Making Differentiation a Habit: How to Ensure Success in Academically Diverse Classrooms

by Diane Heacox

Updated edition of a popular resource helps teachers seamlessly integrate differentiation practices into their daily routine.

In this updated edition of her guide to daily differentiated instruction, Diane Heacox outlines the critical elements for success in today’s class­rooms. She gives educators evidence-based differentiation strategies and user-friendly tools to optimize teaching, learning, and assessment for all students. New features include an expanded section on grading, informa­tion on connections between personalized learning and differentiation, integration of strategies with tier one instructional interventions, scaf­folding strategies, revised planning templates, and updated resources, which include digital tools and apps for assessment. Digital content includes customizable forms from the book. A free downloadable PLC/Book Study Guide is available at freespirit.com/PLC.

Genres: Education, Teaching, Professional Development

192 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2009

Reviews

[Cody · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book a few days ago and I'm glad I've been reading it. A few of the things in the book seem out of place and not specific enough for educators (such as the section on KUDOs for learning objectives) but overall the book has phenomenal ideas and a good review and discussion of differentiation strategies for anyone in the field of education, plus it comes with reproducible pages for self and classroom use. This is the second book I've gotten from Free Spirit Publishing and they may be my new go-to company for all things related to education now.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the writing is a bit repetitive, this book contains many practical, concrete ideas for differentiation in an elementary or middle school classroom. I found the chapter covering the "how to" of tiered assignments to be particularly helpful. The RtI chapter that Heacox added at the end was too general to be useful to a teacher who already knows the basics of RtI.

[Matt Sautman · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a high school English teacher, Making Differentiation a Habit is not always focused on a secondary level given that many examples target elementary and middle school level learners. Yet there is much here to mine regarding effective implementation of differentiation that makes this book a quality reference text.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are a scattering of good ideas in this collection, but the work is weighty with vague, generalized descriptions of the differentiation as a process. A couple of ideas stand out as useful: Structured observation, sketchbooks for vocabulary, and tiering by abstraction. By the large, there are scattered lessons which can be implemented into the classroom, but the work presents all subjects, making none of them very deep. Lack of depth within areas of expertise is the major weakness of the work. Many subject areas of introduced, but very little beyond a beginning level educator.

There are some quality ideas for elementary differentiation, but almost nothing for high school. The aim of the text was lower than I expected.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my number one favorite book to recommend to educators of every grade level (below the university level). I have dogeared, label-tabbed, and even created my own accompanying notebook for it. I will be referencing it for my classroom for years to come.

[Angela Dryer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Differentiation is an essential when working with students. This book helps you to become aware of all the aspects that go into differentiation and helps you to infuse the multitude of strategies into your classroom. Remember, it is all about small steps at first.

[Nadiene · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has many specific ideas for activities that cater to individual students in the classroom. Not sure how I feel about the "KUDO" theory as I prefer to have more specific learning objectives in place, but the activity ideas make it worth the read.

[Kristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of really good useful information to apply to my classroom

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great ideas and planning templates for differentiating every kind of lesson!

[Kristin Ammerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A workhorse text in my vast collection for teaching.

[Jill Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Valuable for pre-service teachers.

[Neana Lueck · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very valuable resource as a teacher. I will continue to utilize the ideas from this text.