be more successful in class. Check in with them.
Now, hopefully this goes without saying, but this does NOT mean calling Kara out on a zoom chat and asking her in front of the entire class how you can make science better for her tomorrow. Again, remote learning can make discretion easier for you! Set up a 1:1 conference with each student at some point during the month or every few weeks, have them complete an exit ticket at the end of the day or a simple Google Form check-in on Fridays, and ask specific questions about their learning. Check out this awesome post for 130 Ideas for Check-in Questions During Remote Learning. Education Week has a great blog post about this topic with a few more considerations to keep in mind as you check in with your students and consider their varying needs.
Differentiation certainly looks different in the remote learning world than it does during face-to-face learning, but it is still essential. Remote learning may bring its share of challenges, but the digital world also provides a whole new toolkit of resources that can actually make differentiation faster and easier to accomplish.