Teaching and Tiering

Today we learned about a concept called "Tiering". The best way to describe it is by using a wedding cake or a 3-tiered cake as the centerpiece of the description.
On a 3-tiered wedding cake, all the ingredients are the same; flour, sugar, water, etc. just as our teaching should be the same, but at the same time different, for varying levels of students.

 

 To be able to differentiate effectively we have to "change the flavor" or the way we are teaching groups of students. By doing this, we add a different flavor to each of the tier's, each individually great tasting, but different.
Each student will be able to enjoy their piece because it will be as exciting as the others, but just a different combination of added flavors. They may be learning within the same realm but in the end all the activities/layers will be equally engaging but not equal in activity.
By giving students the opportunity to enjoy their piece of cake or their piece of learning, we are opting out of the risk of students becoming bored or overwhelmed. We will be teaching them in a way that they can aspire to try different layers, but be fully content (and challenged) in the tier they are currently on.
Another thing about the Tiering model is remembering that differentiation is giving the whole cake at once, but giving different portions to different groups of students. And also remembering that fair isn't everyone getting the same thing, it is every student getting what he/she needs. 

Now, cake making needs to happen.
I'm thinking 3-tiers.