Unlocking Every Learner’s Potential

Every classroom is unique. Each group of students brings different skills, interests, and needs, which can make planning, instruction, and assessment feel like a constant balancing act. As educators, it’s our responsibility to meet every student where they are. This means becoming adept at scaffolding and differentiation.

To tailor our teaching effectively, we start by gathering and analyzing data. While data might seem daunting to some, it’s actually the lifeline of effective teaching–it shows us where we’re succeeding and where we can improve. Both summative and formative assessments help us fine-tune our approach. One of the simplest yet powerful tools for daily data collection is the exit ticket. These quick end-of-class prompts let us see what each student learned, retained, or might still need to work on. In her article “30 Exit Ticket Ideas and Examples for Immediate Feedback,” teacher Elizabeth Mulvahill shares a range of ready-to-use exit ticket templates that make collecting student feedback fun and easy.  These tools can be invaluable for making informed adjustments to boost student performance. 

Once we have our data–whether from exit tickets, quizzes, or benchmarks–we can begin grouping students in ways that maximize learning. Some effective grouping strategies include:

  • Skill-Based Grouping – grouping students with similar skill levels (e.g., students needing more practice with fractions)
  • Interest-Based Grouping – grouping students with shared interests (e.g., students interested in a specific genre of book)
  • Readiness-Based Grouping – grouping students based on their readiness level which is often determined by pre-assessment data (e.g., readiness for advanced math concepts)

These are just a few examples, and more can be found in “Grouping Strategies.” With thoughtfully arranged groups, we can then plan for differentiation and scaffolding.

Differentiation is all about customizing instruction based on each student’s readiness, interests, or learning style. For example, a tiered activity might assign the same core task with slight adjustments for each group:

  • High Level: write a paragraph summarizing the story and analyzing the theme
  • Mid-Level: write a paragraph summarizing the story
  • Lower Level: complete the sentence frames to summarize the story

The goal remains the same across groups, but each group has a path that meets them where they are, with the higher-level group delving into theme analysis as well. Other popular differentiation techniques include choice boards and graphic organizers, and you can find more ideas in this curated list of strategies.

Scaffolding, on the other hand, means breaking learning down into manageable steps and providing supports that fade as students gain confidence and independence. The Gradual Release of Responsibility Model, often called “I Do, We Do, You Do,” is a popular scaffolding technique. In this model:

  • In the “I Do” phase, the teacher demonstrates the task.
  • In the “We Do” phase, the teacher and students complete it together.
  • In the “You Do” phase, students tackle the task independently

Teachers may find they need to cycle through phases more than once or spend extra time on one phase to ensure understanding, but this method helps students achieve mastery step by step.

Differentiation and scaffolding may seem daunting at first, but with practice and planning, these techniques will make your daily instruction more engaging and effective. Over time, they become second nature, empowering both you and your students to achieve greater success. 

Authors: Cameron Gupton and Bradley Sasser, East Carolina University

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