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A Teacher’s Guide to Differentiated Instruction

Differentiated instruction is still a challenge for teachers because of the logistics and time required to implement it. We know it’s important, but we’re often at a loss as to how we make it happen.

This post will take you through everything you need to know about differentiated instruction and equip you with actionable strategies. You’ll be better placed to serve the learning needs of every individual in your class.

What is differentiated instruction?

Differentiation is the process of adapting learning experiences to cater to students of mixed ability.

To meet the needs of different students, a teacher might differentiate their:

• content: the actual subject matter of their teaching
• instruction: their teaching strategies and methods
• product: the result that students produce
• environment: the space where learning occurs.

Why differentiated instruction is important

In any given class, some students will struggle while others whip through the curriculum and complain about it being “too easy”. In between these groups exists a wide range of different ability levels.

The range of abilities and student learning styles has been further widened by the move to inclusive education. Increasingly, mainstream classrooms are home to students who might previously have occupied special education programs. For example:

• students with psychological or behavioral disorders
• gifted students
• students with physical disabilities
• students from different linguistic backgrounds
• students with cognitive or learning disorders (e.g. dysgraphia, dyslexia).

Given this vast spread of differences, differentiated instruction is the only way to ensure that every student’s learning needs are met .

Here’s how teachers can differentiate across content, instruction, product, and environment for different learners.

How to differentiate learning content

If students are engaging with the learning content at different levels, you can use one of the following differentiation strategies.

Include a range of difficulty levels in each activity

A single activity might have tiered levels of difficulty, or you might assign different activities to strategically grouped students.

Present learning content in multiple modes

Students will have different preferences when it comes to engaging with the learning material. A verbal explanation might do the trick for some, while others might better understand a diagram or infographic. You can also introduce technology for audio and visual presentations of key concepts.

Set support homework or challenge assignments

Homework can be designed as a source of support or extension for the students who need it. Success, however, is dependent on making students feel as if it isn’t extra work.

Make support homework low-stakes and accessible. Let students set their own due dates and explain that the goal is improvement as opposed to performance. One strategy is to meet one-on-one and go over the work together once it has been completed.

Pitch extension homework as an engaging challenge and connect it with students’ real areas of interest. For example, they could track their performance in a video game over the week and represent the data in a graph.

Pull-out groups

Meet with small groups to revise learning content in a slower and less pressurized environment. You can also use pull-outs to provide extension for more advanced learners.

This requires a substantial time investment, but it has powerful benefits. Pitch it as a “club” to build a sense of community in the group.

How to differentiate by process

Adapt your own instructional strategies to differentiate for varied ability levels. Consider the following.

Adjust your level of involvement

Your level of involvement can be adapted to suit the needs of different learners. For example, if a particular group needs support, you might step them through more intensive direct instruction. On the other hand, students who are already confident may benefit from a more independent approach to the same activity. This approach works best if you have grouped students by ability level (see below).

Strategic groups

Grouping students by ability level makes the entire differentiation process easier to manage. Once learners of similar ability are in the same place you can:

• hover in the vicinity of groups that need more support, so you are on hand to intervene and assist
• assign differentiated work sets
• coordinate a jigsaw activity, where different groups do tasks at varying levels of difficulty but combine for the final product.

Don’t worry if there is still some variation in ability within the groups. It allows students to learn from each other.

Giving extra time for an activity provides support for struggling learners who struggle to finish. It also encourages more able students to think about the topic in further depth.

Strategic partners

Coordinate a pair activity that partners less able students with more confident peers. Struggling students are not the only ones who will benefit. More able students will consolidate their understanding by explaining the same concept to their partner.

Use hands-on learning strategies

Some students will benefit from using physical objects to fully understand a concept. Try modeling clay, countable objects, or post-it notes that can be visually rearranged.

How to differentiate by output

Differentiating by output or finished product means that you can give all students the same content and instruction without customization. The differentiation lies in what students do with that content.

Use the following strategies to differentiate by output:

Specify differentiated products

The simplest way to differentiate by output is to specify different products for students of different ability levels.

For example, there might be three different comprehension tasks for learners of different ability levels:

• Level 1: produce a timeline of literal events in the text
• Level 2: produce a short-answer response to a given question
• Level 3: write a paragraph discussing one idea from the text you found interesting.

Note: in this example, the tasks are differentiated by quality as opposed to quantity . Avoid creating tasks that are “challenging” simply because they require students to produce more work.

Give students a choice of final product

Students could demonstrate their learning in the form of a written piece, drawing, diagram, presentation, or multimedia project.

When giving students a choice, bear in mind the assessment criteria or learning you wish to see. You may have to narrow the parameters in order to ensure every student engages with the curriculum.

Allow students to develop a product of their own

If your students are older, let them come up with the product independently. It helps if you have a clear rubric or explicit outcomes that you can use to ensure expectations are clear.

How to differentiate the learning environment

The classroom environment itself can be differentiated to meet the needs of different learners. Consider how your students learn best and how you might factor this into the design of the space. Here are some ideas.

Teach students that everyone learns differently

Help your students to understand that while some people might like learning actively with talk and movement, other peers may prefer quiet, independent work. This joint understanding will help to develop a classroom environment where every learner’s needs are respected.

Designate different spaces for different types of activity

Combine collaborative zones with spaces for independent and quiet work. You could also use beanbags and cushions to create comfortable pull-out areas that are differentiated from the regular classroom order.

