6 Days and Counting

So we've been typing on and off for . . . ever. I'm down to just one student who has not typed her piece. But I've learned a LOT about differentiation. Differentiating instruction has always been something that I thought sounded really cool, but too hard for my classroom. I didn't know how this would work, but I realized that by setting up clear expectations for my students where they understood that not everyone would be doing the same thing. I thought my students would be a little resistant, but they were not. For my students who were finished typing their pieces, I set up independent reading exercises and activities. I tried to make the directions extremely explicit so I could work with my students who were still doing portfolio work.
I didn't know how my students would react to this. So much of my class has been guided practice with my students. I wasn't pleased with most of the individual work they had done up to this point. However, when they saw how the students still working on portfolios needed my assistance, they stepped up and worked quietly on their own.