the pedagogical question

While working with César and Jonathan, I discovered something interesting:

I had two sets of flash cards, one quizzed multiplication, the other quizzed division. César, a fifth grader, feels comfortable with both operations. Jonathan, a third grader, is wary of division. I gave César the multiplication flash cards and Jonathan the division cards. Jonathan would use the cards to quiz César and César would quiz Jonathan. We made a game of it: they would take turns quizzing each other and would score a point for each correct answer. At the end we tallied the scores and César, the fifth grader quizzed in division, tied with Jonathan, the third grader quizzed in multiplication. I think they had fun.

So what's interesting about this you ask? It is an example of differentiated learning and instruction.

In our reality, we serve children of different ages, grade levels, skills, talents, and needs. We do not have the manpower to provide each child with one-on-one time to address this multitude. However, if we present content in a manner that recognizes this individuality and emphasizes the shared experience that is active learning, we may be able to better serve these little ones.

And heck, it may be lots of fun too!

Cheers,

C