This requires time and resources, but you can start small. Students could create signs that designate certain areas of the room as different zones, for example.

Develop classroom management strategies for a harmonious environment

Classroom management strategies allow you to adjust aspects of the environment as you need. For example, you might reduce noise level, transition into a different activity, or put a stop to distracting behavior.

Find our list of classroom management strategies here .

Incorporate materials that reflect student diversity

Our classrooms should adapt to the increasingly multicultural profile of our students. Ask students to bring in something representative of their culture or home and collaboratively use these to decorate the room. This gives all students a unique connection to the environment.

Why differentiation is challenging

The concept of differentiation is hardly new, yet many teachers still find it difficult to implement it in a regular classroom setting. This is largely due to the following challenges.

Lack of administrative support: school leaders may not provide the resources or time allowances required to meet different learner needs.

Fear of straying from the curriculum: teachers perceive that adjusting the content of their classes may result in poor or inaccurate assessment results.

Logistical challenges: implementing multiple activities or teaching approaches in a single classroom is not easy and requires strong classroom management strategies.

Time spent planning: planning multiple sets of learning takes time that teachers do not have.

Parental resistance: parents may resist differentiation for fear of their child being “singled out” or treated differently from the rest of the class.

5 easy ways to get started with differentiated instruction

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the challenges that seemingly stand in the way of differentiation, start small .

You don’t need to prepare multiple lesson plans or resource sets. Instead you can take simple initiatives such as the following.

Open-ended questioning

This staple of the teacher toolkit is a powerful differentiation strategy in its own right. Asking open-ended questions invites responses from every member of the class — regardless of their ability level.

Avoid fishing for “right” or one-word answers. Solicit opinions and thoughts instead. When students respond, indicate their responses are valued by engaging them further (e.g. “Interesting. What makes you say that?”).

Give choice

Giving students choice wherever possible is one of the easiest ways of differentiating your classroom. For example, you could:

• give students the option of working solo or in a group for an activity
• ask students what order they would like to do tasks in
• give students the option of accelerating through content or revising further
• ask students where and how they would like to work on a given activity.

Differentiate homework

If time and logistics make differentiation challenging in a live classroom environment, make it part of homework instead. For example, Mathletics and Reading Eggs allow you to assign differentiated work sets to individual students or groups depending on ability.

Using homework for differentiation spares you the difficulty of managing multiple activities and groups at once in the classroom.

Get parent help

Similarly, if classroom differentiation is not an option, you can seek parent support in providing students with tailored learning opportunities. Explain that you have some extra initiatives for their child to take at home for the purpose of support or extension. They can do their part to keep their child motivated and accountable.

As mentioned previously, not all parents will be open to differentiation, so tread carefully. Frame your suggestions as a means to progress, rather than emphasizing the student’s disadvantage.

Resource libraries

Students can also access differentiated resources independently if you provide them. Upload a variety of resources to your LMS and direct students to the ones appropriate to their level. Again, this spares you the logistical challenges of instructing multiple groups at once in class.

Leveraging technology for achievable and effective differentiation

Try as we might, providing constant tailored instruction for every individual just isn’t feasible in a classroom of 25+ students. Yet technology can be immensely powerful in bringing you closer to this goal. For example, you can:

Use gamified programs that provide individual learning paths

Gamified programs can respond to the needs of individual students by creating differentiated learning experiences. For example, our Mathletics and Reading Eggs programs place each student on a personal lesson track automatically tailored to their ability level. They can work their way through their personal learning journey at home or in class, without you having to juggle different activities for every student.

Use programs to group students by ability level and assign work

Learning programs remove the challenge of coordinating differentiated groups in the classroom. Both programs allow you to arrange your class into groups, and you can then assign differentiated digital activities as per their ability level. You don’t need to create the activities, either. Each program comes with an inbuilt resource library containing hundreds of activities, workbooks, and worksheets.

You can also assign self-created resources to different students on a platform such as Google Classroom or Microsoft OneNote. With all assignments and activities digital, there’s no need to wrestle with the photocopier for multiple sets of paper resources.

Use data from programs to inform classroom differentiation

Digital differentiation can be used to inform the tailored learning experiences you deliver in the classroom. For example, our programs Reading Eggs and Mathletics automatically mark student activities and track results, which can then inform other components of your teaching. If you notice that certain students have struggled with a fractions module on Mathletics, you might set up a pull-out group.

While differentiation is challenging, even for experienced teachers, learning programs can help you take the first steps. An account with either program gives you the power to differentiate with ease, and grants your students access to individual learning journeys that build directly off your curriculum content. We’re confident they’ll love it just as much as the other three million students who currently use our programs globally.

Make differentiation part of your daily routine with our learning programs

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Creating a Homework Policy With Meaning and Purpose

• Tips & Strategies
• An Introduction to Teaching
• Policies & Discipline
• Community Involvement
• School Administration
• Technology in the Classroom
• Teaching Adult Learners
• Issues In Education
• Teaching Resources
• Becoming A Teacher
• Assessments & Tests
• Elementary Education
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• M.Ed., Educational Administration, Northeastern State University
• B.Ed., Elementary Education, Oklahoma State University

We have all had time-consuming, monotonous, meaningless homework assigned to us at some point in our life. These assignments often lead to frustration and boredom and students learn virtually nothing from them. Teachers and schools must reevaluate how and why they assign homework to their students. Any assigned homework should have a purpose.

