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Differentiation in the Inclusive Classroom

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Accommodations and Modifications

One question separates these two, and getting it right protects both the child and you.

Two Kinds of Change

Adaptations come in two kinds

An adaptation is any change you make to help a child access learning. Adaptations come in two kinds, and the difference between them matters more than almost anything else in this workshop.

The test is one question: has the objective changed? If it has not, it is an accommodation. If it has, it is a modification.

Sort It

Accommodation or modification?

Why It Matters

Who decides, and what gets written down

Accommodations are yours to make. You can put headphones on a desk tomorrow and tell nobody.

Modifications change what a child is being taught, so they need to be a deliberate decision, recorded, and shared with parents and with whoever teaches that child next.

A modification made quietly, lesson by lesson, becomes a child who has been taught something different for a year without anyone agreeing to it.

Differentiation changes the road. Modification changes the destination. Both are legitimate, but only one of them is yours to decide alone.

Take It Away
What accommodations are already in place in your classroom?
Is there a child in your class who is being quietly modified for, without it being recorded?
What is one accommodation you could add this term that would help more than one child?

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