Choices and Differentiation

the What, Why, When, & How — explained by teachers

This is a prevention strategy.

They create conditions in which the behaviors we want to see are more likely to occur than the behaviors we don’t.

Slow and Fast

Triggers 🧨

AKA “Setting Events”

and “Antecedents”

Undesired

Behavior 💥

Pleasant

Consequence 🥳

that maintains the behavior and

keeps the pattern repeating

RESPONSE

strategies weaken the pattern

“Better” Behavior 👍

that achieves the same thing for the

student (ex. asking for a break instead

of running out of class)

PREVENTION

strategies put student in a position to succeed

Pleasant

Consequence 🥳

that maintains the behavior and

keeps the pattern repeating

REINFORCEMENT

strategies strengthen the pattern

TEACHING

behavior expectations and skills

“Best” Behavior 🙌

what is ultimately best for the student (ex. persisting with learning)

Competing Pathways Chart

What?

Proactively designing choices into your lessons in order to boost learner autonomy, which has a powerful effect on engagement.

Why?

Autonomy is one of the most important drivers of intrinsic motivation, the “inner fire” that we want to light so that our students are actively engaged.

People (including students) get more invested in something if they feel like they have a say in it.

As we watch this video, try to remember one idea you’re curious about and/or that you’ve used before (2:02)

🤔 He covered these ideas quickly and surface-level. What were you left curious and wondering about?

Choosing driving questions

“In inquiry-based learning, students tend to develop their own questions that require research in order to form a solution. Being able to develop these questions, the questions that drive the learning, is not a small task, and can be used as their own informal assessment as well.” - Middle School Teacher

⬇️ What’s been your experience level with this type of choice? ⬇️

Choosing how to show their knowledge

“There are many ways in which a student can show what they know about the content area. From essays to dramatic interpretations, from digital slideshows to sculptures, from websites to podcasts, students can prove their knowledge and give evidence of their learning in an infinite number of ways.” - Middle School Teacher

⬇️ What’s been your experience level with this type of choice? ⬇️

CREDIT: @bee_in_the_library

A middle school teacher shares about how choice boards can be structured as learning paths (1:04)

🤔 What did you notice or wonder while watching the video?

CREDIT: @allienope

An elementary teacher explains how she rotates students through activities (0:56)

🤔 What did you notice or wonder while watching the video?

Choosing writing formats

“We know that the traditional five-paragraph essay doesn’t exist in the world outside of school. Teach students how to organize their thoughts using subheadings, bullets, and numbering. Teach them about captions and integrating quotes. Allow students to embed images, videos, or data into their essays.” - Middle School Teacher

⬇️ What’s been your experience level with this type of choice? ⬇️

Choosing writing prompts

“By giving them leeway to decide on their own opinions or choose from a list of content-related prompts, you will find that their excitement for responding increases. And if their engagement increases, you will get the highest level of response they can muster.” - Middle School Teacher

​

⬇️ What’s been your experience level with this type of choice? ⬇️

Choosing resources to use

“Guide students in how to research, but don’t point them to every possible resource. Help foster independent learning by giving them the choice in what they are learning from.” - Middle School Teacher

⬇️ What’s been your experience level with this type of choice? ⬇️

CREDIT: @msgreeneedu

A teacher shares how she uses the website Diffit to adapt text to provide students with different reading difficulty levels (0:57)

🤔 What did you notice or wonder while watching the video?

CREDIT: @coffeefueledclassroom

A elementary teacher explains how she offers students choice on materials (0:56)

🤔 What did you notice or wonder while watching the video?

Choosing what they need to work on

“When I have my students begin the revision stage of essay writing, I always have them first state what they choose to have me provide targeted feedback on. In so doing, they not only show me that they are reflective and aware of the skill they need to work on, but they also pay closer attention to the feedback overall.” - Middle School Teacher

⬇️ What’s been your experience level with this type of choice? ⬇️

Choosing which rubric to be scored on

“If students feel they are ready, they can attach the advanced rubric to their essay or if they feel they aren’t quite ready for that challenge, they can be assessed using a more standard or grade-level rubric. Rubrics can also be used to assess different elements of an assignment, and students can select the rubric to match that goal.” - Middle School Teacher

⬇️ What’s been your experience level with this type of choice? ⬇️

Choosing people to work with

“As a teacher, you can still maintain some control by giving students input. Poll them to see the four students they would most want to work with and then give them the guarantee that at least one of those students will be working with them.” - Middle School Teacher

⬇️ What’s been your experience level with this type of choice? ⬇️

Choosing seating

“In my classroom, I have bean bag chairs, standing desks with bar stools, video game chairs, small group tables, and plenty of carpet. Different kids like to work in different positions. Some like to work under tables or facing walls. I call them “cave dwellers.” Others like to stand at the taller tables, dismissing chairs altogether.” - Middle School Teacher

⬇️ What’s been your experience level with this type of choice? ⬇️

Choosing scaffolds

“I’m not a fan of dictating what Thinking Map to use or if a student needs to use one at all. However, if they learned one earlier that they continue to rely on, why not allow them to use it? There might also be a different kind of graphic organizer they prefer. Perhaps a student likes using Cornell Notes, while others prefer index cards.” - Middle School Teacher

⬇️ What’s been your experience level with this type of choice? ⬇️

Choosing deadlines

“Once I have introduced a long-term assignment, I generally open up a window of dates for students to choose from. I send out a Google Form that allows students to select from a drop-down menu of choices. Their selection then seeds a spreadsheet automatically that I can sort by date. The date they select is their firm deadline.” - Middle School Teacher

⬇️ What’s been your experience level with this type of choice? ⬇️

Turn & talk

• What ideas do you have for how to build up and/or maintain a habit of using this strategy consistently (e.g., the tracking system he mentioned to “keep you accountable”)?
• What are some potential barriers to effectively using this strategy? How could they potentially be overcome?
• What’s the first thing you’re going to do to carry this forward?