Assigning homework with a purpose means that through completing the assignment, the student will be able to obtain new knowledge, a new skill, or have a new experience that they may not otherwise have. Homework should not consist of a rudimentary task that is being assigned simply for the sake of assigning something. Homework should be meaningful. It should be viewed as an opportunity to allow students to make real-life connections to the content that they are learning in the classroom. It should be given only as an opportunity to help increase their content knowledge in an area.

Differentiate Learning for All Students

Furthermore, teachers can utilize homework as an opportunity to differentiate learning for all students. Homework should rarely be given with a blanket "one size fits all" approach. Homework provides teachers with a significant opportunity to meet each student where they are and truly extend learning. A teacher can give their higher-level students more challenging assignments while also filling gaps for those students who may have fallen behind. Teachers who use homework as an opportunity to differentiate we not only see increased growth in their students, but they will also find they have more time in class to dedicate to whole group instruction .

See Student Participation Increase

Creating authentic and differentiated homework assignments can take more time for teachers to put together. As often is the case, extra effort is rewarded. Teachers who assign meaningful, differentiated, connected homework assignments not only see student participation increase, they also see an increase in student engagement. These rewards are worth the extra investment in time needed to construct these types of assignments.

Schools must recognize the value in this approach. They should provide their teachers with professional development that gives them the tools to be successful in transitioning to assign homework that is differentiated with meaning and purpose. A school's homework policy should reflect this philosophy; ultimately guiding teachers to give their students reasonable, meaningful, purposeful homework assignments.

Sample School Homework Policy

Homework is defined as the time students spend outside the classroom in assigned learning activities. Anywhere Schools believes the purpose of homework should be to practice, reinforce, or apply acquired skills and knowledge. We also believe as research supports that moderate assignments completed and done well are more effective than lengthy or difficult ones done poorly.

Homework serves to develop regular study skills and the ability to complete assignments independently. Anywhere Schools further believes completing homework is the responsibility of the student, and as students mature they are more able to work independently. Therefore, parents play a supportive role in monitoring completion of assignments, encouraging students’ efforts and providing a conducive environment for learning.

Individualized Instruction

Homework is an opportunity for teachers to provide individualized instruction geared specifically to an individual student. Anywhere Schools embraces the idea that each student is different and as such, each student has their own individual needs. We see homework as an opportunity to tailor lessons specifically for an individual student meeting them where they are and bringing them to where we want them to be. 

Homework contributes toward building responsibility, self-discipline, and lifelong learning habits. It is the intention of the Anywhere School staff to assign relevant, challenging, meaningful, and purposeful homework assignments that reinforce classroom learning objectives. Homework should provide students with the opportunity to apply and extend the information they have learned complete unfinished class assignments, and develop independence.

The actual time required to complete assignments will vary with each student’s study habits, academic skills, and selected course load. If your child is spending an inordinate amount of time doing homework, you should contact your child’s teachers.

• Homework Guidelines for Elementary and Middle School Teachers
• 6 Teaching Strategies to Differentiate Instruction
• Essential Strategies to Help You Become an Outstanding Student
• An Overview of Renaissance Learning Programs
• Classroom Assessment Best Practices and Applications
• How Scaffolding Instruction Can Improve Comprehension
• The Whys and How-tos for Group Writing in All Content Areas
• Creating a Great Lesson to Maximize Student Learning
• Gradual Release of Responsibility Creates Independent Learners
• How Much Homework Should Students Have?
• 7 Reasons to Enroll Your Child in an Online Elementary School
• Teaching Strategies to Promote Student Equity and Engagement
• Effective Classroom Policies and Procedures
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Differentiate to Simplify Homework

Homework is one of my least favorite parts of teaching. In fact, I’d go as far as to say it’s a major barrier to strong home-school relationships .

I am either getting calls that I’ve given too much or I am getting calls that I’ve given too little. Sometimes it is the same child’s parents calling on opposite sides of the fence. At my campus, homework is not optional, and even if it were, the majority of parents want to see something coming home for their child to work on after school.

My least favorite thing about homework?

That moment happens on Thursday afternoon about 10 minutes before dismissal when someone raises their hand to tell me they can’t find their assignment and need another. This is typically followed up by agreement from 2-3 other friends who have also lost, torn, or mangled their once pristine homework sheet.

Homework Trial & Error

“But there are other ways,” you might say.

Yep, I know. I’ve tried so many of them I cannot tell you. I’ve tried the homework logs with just reading and math minutes. They were great until somewhere around November when the forged signatures and missing papers began to occur.

I’ve tried online homework and only giving printed homework to parents who requested it. That didn’t work either. I’ve done review sheets that cover the topics we are learning or just finished.

I’ve tried the Whole Brain Teaching method (which I will give it credit, worked great for a whole year at my old school…but it didn’t make the transition to the new school quite so well. There’s more, but I think you get the point.

This year I have decided to try something different. I think…well, hope…this is going to be just the solution I have been looking for. What is it? Here’s a peek…(or skip to the bottom and cut to the chase to see how it worked!)

How I finally conquered homework headaches

After trying so many things, I worried that homework would always just be one of those pieces of teaching elementary grades that annoyed me.

Then I created a homework BINGO board using the campus requirements for reading and math homework. The kids went nuts! They LOVED it! My homework completion rate went through the roof, and I had students trying to see who could get blackouts on their bingo board.

The best part was the parents loved it, too! No longer was I getting last-minute emails for extra copies of a math sheet. The calls complaining I gave too much or too little homework stopped within the first week. I also stopped getting notes about busy schedules and the inability to finish homework.

