Will loved to learn but he didn't enjoy school anymore. His teacher, Mr. Smith was very nice and kind, but he wanted him to be quiet all the time. He asked him to show his knowledge by talking in front of the class. Will didn't like to speak in front of other people or to stay quiet in the same place. He didn't want to go to school anymore!

He was not the only one who felt that way. Several of his friends felt sad. They didn't want to participate in class activities. Some even made bad choices. In his traditional classroom all the students sat quietly at their desks. All the teacher ever did was talk. They had to use a pen and pencil to do their work.

Mr. Smith was very worried because it seemed like the students weren't learning--they didn't look engaged. Each day they participated less and less. He worked hard planning interesting lessons and evaluated his students at the end of each unit. However, the evaluations did not reflect what he was teaching.

Mr. Smith realized that he had to improve his teaching practices in order to help his students learn. He decided it would be a good idea to observe his students and take notes of his observations.

He noticed the following about each of his students:

Carlos loved to read and write and was a good speaker. He had linguistic intelligence.

Allison was an athlete, she loved to dance and enjoyed doing crafts. She had Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence.

Angela was oustanding with numbers and she liked to use technology. She was very good at solving problems. She had a logical-mathematical intelligence.

Jameson knew a lot about dinosaurs. He loved being outdoors and was very responsible about the planet. He had a naturalistic intelligence

Tom enjoyed group games and he was a leader in his team. He had interpersonal intelligence.

Oscar was always making sounds and rhythms with his hands and he loved to sing. He created chants with the vocabulary words. He had a musical intelligence.

Maia was very imaginative. She liked to work by herself and was very good at managing her emotions. She had intrapersonal intelligence.

Mr. Smith wanted to focus on Will. He noticed that Will was an artist. He liked to draw and expressed himself through art. He had a visual-spacial intelligence.

Mr. Smith noticed all the differences and interests of his students and understood that he needed to change his paradigms. The answer was differentiation. He needed to: provide different avenues for acquiring content, provide different ways to process the content and develop learning products so that they can learn effectively.

He also needed to use differentiated assessment in order to give his students timely feedback about their learning.

Mr. Smith decided to contact parents and to share his ideas with other teachers and administrators.

The parents helped him to get to know his students better and he shared with them the classroom goals and expectations.

His peers shared with him ideas and best practices.

His principal supported him in accomplishing his goals.

He worked hard to create a positive environment in his classroom. As a result of his efforts, the students felt welcome, listened to and valued. The sense of safety fostered the development of a community of learners.

Together with his students, he set high expectations and identified the students' preferred areas for learning in the classroom. He organized flexible groups according to his students' readiness and interests. He also gave them responsibilities.

After designing a supportive classroom climate, Mr. Smith had to preassess the students' knowledge. He was able to plan activities to differentiate content based on the students' needs, interests and learning modalities.

He used diverse teaching strategies such as: mini lessons, written materials, music and technology like Teachertube and Google Classroom. He also invited mentors and visitors as a way to connect content with real life.

He knew it was also important to differentiate processes. In other words he adapted instruction based on the way students understand and analyze content. He had students work individually and in flexible groups on activities such as: journals, graphic organizers and learning projects. During this stage Mr. Smith used ongoing formative evaluation and had the students self evaluate. This allowed the students to receive feedback that helped them accomplish their goals and auto regulate their learning. 

All students, especially Will, enjoyed the activities intended to differentiate products. Each student chose how he or she would demonstrate his or her learning. Will created a painting about the butterfly life cycle, Ted wrote a play that his friends performed for another class. Other students interviewed experts and presented their findings in front of the class. Some used online tools such as Spreaker and Buncee to create videos and interactive presentations. Mr. Smith shared the students' work with all the parents using Class Dojo.