Differentiation and Coherent Instruction

4.3 Component 1e: Designing Coherent Instruction

During assessment review, I use what are called “review stations.” In this activity, students rotate through 4 stations, where they are given a review sheet addressing part of the unit of the assessment. They have approximately 10 minutes at each station.

“Review Stations” reaches a wide range of students for various reasons. If a student thoroughly understands the content at a certain station, they can practice it to solidify understanding. If a student is unsure about that same content, they can ask their fellow students for support or they can ask me for additional support. For all students, the things they understand or are confused on may be different so the group’s dynamic of stronger versus less strong will change at each station, allowing all students the chance to contribute. The short exposure to each topic reflects the idea of “Cognitive Load Theory” so as to not overload a student’s cognition with any one topic and to provide a plethora of instructional strategies. In this case, students get a feel for what they have a grasp on versus where they need more practice. We do not do review stations for every assessment so as to not bore students with the design of the activity. By the end of the activity, students have a 4-page review packet that they can utilize while preparing for their assessment. If I just provided them with this packet, students would get hung up on the first page or two and may not reach the later pages and their material.

Creating movement from station to station allows students to re-engage every 10 minutes and this pace keeps students engaged to get the maximum amount of work done in the 10 minutes they have. I have a student with anxiety and this kind of activity tends to be a trigger for her. She has the option to sit at a table away from the chaos of review stations and work independently if she begins to feel overwhelmed.The design of my classroom is below, which points out where students are rotating and where this student can go to opt out of the high social interaction. I was also able to provide more individual support for an underperforming student discreetly and minimize potential embarrassment. Since the students are constantly moving around and engaged in their work, they may not realize if I spend more time with a certain student.

I would use this activity in the future because I saw the level of engagement of my students increased dramatically and I was able to provide additional support to specific students (underperforming, behavioral anxiety, etc.). I will need to be more aware of my timing in the future because 10 minutes went by quickly when I got involved supporting students at any one station.