Homework BINGO had successfully handed control over to the parents to decide how much homework their child needed to complete that week.

How did I create Homework BINGO?

Since I wanted to make sure that my students had choice in their assignment, I created a board with 25 spaces. The requirement was that 10 are completed across the week. The tasks in each box were designed to take between 5-20 minutes, allowing parents and students to decide what tasks fit into their schedule and when.

Organizing the differentiated homework system

It was important that I had a plan to prevent lost homework. In years past, I had picked up poly folders with prongs. They were great and hold up all year, but at 50 cents on sale during back-to-school, they added up quickly.

That is why I decided to go with a notebook system. I’ve always had students keep one notebook in their folder for scrap paper or writing, so it wasn’t a huge change. The students glued their board right into their notebook along with their spelling words. This kept everything in one place.

Since I was able to get a class set of notebooks for under $2.50, this was a huge money saver for me. Even if my students each used two notebooks during the year, I was making half the investment of prior years. Definitely a win-win.

Incorporating technology into homework

My students loved technology and most of them had access to a tablet or computer at home. I offered students some digital options by adding a few squares that allowed students to use the educational software and programs my campus subscribed to.

This offered them a chance to use these resources as a part of their homework without punishing those students who did not have access to a computer or the internet at home.

Even with these squares, I had more than enough spots to offer students without technology the ability to complete their homework easily. However, this option let me engage my tech-minded learners, too.

Adding an incentive plan.

When I introduced the process to my students, I told them that any student who gets BINGO would be entered into a drawing to be our line leader the following week. Not sure what it is about line leader, but even my student who doesn’t seem to like anything will try to run over everyone in his or her path to get to the front of the line.

I also added a group incentive. Any week where all my students turned in their board with any 10 squares complete, they could earn lunch in the classroom on Friday.

What does differentiated homework look like?

Here’s a board I created. As you can see, I tried to include a little something for all my learners, including my below-level and advanced students. I also tried to create a system that encouraged students to try new things.

You’ll notice lots of reading spots on the example below. Some are offered as a free choice in fiction or nonfiction, but others have a specific topic or genre to encourage those readers who tend to just read the same series or book over and over again to branch out a bit.

I did the same thing for writing, and each week the topics are slightly different to keep the homework fresh and engaging.

How does this address students with incomplete or failed assignments?

The first question my husband asked was, “What about a free space?”

It’s there, but with a little twist. Do you see that spot in the middle? For my friends who don’t have work to fix, that is the free space.

Typically, I have a handful of students who rush, skip problems, or don’t read directions and end up with a failing grade on an assignment. This happens despite the fact we go over the directions together, try 2-3 problems as guided practice, and talk about the importance of checking our work using our class checklist together. Our district policy is to allow students to redo these assignments to get up to 70% credit.

I use the free space on the homework board to give students who need to redo or correct assignments a chance to get credit for doing this as homework. It also speeds up the process for me because they tend to bring them back the next week.

In my old system, these assignments would trickle in as the final days of the quarter approached, which meant I got to spend the weekend before report cards were due grading a big stack of assignments that covered the past nine weeks of school. It drove me bonkers, and it did the child no good because the learning moment has passed so long ago.

Was differentiated homework effective?

I’ve used Homework BINGO for two years now, and I have to say I LOVE IT!!!

As I mentioned before, I no longer get calls from parents about the homework and how it is way too much for their child or way too little because they get to pick how much or how little their child does.

Each year I have some kids who bring back a completed (yes, all 25 spots) board each week. Others do the minimum. Either way, they are learning study habits, meeting school homework expectations, and they are not spending hours doing homework (unless their family decides they should be).

I don’t think I would ever want to go back to regular homework assignments after using this system.

How to use a Homework Bingo system in your classroom

If you’re thinking this might be a good fit for your classroom, I highly recommend you try it out to see. You can easily create your own boards using Microsoft Powerpoint and inserting a table onto your slides, but if you’re short on time, you can purchase an editable version of what I use in my classroom by clicking the button below.

I’ve created an editable version of this resource so you can adjust the assignments for your campus’ homework requirements and technology resources.

All 25 boxes on the templates are editable so you can adjust them to fit your needs. However, you can also use them just the way they are for a print & go solution to homework.

Note: To use the editable version, which is in PowerPoint, you’ll need to download one font. You can grab the font for free here: KG Second Chances

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Deep Dive: Differentiated Homework

This guide is for anyone who has ever wondered about the benefits of differentiated homework, how to apply it to your classroom or wants to assess the success of your current differentiated homework, discover:

- The benefits of differentiated homework - How you can apply it to your classroom - The origin of differentiated homework

Transform the way you approach differentiated homework in your classroom.

Topic: Homework, Independent Learning

Type: Guide

Download free guide

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Year 2- Differentiated Time Worksheets - White Rose Style

Subject: Mathematics

Age range: 5-7

Resource type: Worksheet/Activity

Last updated

11 July 2020

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5 differentiated lessons for a week of o’ clock, half past, quarter to and quarter past.

L1- O’ Clock and Half Past- Reading the Time

L2 -O’ Clock and Half Past- Drawing Hands on a Clock

L3- Quarter Past and Quarter To - Reading the Time

L4 - Quarter Past and Quarter To -Drawing Hands on a Clock

L5- Mix of all Above Lessons

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Great worksheets thanks so much. We’ve spotted a mistake on the answer sheet for worksheet 1 the last line 11 half and hour ago should be 9 o’clock, half past 2 and half past 8.

