Differentiate in the Math Classroom with Learner Agreements

The readiness levels of our students vary year to year, chapter to chapter, skill to skill. Learner agreements, also known as learning contracts, can help address the various readiness levels throughout a unit of study. Curricular and supplemental resources were utilized to develop this learner agreement. This learner agreement is not the instruction that takes place, but rather the independent work where students are asked to demonstrate proficiency of the standard. Click the image to check it out.

   

Learner agreements encourage students to be regulators of their own learning. Students need to be asking themselves...Am I getting this? Do I understand the skill enough to apply it to more complex tasks? Learner agreements provide students who grasp a concept quickly with a more engaging task that they can work through more independently. Rather than wait through repetitious instruction that is at a pace that is not appropriate for their readiness levels, students can be exited out and begin a task that will help address their needs.

So how do learner agreements work? Preassessments can be given prior to a unit of study to get a pulse of where the students are reading to learn. Daily observations and formative assessments can also be used to guide student learning. Learner agreements take some planning and foresight. Standards need to be reviewed, student readiness levels need to be considered, materials need to be gathered, and tasks need to be determined. It is only then that the learner agreement can be created. However, once created, they are a perfect way to differentiate learning on the spot.

The learner agreement can be viewed as a blueprint for learning. Tiering the tasks allows for multiple entry points for learning. After instruction, and depending on the readiness level and the comfort level of each student, students can be assigned a differentiated task to complete. Students who are more proficient in a particular skill may enter the learner agreement at the progressing level. If they encounter difficulties, they can advocate for themselves and revisit some of the learning-level tasks to ensure a foundational understanding is established. Alternatively, if a student demonstrates proficiency at the progressing level, they may progress to the extending-level tasks. If students are struggling with the learning-level tasks, a small group can be formed with teacher support while other students work at their readiness levels as guided by the learner agreement.

It is important to keep movement through the leveled tasks fluid and based on where students are ready to learn at that moment in time. Keeping in mind the zone of proximal development for students, we do not want tasks to be too easy or too difficult. Some students face tasks that are already in their comfort zone and are not getting the challenge they need. Other students may face tasks where they are simply not developing the necessary understanding.  Tasks need to be "just right." For learning to take place, there needs to be a certain level of challenge. That challenge has to allow for the development of new learnings and skills.

Is this a strategy that might work with your students? What other ways do you differentiate for students in the math classroom?