Tomlinson's Elements of Differentiation!

Tomlinson created a framework to identify the elements of differentiating both instruction and assessment. The basis of his work is described in the following sentence: The teacher modifies content, process and product, through student readiness, interests, and learning. The sentences implies that the teacher has control over three factors, the first is content, content refers to the what or the materials of learning, this can include the curriculum, textbooks, or movies to be viewed. The second factor is process, this refers to the activities through which the students will learn and could include such things as group work, individual work, or teacher directed lecture. The final factor is product, this refers to what the student produces and is the vehicle by which the student will demonstrate their knowledge. Beyond these factors which the teacher has full control of is the characteristics of the students they are as follows. Readiness refers to where the student is currently achieving in terms of knowledge skills and attitudes. The teacher must provide the student with a challenge by providing the students with task that are just beyond the point where the student currently is, Vygotsky termed this concept, the zone of proximal development. The second characteristic is the students interest this simply reders to the topics that the student is curioous or passionate about, by incorporating these into the lesson student engagement increases. The third and final characteristic is the learning profiles of the student, it is important for the teacher to consider as many different features of how a student learns and incorporate them into the lesson that you are creating.
By using Tomlinson's framework teachers are provided with a sort of guideline that can assist them in beginning to better differentiate both instruction and assessment. differentiation can be extremely beneficial in meeting each individual students needs in the classroom.