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Fantastic resources, thank you!

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Rethinking Homework for This Year—and Beyond

A schoolwide effort to reduce homework has led to a renewed focus on ensuring that all work assigned really aids students’ learning.

I used to pride myself on my high expectations, including my firm commitment to accountability for regular homework completion among my students. But the trauma of Covid-19 has prompted me to both reflect and adapt. Now when I think about the purpose and practice of homework, two key concepts guide me: depth over breadth, and student well-being.

Homework has long been the subject of intense debate, and there’s no easy answer with respect to its value. Teachers assign homework for any number of reasons: It’s traditional to do so, it makes students practice their skills and solidify learning, it offers the opportunity for formative assessment, and it creates good study habits and discipline. Then there’s the issue of pace. Throughout my career, I’ve assigned homework largely because there just isn’t enough time to get everything done in class.

A Different Approach

Since classes have gone online, the school where I teach has made a conscious effort as a teaching community to reduce, refine, and distill our curriculum. We have applied guiding questions like: What is most important? What is most transferable? What is most relevant? Refocusing on what matters most has inevitably made us rethink homework.

We have approached both asking and answering these questions through a science of learning lens. In Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning , the authors maintain that deep learning is slow learning. Deep learning requires time for retrieval, practice, feedback, reflection, and revisiting content; ultimately it requires struggle, and there is no struggle without time.

As someone who has mastered the curriculum mapping style of “get it done to move on to get that next thing done,” using an approach of “slow down and reduce” has been quite a shift for me. However, the shift has been necessary: What matters most is what’s best for my students, as opposed to my own plans or mandates imposed by others.

Listening to Students

To implement this shift, my high school English department has reduced content and texts both in terms of the amount of units and the content within each unit. We’re more flexible with dates and deadlines. We spend our energy planning the current unit instead of the year’s units. In true partnership with my students, I’m constantly checking in with them via Google forms, Zoom chats, conferences, and Padlet activities. In these check-ins, I specifically ask students how they’re managing the workload for my class and their other classes. I ask them how much homework they’re doing. And I adjust what I do and expect based on what they tell me. For example, when I find out a week is heavy with work in other classes, I make sure to allot more time during class for my tasks. At times I have even delayed or altered one of my assignments.

To be completely transparent, the “old” me is sheepish in admitting that I’ve so dramatically changed my thinking with respect to homework. However, both my students and I have reaped numerous benefits. I’m now laser-focused when designing every minute of my lessons to maximize teaching and learning. Every decision I make is now scrutinized through the lens of absolute worth for my students’ growth: If it doesn’t make the cut, it’s cut. I also take into account what is most relevant to my students.

For example, our 10th-grade English team has redesigned a unit that explores current manifestations of systemic oppression. This unit is new in approach and longer in duration than it was pre-Covid, and it has resulted in some of the deepest and hardest learning, as well as the richest conversations, that I have seen among students in my career. Part of this improved quality comes from the frequent and intentional pauses that I instruct students to take in order to reflect on the content and on the arc of their own learning. The reduction in content that we need to get through in online learning has given me more time to assign reflective prompts, and to let students process their thoughts, whether that’s at the end of a lesson as an exit slip or as an assignment.

Joining Forces to Be Consistent

There’s no doubt this reduction in homework has been a team effort. Within the English department, we have all agreed to allot reading time during class; across each grade level, we’re monitoring the amount of homework our students have collectively; and across the whole high school, we have adopted a framework to help us think through assigning homework.

Within that framework, teachers at the school agree that the best option is for students to complete all work during class. The next best option is for students to finish uncompleted class work at home as a homework assignment of less than 30 minutes. The last option—the one we try to avoid as much as possible—is for students to be assigned and complete new work at home (still less than 30 minutes). I set a maximum time limit for students’ homework tasks (e.g., 30 minutes) and make that clear at the top of every assignment.

This schoolwide approach has increased my humility as a teacher. In the past, I tended to think my subject was more important than everyone else’s, which gave me license to assign more homework. But now I view my students’ experience more holistically: All of their classes and the associated work must be considered, and respected.

As always, I ground this new pedagogical approach not just in what’s best for students’ academic learning, but also what’s best for them socially and emotionally. 2020 has been traumatic for educators, parents, and students. There is no doubt the level of trauma varies greatly ; however, one can’t argue with the fact that homework typically means more screen time when students are already spending most of the day on their devices. They need to rest their eyes. They need to not be sitting at their desks. They need physical activity. They need time to do nothing at all.

Eliminating or reducing homework is a social and emotional intervention, which brings me to the greatest benefit of reducing the homework load: Students are more invested in their relationship with me now that they have less homework. When students trust me to take their time seriously, when they trust me to listen to them and adjust accordingly, when they trust me to care for them... they trust more in general.

And what a beautiful world of learning can be built on trust.

Differentiated Homework enables teachers to set differentiated tasks for students

Differentiated Homework enables teachers to set differentiated tasks for students. Any task can have up to five different categories or trays . Within each of these trays are different tasks. This provides a highly flexible and engaging way of setting homework.

Set a Differentiated Homework

To begin, click + Create task from the menu on the left and select Differentiated. You will then be taken to a form where you will fill in some general information about the task.

