Special Needs 2 - Specific Strategies for Online Differentiation and Personalization

Option 2

As a math teacher sometimes the process for learning material can be difficult to differentiate because discovery lessons don’t always work for every topic in math.  However, it can still be done just maybe not with every single topic or at least not have an many ways to differentiate every single topic.  The first method for learning the process I would use would be to have written content for the topics.  Steps for how to solve the problem would be given and the student could have access to these steps and return to them as often as needed.  If we were solving equations, then I would have each step written out and the overall goal of solving an equation.  For students who like being able to have a list and follow it, I feel like this would be a great option.

The second method I would use for learning the process would be to have instructional videos.  This would have two benefits:  the audio would help those who are auditory learners and the visual would help those who are visual learners and can remember how to do something once they have seen it done.  These would also be able to be accessed by the students at any time so they could reference them as often as they needed.  I do this quite often even in my face to face classroom (record the lesson I teach) so that kids can go back and watch how to do it if they forget.  It also comes in handy when students are absent from a face to face class. 

When it comes to the product of showing what has been learned and how well it has been learned I would give two options: traditional test or a project that goes hand in hand with the content.  For the traditional test students would showcase what they have learned through the unit by answering the given questions correctly.  Since I am a math teacher, part of answering them correctly would be to at least show how to set up the problem and then what their final answer is.  I know that a lot of students are very good at mental math so they may not need or want to show every step of their work but I often tell my students if I can at least see how they set up the problem then I will know if they made a careless mistake solving it or if they were completely off from the beginning. 

For the second option I would offer students the opportunity to complete a project that is directly correlated with the standards have been covering.  In many cases the state has created “spotlight tasks” that are great culminating tasks for units.  I would require the students to follow all of the steps of the project and then have a final “product” that might even be used on display in a classroom.  This would be a great option for students who do not like taking tests or who get anxiety from taking tests or simple are not good test-takers.  Also, this would give students the opportunity to share their creativity while also showing what they have been learning in the class.