Inspiring Differentiation Videos

Inspiring Differentiation: Prekindergarten and Elementary School

This video explores five key characteristics of differentiated classrooms.

• An environment that supports learning: Highlighting the attitudes and practices of teachers who create engaging, challenging, and joyful learning environments.
• High quality curriculum that focuses on understanding: Featuring a differentiated kindergarten math lesson designed to move every student toward the same long-term learning goals.
• Ongoing assessment to inform instruction: Introducing an innovative way to integrate formative assessment into math instruction so that assessment becomes part of the lesson.
• Instruction that responds to student differences: Demonstrating the use of heterogeneous centers in a first-grade reading lesson to accommodate a wide variety of readiness levels.
• Leadership and flexible classroom management: Proving that as early as pre-school, children can adapt to routines, benefit from student choice, and learn from one another.

Inspiring Differentiation: Secondary School

This video presents an in-depth look at five innovative instructional strategies for effective differentiation.

• Writing Workshop: Co-teachers demonstrate the effective integration of student choice and peer-to-peer review—using the PQP (Praise, Question, Polish) system—in a 7th grade differentiated language arts classroom.
• Flipped Classroom: A seasoned middle school teacher shows how he uses a flipped classroom to promote self-paced learning in an accelerated math class.
• Global Studies: In a bilingual 7th grade classroom, a global studies teacher differentiates by identifying varying entry points to help students make sense of the Rohingya refugee crisis.
• One Book, Two Approaches: Two differentiated middle school classes study the same work of literature in markedly different ways. One teacher uses student-led literature circles to promote understanding of the text; the other uses art.

Inspiring Differentiation: Starting the Differentiation Journey

This introduction to Differentiated Instruction (DI) presents a high school math teacher just beginning her DI journey. We see her teaching a lesson that's being observed by an instructional coach. After the lesson, she meets with the coach for constructive feedback and advice about what she's doing right and where she can grow to become a more seasoned DI practitioner. This free video is a companion to the Inspiring Differentiation series. For more about DI, watch Inspiring Differentiation: Elementary School and Inspiring Differentiation: Secondary School.