Create your trays

Differentiated Homework tasks are sorted into trays. You can add multiple tasks within each tray to create custom a pick-and-mix or take-away style of homework. You can rename a tray simply by clicking on its name ; press enter to Save your changes.

Add attachments to each task by dropping them on the upload area or click on Upload from my computer. Alternatively, store files on your My Drive in Satchel One for easy access from any device, or choose any of the other available options.

If you use Google Apps or Office 365 at school, you can upload attachments directly from Google Drive or OneDrive in a single click.

Add new Tray

Click 'Add new tray' to create a new one, type in a name and press enter to save.

New trays can be used to differentiate factors of your choice. For example difficulty, subject matter, or class groups for reading or maths. You can add up to five trays, so get creative: Starter/Main/Dessert, Mild/Spicy/Hot, Monday - Friday and so on!

Once you are happy with your differentiated homework, you can set the homework by pressing Publish assignment .

When you have completed the form, press Publish assignment .

💡 Top tip: Started a Differentiated Homework but don't have time to finish? Save it as a draft to come back to it later. You can find it again in My Resources > My drafts.

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Journal of Practitioner Research

• Scholar Commons

Home > Open Access Journals > JPR > Vol. 4 (2019) > Iss. 2

Differentiated homework: Impact on student engagement

Gearoid Keane , National University of Ireland Galway Follow Manuela Heinz , National University of Ireland Galway Follow

Author Biography

Mr. Gearóid Keane completed this practitioner research study as a Professional Master of Education student at the National University of Ireland Galway. Gearóid graduated in 2018 and is currently teaching at Enable Ireland Sandymount School for Special Education.

Dr. Manuela Heinz is a Lecturer and the Director of the Professional Master of Education at the National University of Ireland Galway. She has a strong interest in collaborative educational action research and supported Gearóid with the development and implementation of this study as his research supervisor.

This paper describes a mixed methods practitioner research study that aimed to enhance student engagement with homework. Based on a comprehensive literature review and data from a pre-study questionnaire, a differentiated homework strategy was designed by the teacher researcher. Students were assigned homework once a week to allow them to balance homework requirements more successfully with out-of-school activities. They were given a choice of three tasks each week, ranging from lower to higher difficulty levels. Task difficulty levels were not stated, nor were tasks ordered by difficulty. Students’ attitudes towards homework improved over the course of the study and completion rates increased to nearly 100 per cent. Task choice and effort were recorded. The analysis paid special attention to similarities and differences in the impact of the strategy on students of different ability levels. Suggestions for further development of differentiated homework strategies and associated research are provided in the conclusion.

https://doi.org/10.5038/2379-9951.4.2.1111

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Differentiated homework: Impact on student engagement

• October 2019
• Journal of Practitioner Research 4(2)
• This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.

• University of Galway

Homework – Differentiated

It is Sunday.

And tomorrow is Monday.

The Monday after three weeks of vacation.

It seems like I haven’t been to school in ages .  Ages, I said.  But I’m sure once I get there, I’ll remember what to do.  And I know I’m all prepped and planned and ready to go and everything is in its place.  Because I prepped and planned and got ready to go and made sure everything was in its place before I left.

But then I got a nagging feeling around three o’clock today.

Does that ever happen to you?

You’re all prepped and planned and you made your lunch (meaning you threw Easy Mac, a string cheese, a yogurt, an orange, and six Ritz crackers into a bag) and you found the Green Monday t-shirt all of your teammates and all of the other grade level teammates agreed to wear so we could wear jeans and Uggs or sneakers or whatever else will feel like slippers . . . and then you feel like you’re forgetting something.

It took me about an hour and then I remembered what I forgot.

I forgot to differentiate this week’s homework for two of my students who need some intervention.

It’s okay because the homework folders won’t go home until tomorrow.  They’re all ready to go, though, and just sitting in the students’ cubbies.  Told ya I was all prepped and ready to go.

Anywho, I thought, hey, maybe I should tell you what I use to differentiate homework for my kids so that it’s relatively easy on me and I don’t have to think too much.

Because, really, I have thirty-two kids (and when you read that, it should sound like I’m saying one hundred and two kids ) and I could literally spend all of my extra time  differentiating everything and then I would never have time for anything else and we all know I really like my reality TV.

I use my Kindergarten Morning Work packets.  I use these packets for both homework and daily class practice, as well.  It just depends.  

Call me spontaneous.  

What does your regular homework look like? I don't remember if you ever talked about it. That's one of my goals this year…to make homework be reflective of the work we accomplish each day and to differentiate it. Are you planning on making "Advanced" or 2nd grade morning work? Just wondering. Perhaps you could do a commissioned work. That would mean I would pay you to make 2nd grade morning work. 🙂

I will HELP Kimberly pay you to make differentiated 2nd grade morning work/homework! And long ago and far away, I used to teach 30 kindergartners in the morning and 30 kindergartners in the afternoon and DID feel like one hundred and thirty children. I send you strength and patience and a double-good dose of good humor–which you are already blessed with! I remember the exhaustion! ~Jennifer Stories and Songs in Second

Wow, three weeks?! That sure would be nice . . . After two weeks, I felt the same way, like I had been away a million years! I may or may not have had to memorize the daily schedule again!

Love to Learn

I wished I had 3 weeks off for winter break when I taught in the states. I would have to wait until only summer vacation to visit my friends and bf in Australia.

I just moved over and it's summer time now, so students get last 2 weeks of Dec and all of Jan for summer break. But they always get 2 weeks off after each semester. (I kind of like this deal better!)

