Chapter 1: The Differentiated Instruction Mind Set

This chapter is an overview of what differentiated instruction means in a classroom. To summarize, it means providing the necessary accommodations to every student so they can learn. This chapter actually reminds the reader that by a classroom being a differentiated environment it is preparing a student better for the real world. In fact when the child moves on to his/her job they will be working in a differentiated manner. This is important to remember when I am teaching because it is not second nature for me yet. I find myself wondering if it is fair to do something for one student but not others. When I think about it I know that a teacher only provides what each student needs, they are not providing a cheat sheet to the information. It turns out that differentiating is not cheating for a student; in fact it is cheating a student out of an education if they do not receive differentiated instruction when needed.