“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou

An effectively differentiated lesson clearly indicates that the teacher has anticipated and planned for student diversity (Tomlinson, 1999). I’ve used this fact in a bulleted list almost every time I present on the topic of Differentiated Instruction in Mathematics. But what does it really mean? One of my colleagues once told me that “people nod their heads and pretend like they understand even when they don’t.” To help you understand I’d like to use some of my student’s words.

I was teaching in Prince George’s County, Maryland in a classroom with no walls. (That little tidbit about “no walls” is a topic for another set of blogs, so I won’t go into it now.) When student number 37 arrived in January, he was assigned to two of my student hosts to help familiarize him with the routines and expectations of the school and in our class.  One of the student ambassadors was Jake. Jake was a hard-working student who reveled in project-based learning. Rasheen, the new student, sat next to him so he could whisper any needed information.

During the first week I called one of my whisper groups back to the Teacher Time Table. After I had called my group I overheard Jake and Rasheen’s conversation. Rasheen asked Jake why I was calling those students back to my table. He thought they must be in trouble.

“Nope,” Jake explained.

“Sometimes she calls us back because we need extra help because we’re doing stuff right.”

“Sometimes she calls us back because we have no idea what we’re doing.”

“Sometimes she calls us back because we like a certain math game.”

“And, sometimes I think she calls us back for no reason at all.”

“Don’t try to figure out why. It will just confuse you.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself!

“Diversity is not about how we differ.
Diversity is about embracing one another’s uniqueness.” -Ola Joseph