For some teachers, building differentiated learnings objectives, lesson plans, and units is part of the fun of teaching. It comes naturally for these teachers. For others, it can be a real challenge. For either group, writing learning objectives can require a commitment of time. As schools increasingly emphasize the use of varied, differentiated learning objectives, a teacher's planning time can be stretched.

For those wanting to save a bit of time or add a spark of creativity to their learning objectives ... enter Ian Byrd, a creative and energetic California teacher. Ian has developed a clever Web application called "The Differentiator." This is a fun little tool that allows you to use a Web interface to build learning objectives by choosing from a set of predefined thinking skills, content, resources, student products, and group sizes. For example, using Ian's site, I created the following in a matter of seconds:

Students will contrast [thinking skill] the multiple points of view of green energy [content] using newpapers [resource] to create a press conference [product] in groups of three [group size].

You may need to do a little additional editing after you build an objective.

The Differentiator is free, and it is certainly worth giving it a try.

Once Ian realized how popular The Differentiator was, he spent some time this summer building a more comprehensive tool called ExtendAMenu. This new tool allows you to build differentiated learning objectives using various types of extension menus and keep a record of those objectives stored online.

Ian has posted a screencast demonstrating the use of ExtendAMenu. ExtendAMenu costs $20.

Win a Free Set of Differentiating Instruction With Menus 

Ian and I have worked up a special drawing that will allow four lucky teachers to win a free set of Laurie E. Westphal's elementary-level Differentiating Instruction With Menus or her middle school level Differentiating Instruction With Menus (each set is a $79.80 value). To enter the drawing, visit the ExtendAMenu contest page.

Finally, if you just want to read Ian's thoughts and practical ideas for the gifted education classroom, you can visit his Web site Byrdseed: Practical Ideas for Your Gifted Classroom. The Web site if full of solid information about gifted education and gifted children.