Editing Differentiated Instruction (section)

== <span style="color: #FFFFFF;">Understanding</span> ==
Differentiated instruction is understood through '''Variety''' and '''Responsiveness'''.

'''1. The Three Levers (Content, Process, Product)''':
A teacher doesn't have to change everything at once.
* '''Content''': A advanced reader gets a "Harder book," while a struggling reader gets the "Same story" with easier words.
* '''Process''': Some students build a "LEGO model" to learn about atoms; others read a "Scientific paper."
* '''Product''': At the end of a history unit, one student writes an "Essay," another creates a "Podcast," and another draws a "Comic book."

'''2. Proactive, not Reactive''':
Differentiation is not "Fixing" a lesson that failed.
* It is **planning** the lesson from the start with the assumption that students will be different.
* It's like a "Buffet" rather than a "Set Menu"—the teacher provides multiple options for how to get to the same nutritional goal.

'''3. Fairness as Growth, not Sameness''':
In a DI classroom, "Fair" means that everyone gets what they need to "Grow."
* If one student is already an expert at math, it is "Unfair" to make them do 50 basic addition problems. They need "Harder" work to keep growing.

'''The 'High-Floor, Low-Ceiling' Task'''': A type of assignment where the "Floor" is low enough for everyone to start (e.g., "Find a shape in this room"), but the "Ceiling" is high enough for the most advanced students to keep going (e.g., "...and calculate its volume and its relation to the Golden Ratio").
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