How to Differentiate with Homework Choice Boards
I first started hearing about differentiation in grad school. It sounded like a lot of work to have to make three versions of the same activity. It also is a complicated concept to explain to students. They wonder why they should have to do "harder" activities and get the same credit that someone does if they do "easier" activities.
I started using homework choice boards with my Spanish classes 3 years ago when I read a blog post on the Creative Language Class (read the post here). I made a version for my Spanish 1 students that year and loved the way it turned out. But then I read about Laura Sexton's homework choices and her system and I gave that a try (or a version of it) for the last two years. It was more regular, first on a 2 week basis and then a weekly basis. (See here a complete list of other teachers' choice boards)
Last year I decided to survey my students to find out what they thought now that I had experimented and tried a few different ways to give choice in homework. I wasn't too surprised by it: they pretty much hated it (not all of them, some of them actually loved it, but the majority did not). They thought that some of it was not related to the class (activities like change your ipad to Spanish) and was too much on top of studying and any other homework.
So this year I changed course a little. I made a homework choice board that incorporates studying the topics we are learning and that extra Spanish practice that I loved from the old list (like listening to the radio). Each unit students will get a new tarea board with 12 options. In Spanish 1 they are starting by having to complete 7 of the 12 (it’s pretty simple stuff at that point, so 7 is the least they can do) but Spanish 2 I am starting at 6 activities to see how manageable that is. Here is the catch: There are three columns of 4 activities that span vocabulary, grammar, listening, reading and some fun (play a game on your ipad for example). The first column is the “caminar” column. It has the activities that help scaffold students to the next level and are great for first starting out to practice with the material. Then comes the “trotar” column. These activities are a bit more challenging and require a bit more thought. Finally, the “correr” column assumes that students know the material and helps them practice it for mastery. For example, in the vocabulary row for Spanish 2, they start out with a quizizz activity (it gives them multiple choice answers and is a game), then move onto more challenging fill in the blank activities and finally they have to write sentences using the vocabulary.
This allows students to choose which activity is right for them. For example, I have students in Spanish 2 that can write at the intermediate low level-I don't want to assign them homework that would be a waste of their time, but I also don't want to assign students a paragraph when they are writing at the novice mid level (yes, those kids still have to make it to Spanish 2 before they graduate) because it will be overwhelming. Do I think some students will choose the wrong activity? Yes. But then it is my job to guide them in the right direction. One caveat is that students much choose at least one activity from each row and one from each column. This requires that all students challenge themselves but allows students to choose appropriate activities for them as well.
I am incorporating a lot of technology into these boards. They complete book widgets and quizizzes (it's like kahoot, but students can do it from home) and they submit every proof on seesaw (which is great for when the proof is speaking or a video). This allows me to digitally collect their proof and I can check it along the way or at the end when the board is due (about every 2 weeks).
On top of studying vocabulary (they use quizlet in my class) it is my goal this year to only assign the tarea board for homework. I will adjust that goal as I see how this works. I will keep you updated. On our teacherspayteachers site you can download some templates and sample tarea boards for free if you would like to give this a try! Let me know how it goes and how you use it and tweak it!
