EDGT 501 - A Guide to Differentiating Instruction for Gifted & Talented Students (3)

If you’ve taught more than one student at a time, you know that students learn at different rates. And when you have an entire class full of different types of learners, how can you keep each of them engaged without planning 20 personalized lessons?

Differentiating instruction is essential for reaching students of diverse learning styles and proficiency levels. In classrooms with gifted students, it is especially important to create learning experiences and assignments that provide choice and challenge with opportunities for deeper and more complex learning. 

In this course, you will learn how to identify gifted learners and understand their unique needs in the classroom. You will also create a differentiated learning plan, from brainstorming all the way through to delivery. First, you will consider everything from academic standards, goal setting, and pre-assessment to the instructional plan, assignment creation, and summative assessment. Your plan will account for your students’ unique learning preferences, interests, and readiness levels, and include flexible grouping practices, tiered assignments, and student choice of content, process, and product. Finally, you will learn how to manage a differentiated classroom and foster student responsibility and independence. 

By the end of the course, you will have all the tools you need to modify instruction, assignments, and assessments with a deeper understanding of the “big picture” of unit design and a focus on gifted learners.