LOVE Morning Work/Homework packets that use spiraling past and present skills for daily practice.

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Making Homework Matter- Differentiate The Homework

Sep 11, 2011 by Whitney Hoffman

In our book, Jenifer and I knew we’d have to address homework.  It’s one of the issues that constantly puts teachers, students and parents at odds.  The real issue with homework is that kids often don’t see the point and it seems like busy work, rather than something that seems to have value.  Can you blame kids? I can’t begin to tell you how many times my kids have said things like “She never checks the homework, so really, why should I do it?”  It’s not that they don’t understand the value of practice, but they do look at it as the teacher assigns homework, but seems not to care or be invested in whether the work is actually done or not.  Is it any wonder why they see no real reason to complete it and stop caring as well?

The New York Times wrote about the topic, in a great opinion piece entitled “The Trouble with Homework.”  One great quote is the following:

In a 2008 survey, one-third of parents polled rated the quality of their children’s homework assignments as fair or poor, and 4 in 10 said they believed that some or a great deal of homework was busywork. A new study, coming in the Economics of Education Review, reports that homework in science, English and history has “little to no impact” on student test scores. (The authors did note a positive effect for math homework.) Enriching children’s classroom learning requires making homework not shorter or longer, but smarter .

In the first chapter of our book, Jenifer and I came up with many ways teachers can differentiate the homework, making it more personally relevant for each child in the classroom.  In the best of circumstances, homework should be work that should be done individually, whether it’s practice, reflective work, or other work that frankly doesn’t require the audience and collaboration of the classroom itself.  By using homework to prepare for class discussions the next day, to make sure that students have critical pieces of projects dine and ready for group work and the like, makes it more likely that the homework will get done, and that it has meaning.

Making homework meaningful also means making class time more meaningful.  If you are together with thirty other students, shouldn’t this be a time to share ideas and collaborate?  To learn from and with each other?  If kids are spending class time doing things like sustained silent reading, this is in some ways wasting the purpose of spending time together in the class, unless the purpose of the exercise is learning to read in a library or public setting.

Assessments can also be part of homework,  Instead of looking at assessments as tests taken during the day, how about trying to give kids open ended questions or novel problems where they have to take what they’ve been learning and apply it to solve a bigger problem?  This gives kids more time to really display what they know, and show mastery (or lack thereof) on assignments in a way that  a multiple choice test in class never will.

We also encourage teachers to try to make homework interactive.  Sometimes this can be reading an article and commenting on it on a classroom blog or wiki.  It could be assembling artifacts about a topic on their own wiki, or with a group.  It could be participating in a discussion through Skype.  Any of these assignments give kids an opportunity to express themselves as well as serving as a jumping off point for classroom discussions the next day.

Homework shouldn’t be a punishment.  If a teacher adds extra homework when the kids are bad, kids will naturally start to associate any form of homework as a form of punishment, not just “discipline”, which in its most authentic form means To Teach.  Homework should  be an opportunity to extend learning, to make connections with the outside world, and start to see how the classroom learning connects with their larger lives.

Now I know full well that some kids need more practice than others, or may memorize things faster than others.  In which case, why do all kids need to do 35 math problems when some have mastered the concept in the first 5 or 6?  The rest of those problems, for those students, is mere repetition and sheer tedium, teaching them nothing new.  Teachers need to help figure out which students need more practice, or perhaps even a different kid of practice than blindly assuming repeating the same procedure over and over will make a kid smarter.  In fact, it seems to me Einstein said the definition of insanity was doing the same task over and over again yet expecting different results.  Maybe there’s room here to start thinking about homework, and what we want kids to get out of it.

Let’s not forget one of the options all teachers have is to ask their students not only how they feel about homework, but why.  If they say it’s stupid and boring, then you need to ask the next question- Why?  What about it is stupid and boring?  How could we make it better?  If you were in charge, how would you change the homework?  Most teachers will be surprised that the majority of kids will give you thoughtful and insightful answers to these questions, and will take them seriously.

I think both teachers and students (not to mention parents) deserve to have more thought and purpose put into homework, and for homework to become a more collaborative process for everyone.

What do you think?

Could you differentiate the homework in your classroom?  Why or Why Not?

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• DOI: 10.1016/J.LEARNINSTRUC.2007.02.009
• Corpus ID: 54083502

The homework–achievement relation reconsidered: Differentiating homework time, homework frequency, and homework effort

• U. Trautwein
• Published 1 June 2007
• Education, Psychology
• Learning and Instruction

Tables from this paper

340 Citations

Homework purposes, homework behaviors, and academic achievement. examining the mediating role of students’ perceived homework quality, homework works if homework quality is high: using multilevel modeling to predict the development of achievement in mathematics., predicting approach to homework in primary school students., homework, self-efficacy and math achievement, a person-centered approach to homework behavior: students’ characteristics predict their homework learning type, chameleon effects in homework research: the homework-achievement association depends on the measures used and the level of analysis chosen, a latent profile analysis of primary students' homework behavior : homework time and effort, the homework-achievement association 3 chameleon effects in homework research : the homework-achievement association depends on the measures used and the level of analysis chosen does homework enhance students ’ achievement levels .

• Highly Influenced

Does high school homework increase academic achievement?

