Today, you must compete for student attention. You compete with hundreds of channels available through cable and satellite television. Our phones and tablets stream most of them too! This is not to mention computer games, social media, and everything else available through the internet and cyberspace.
Our kids are overstimulated and our teachers overwhelmed as they endeavor to get their students interested and involved in the curricula. Paradoxically, it is our own lessons that teach students when they can be off-task and when they can minimally participate in class! The notion that fairness and that everyone must participate the very same way often create habits and gaps in student attention in the classroom. The good news is that promoting attention and interest is immediately doable!
Differentiated Instruction Benefits for Students
- Students in Differentiated Instruction classrooms enjoy a number of advantages over those in traditional “one-size fits all” approach settings. Students are able to be active participants in their own learning.
- The curriculum is no longer pointed to the middle of the group but available and interactive to all students. Those students that found a traditional classroom lesson too difficult or something they had already learned which led to feeling of being “bored” or “not engaged” are now excited about their learning.
- Students receive the content and curriculum in ways that ensure they are engaged. This engagement allows students to connect and learn the content at a deep level of understanding.