General Introduction

This blog is part of my Differentiation and Adaptive Teaching Knowledge Base.

I use the terms differentiation and adaptive teaching synonymously. To me, they are the same, as genuine differentiation has always involved adapting your planning and your teaching to meet the needs of the learners in front of you.

For me, differentiation is all the practical strategies, activities and techniques teachers use to personalise learning.

For ease, we can break that down into my five categories of differentiation: Activities, Questioning, Words and Writing, Things the Teacher Can Do and Things You Can Ask Learners to Do or Use.

This blog falls into the category of things the teacher can do.

Talk to as many learners as you can

If you talk to learners, then it is highly likely you will be differentiating.

If you aim to talk to as many learners as possible in every lesson (or all your learners across a series of lessons), then you will be going a fair way to ensuring everyone in the class is supported and everyone, at least to some extent, is catered for.

When we speak to someone, we listen to what they say.

We observe their body language and their facial expressions, hear the tone of their voice and pick up on non-verbal cues.

This information informs our responses.

As a teacher, you will be particularly sensitive to these aspects of your learners’ communication.

It will lead you to think carefully about what it is you are going to say to learners and how exactly you are going to say it.

The conversations that take place in the classroom between you and your learners will thus see you tailoring your speech to meet their needs.

For example, if you see that a learner appears disengaged, you might make an extra point of being upbeat and enthusiastic.

Or if a learner is struggling to understand the work, you might give them a series of carefully worked explanations covering the key points they need to know.

This is a different way of looking at differentiation.

A really simple one.

But it relies on the teacher consistently circulating through the room and talking to as many learners as possible, while ensuring the talk in which they engage is responsive, personalised and tailored to the learners in front of them.

Two further points for you to consider.

First, some teachers like to keep a note of who they have spoken to.

Nothing onerous.

Just tally marks on a register.

The reason is simple.

They’re not interested in monitoring themselves like an overeager official.

Rather, they want to make sure they don’t miss anyone out.

Which is easy to do with a class of thirty learners.

A quick look at the tally chart might show that you haven’t spoken to the learners sitting in the back corner of your room.

Or that you’ve missed some of those conscientious, quiet learners who tend not to draw attention.

Second, you can adapt this technique by having learners come to you.

This won’t work in every context, but I’ll give you an example of where it does work.

An A Level teacher marks a set of assignments.

Instead of handing these back to learners, they set up a lesson in which learners need to work in teams to produce a research presentation.

While this is happening, the teacher calls each learner up to the front in turn.

They return the assignment and then talk to the learner about it.

This is a chance to add an extra layer of personalisation; on top of the written formative feedback they’ve provided.

How does working in this way help you to differentiate?

Talking to your learners means that you find out where they are at and any difficulties they are having.

Talking to your learners means you can tailor your own speech to meet their needs.

These sees you responding to them in accordance with where they are at and providing them with the support they need to make progress.

Talking to your learners helps to engage and motivate them.

It makes it clear that you are interested not just in what they think, but in them as a person.

It shows that you are prepared to give your time to help them individually.

Using Humour to Differentiate

Humour is another way we can use what we say to support our differentiation.

It’s a powerful tool for engaging learners and creating a positive atmosphere.

Everyone likes to laugh.

Adept use of jokes or slapstick is a good way of lifting the mood and getting learners onside.

Of course, we don’t want humour to take over the classroom.

If this happens, then learning might get displaced as the focus.

And we must be mindful of how we use humour, because if we cause offence, we have failed in our goal of creating engagement.

Here are three approaches for you to think about.

Using humour at the start and end of lessons

If you begin with a little bit of humour – like a pun or a humorous story – it can work to get learners onside and engaged from the moment the lesson starts.

The obvious benefit is that this leads to an easier transition into the rest of the session.

Ending with a little bit of humour means that learners leave the room with this lodged in their minds as their final memory of the lesson.

This creates positive, happy associations, helping to keep them motivated and enthusiastic when next they return.

Using humour unexpectedly

Much humour plays on our expectations – what we think is going to be the case turns out not to be so and we find this funny.

For example: A man walks into a bar. ‘Oh dear,’ he says. This sounds like the start of a bad joke.

You can use this to your advantage when you are teaching by bringing forth the unexpected in your classroom.

Two methods you can use are as follows.

First, have an image or slide in your presentations that is surprising and, in some way, humorous.

Make no mention of this before it appears in front of learners, then look shocked as if you didn’t know it would be there.

Second, make a joke seemingly at random during some part of the lesson when the class’s attention is fixed on you.

One-liners and puns are particularly good for this.

You might even like to supplement your delivery with a stony face – indicating a knowing irony about the standard and status of the joke.

Self-deprecation

This is when you make yourself the subject of the joke.

Done well, it gets learners onside and bridges the gap between teacher and learners which at other times is a necessary part of teaching.

You might say that it humanises you in front of the learners.

Done poorly, it can undermine you in learners’ eyes.

So only use it when you’re confident in how to do so.

How can using humour help you to differentiate?

Humour creates a positive atmosphere.

It is therefore likely to enthuse, engage and motivate the learners in your class.

Humour provides a break to the usual flow of the lesson.

It is likely that learners who find learning difficult will welcome this.

You will be giving them a little light relief.

In turn, they will be energised and ready to keep working through the next part of the lesson.

Humour helps learners to see you as a real person.

It is therefore possible that it will break down some of the barriers that disengaged learners may erect between themselves and the teacher

We tend to like people who make us laugh.

If you can make your learners laugh, they will view you positively.

And we’re more likely to work hard for people we like.