Danielle hands me a thick packet of worksheets and says, “This is what I have to work with. The department came up with these packets for every unit. We’re supposed to assign this stuff, but it’s a big mess and there’s way too much for anyone to actually be able to do all of it. It’s overwhelming.”
I ask her a set of questions to see whether the packet might become useful. “Are there items in this packet that you think are really important for students to do?”
“Yes, definitely. I probably assign a third of the worksheets.”
“Would you consider those to be work that is required of everyone in the class?”
She says that makes sense.
“Okay, then are there other sheets that are redundant because they cover the same ideas as some of the required works?”
“Yes, that’s one of the big problems. For a lot of students, many of these worksheets are busywork, because they get it right away.”
“Okay, so let’s say the redundant ones optional. We’ll call them review sheets. Now are there some sheets here that are so hard you don’t expect everyone to ever get them?”
“Yes, there are. If I wanted everyone to master all of the stuff in these packets, it would take a month.”
“Good, then we’ll define some of them as Above and Beyond or Enriched, something that makes it sound like they are something special. And we’ll make it clear that no one will be tested on them.”
“But why would anyone ever do them?”, she asks. “I can’t imagine my students volunteering to do something harder than what they have to.”
“Yeah,” I reply, “this is going to take a little effort, but they are going to have a choice to make: do some busywork, or do something that will keep challenging you at the level you are ready to learn. For that to really work, there needs to be a shift in the classroom culture with the goal of everyone pushing themselves to learn as much as possible. But we’ll get back to that later.
“What I’m hearing, then, is that this packet needs a cover sheet that defines what is essential, required work, what is good optional review work, and what is optional enrichment for those students who are ready to push themselves further.
“Find a consistent nomenclature to use, giving each item a distinct name. Then list those items on a cover sheet with room for their name and a place for a grade next to each item. Indicate the required work - I made those items bold - and set a minimum number of items that they have to complete. They’ll do the required ones, and then they’ll have to choose among the optional ones.
“In my experience, giving them a choice, any choice at all, will be a completely unprecedented experience for them, one that they’ll appreciate.
“In the meantime, with a minimum amount of work on your part, you’ve made this packet much more useful, and much less onerous for everyone involved. And you’ve started the process to have meaningful, student-directed differentiation in your classes.”