Differentiation Tips for Teachers: Simplified Strategies
Practical Explicit Teaching & Differentiation Tips for Every Student in Every Classroom.
Differentiation. For many teachers, just hearing the word can conjure images of endless planning, stacks of different scaffolded activities, and hours spent at your desk when you should be recharging with friends and family. It's often painted as this massive, complex undertaking. But what if it didn't have to be?
Imagine a classroom where every single student is challenged, supported, and truly engaged. That's differentiation, simplified. This isn't a pipe dream or something that requires you to sacrifice your personal life. It's about a strategic approach that aligns perfectly with the principles of explicit teaching.
A common misconception about explicit teaching is that it doesn’t allow for differentiation. But here’s the truth: differentiation isn’t about giving students different content from the start—it’s about ensuring every student gets the support they need after the initial instruction.
That’s why in explicit teaching, all students begin with the same worked, modeled example—a clear, structured demonstration of the skill or concept. This ensures that every student, regardless of their starting point, has access to high-quality instruction. The real differentiation happens in the steps that follow:
The Powerful Pivot: Differentiation in Explicit Teaching Delivery
Want to make differentiation less overwhelming and more effective? It comes down to these core practices, all woven into your daily instruction and the way you deliver explicit teaching strategies:
1. Daily Review: Your Real-Time Diagnostic Tool
More than just retrieval practice, your Daily Review is a powerful tool for identifying learning gaps and differentiating on the fly.
How it works: As students engage in quick review tasks, you can instantly assess which concepts need further reinforcement. This isn't about marking; it's about observing.
Differentiation in Action: Do just a few students need a reteach in a small group? Or is there a widespread misconception that requires a quick whole-class review? Your Daily Review helps you make those instructional decisions in real time, no extra planning required.
2. Check for Understanding: Strategic Engagement for Immediate Insights
This is where strategic engagement tactics give you critical information about student’s progress towards the learning intention.
How it works: Implement check for understanding throughout the lesson, like cold calling, think-pair-share, and mini whiteboards throughout your lesson.
Differentiation in Action: These methods give you instant insight into which students can apply the skill, helping you decide who needs additional support before moving on. You can identify who's ready for the next step, which students require additional scaffolding or guided activities and who needs a quick one-on-one check-in.
3. Guided Practice: Tailoring Support in the 'We Do'
The 'We Do' phase of explicit teaching – Guided Practice – is your prime opportunity for agile differentiation.
How it works: As students begin to apply the skill with your guidance, you observe closely.
Differentiation in Action: Some students may immediately grasp the concept and be ready for less support. Others may need more teacher-led examples, additional scaffolds (like graphic organisers, faded guidance or problem pairs), or small-group instruction with additional guided examples or even the targeting of specific skills for select students. Guided Practice is where flexible grouping comes into play, ensuring each student gets the right level of support as they work.
👉 Looking for more examples of differentiation in Guided Practice?
The Guided Practice Deep Dive includes 15 strategies, visual scaffolds, and real lesson delivery examples to help you support every learner — without doubling your planning time.
4. Independent Practice: Adjusting Scaffolding for Mastery
Differentiation doesn’t mean giving completely different tasks during independent practice. It’s about adjusting the level of scaffolding to ensure every student is working at an appropriate challenge level.
How it works: Students apply the skill on their own, demonstrating their understanding.
Differentiation in Action: Offer tiered problems, provide sentence starters for written responses, checklists, additional modelled examples, or have challenge extensions ready for those who have mastered the core skill. The goal is for every student to achieve mastery, not just to complete a task.
The Payoff: Clarity, Mastery, and Your Weekends Back
When done well, explicit teaching doesn’t just ensure clarity—it creates a responsive learning environment where students get exactly what they need to succeed. This isn't about doing more; it's about doing what's necessary with precision during your teaching time. When differentiation for teachers is simplified and integrated into your explicit teaching delivery, it becomes a powerful tool that empowers both you and your students, without eating into your personal time.
Brolga Education
Created by Trudy Mayo — explicit teaching specialist & curriculum writer.
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