There will always be diversity in the classroom. Even in the most homogeneous grouping of students, you will find differences in the way each student learns. The challenge then becomes finding their best method of learning and providing instruction and assessment to accommodate those needs.
In my classroom now, I have an extremely heterogeneous mixture of students regarding skill level. Not only do I have to accommodate their interests for motivation, but I also have to meet them at their skill level for each unit and lesson.
I have learned that meeting the needs of all of those students does not have to be as complicated or frustrating as it seems. Technology can help soften the blow of universal instruction and differentiated instruction. It can provide assistance in many areas, such as pretesting, remediation, and providing a challenge for students who need it.
Some immediate adjustments that I will make to my classroom focus directly on the students. First, I will have students complete a survey that will provide a picture of their learning needs, and it will also provide a section with a reflection on how well I am meeting their needs before I put a focus on UDL and DI. This will give me a starting point for my classroom instruction.
My next step is to always provide choices for my students. I have always thought that differentiating instruction meant that I had to provide different alternatives for assessment to all students. But, now, I know that every student could choose a different route and show the same progress in a content area. There is no need for me to give a test, an essay, and some type of project. Instead, students could choose of of those and still offer the same data. Not only will students have choice in assessment, but I will vary instruction more holistically, so students are constantly getting multiple means of instruction, an important part of UDL.
Making these small, yet very important changes, will help ensure that all of my students are getting the instruction in a way that is appropriate and fair to them.