Junior-high school students’ homework effort and its influencing factors, 60 references, predicting homework effort: support for a domain-specific, multilevel homework model., the relationship between homework and achievement—still much of a mystery, do homework assignments enhance achievement a multilevel analysis in 7th-grade mathematics, effort on homework in grades 5-9: development, motivational antecedents, and the association with effort on classwork., homework and achievement: explaining the different strengths of relation at the elementary and secondary school levels, relationships among attitudes about homework, amount of homework assigned and completed, and student achievement, purposes for doing homework reported by middle and high school students, does homework improve academic achievement a synthesis of research, 1987–2003.

• Highly Influential

Students' Self-Reported Effort and Time on Homework in Six School Subjects: Between-Students Differences and Within-Student Variation.

Longitudinal effects of in-school and out-of-school homework on high school grades, related papers.

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( Photo-illustration by Realtor.com; Source: Getty Images (2) )

HOA Horror Stories: From Poop Disputes to Jail Time for Wrong Paint Colors—and How 2 States Are Fighting Back

Homeowners associations are supposed to maintain common areas and enforce community rules, which isn’t a bad thing.

But when an HOA oversteps its bounds, its motives can seem punitive and predatory. And the fines it levies on residents can seem more like extortion or highway robbery.

“Some say some HOAs stand for ‘ hostile environments, ornery , controlling neighbors, and anger -infused management,'” jokes Lee Davenport , a real estate coach and fair housing educator in Atlanta .

And countless people, including Kristen D. Conti , broker-owner of Peacock Premier Properties in Englewood, FL , agree.

“Oftentimes, people on the boards are on a total power trip and use that to advance their own desires,” Conti says. “I don’t invest in communities with HOAs anymore because their rules are so over the top that it upsets the tenants.”

Conti recalls a personal encounter with such an HOA: “They came and measured the length of the grass, and if it was half an inch too long, we would get fined,” Conti says. “Here in the summer in Florida, grass grows quickly. So it can be half an inch too long just three days after being cut. It was a constant headache.”

Conti’s not the only one who says “no way” to HOAs. Here are three more examples of HOAs behaving badly.

The poop scoop

A New Palestine, IN , homeowner who’s in an ongoing dispute with his HOA got an unwelcome surprise when an HOA board member went into his yard and defecated on the side of his house not once, but twice—and it was caught on camera.

The 74-year-old woman initially denied the accusations, according to court documents, but confessed once confronted by police with video evidence of her with her pants down.

The woman told authorities she had no personal agenda against the homeowner, but simply had to use the restroom.

She was charged with criminal trespass, criminal mischief, and public nudity, and has now stepped down from the HOA board.

Swingset skirmish

A Missouri mother painted her two young daughters’ swing set purple at their request.

Two years later, her HOA told her the hue was out of harmony with the other colors in the neighborhood. It ordered her to dismantle the swing set or face fines or jail time.

The mom was so outraged, she took the HOA to court—and a judge ruled in her favor.

One Florida family decided to put up their holiday decorations on Nov. 6, the only day their light installer was available.

Then they received a notice from their HOA saying they weren’t allowed to decorate until after Thanksgiving. If they kept their decorations up, they’d have to pay $100 per day up to a max of $1,000.

The homeowners refused to take their display down on principle alone, and accused the HOA of being a “Grinch.”

“HOAs often push the boundaries and lead to unnecessary stress and conflict for homeowners,” explains broker Deb Burger , owner of Modern Era Realty in Marion, IA .

“These associations can sometimes become overzealous, dictating minor details of homeowners’ lives and infringing on their right to quiet enjoyment of their property,” she says.

Florida and Michigan fight back

Two states are taking steps to fight back against overbearing HOAs.

Starting July 1, homeowners associations in Florida will lose a lot of their power when a bill known as HB 1203 goes into effect .

When it does, Florida HOAs will no longer be able to restrict people from parking in their own driveway or on public streets. And HOAs won’t be able to stop people from parking work cars in their driveway anymore, either. (This excludes commercial vehicles.)

Fining residents for leaving trash cans out on garbage day will also be a thing of the past.

Plus, HOAs will no longer be able to enforce rules about backyards or the inside of structures, as long as they can’t be seen from a neighboring property, from the street, or from a common area.

“It’s possible that some residents may initially fear that the law could lead to a decline in property values due to less stringent regulations on things like visible air-conditioning units,” Burger says. “However, I believe that over time, homeowners will come to appreciate the freedom and flexibility this law provides. Ultimately, all homeowners have the right to enjoy their homes, and we need to preserve that.”

Meanwhile, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer just signed  the Homeowners’ Energy Policy Act into law.

This legislation will block HOAs from prohibiting residents from having rooftop solar panels, electric vehicle chargers, clotheslines, rain barrels, and other energy-saving equipment in their homes or on their properties.

“All states need more solar energy, so I’m in favor of this bill,” says attorney Raul Gastesi , of Gastesi Lopez & Mestre law firm in Miami Lakes, FL . “Florida already has a similar bill that allows for the installation of solar panels, but pushes to have them on the side of the house that is not facing the street. I think more states should and will follow suit.”

Do your homework

It’s important to read HOA rules and regulations carefully prior to buying a home in one, Conti cautions. That way, you know exactly what you’re getting into.

Been wronged by your HOA? Conti recommends writing a letter to the HOA management company and copy each member of the HOA board.

If you still get no relief, Conti advises seeking the assistance of a real estate attorney or mediator. You just might need one to reach a peaceful resolution.

Julie Taylor is a writer, producer, and editor. Her work has appeared in Cosmopolitan, Redbook, and other publications.

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