Baseball Camp: A Metaphor for Differentiation

Today I was reading from this book:

And guess what?! It starts off with a metaphor for differentiation. 

I love metaphors and the one in this book is a good one. 

Baseball Camp: A Metaphor for Differentiation

Coach Mac is the director at a baseball camp called Home Run Baseball Camp. Each summer, he works with all kinds of different children. Male, female, short, tall, big, small, shy, goofy, experienced in baseball, not experienced in baseball, the list goes on and on. Even though they are all different, they all have one thing in common: they are at camp to get better at playing baseball. 

Coach Mac watches the kids carefully, assessing their strengths and their weaknesses. Sometimes he will teach them all the same drill and sometimes he will have them work in groups. The unique thing about Coach Mac's coaching style is that he doesn't just teach them skills required to do well in baseball, but he also teaches the small players life lessons and skills they will need to function in society. He can't control the amount of talent each child brings, but he can control the amount of effort they give toward developing their talent. I love the following quotes from Coach Mac:

"Talent is what you bring. Effort is what you give."

&

"Everyone loves winning, but winning is a short-term thrill. Long-term satisfaction comes from success, not winning. What constitutes as success? Giving it all you've got. Getting better. Growing. That's durable."

A lot of what Coach Mac does during a summer of baseball camp mirrors what differentiation in the classroom should look like. We need to study our students just as Coach Mac did with his players. We need to continually craft our teaching methods according to each child's strengths and weaknesses. We need to teach children life lessons and not just the curriculum. 

I love, love, love the second quote above. The one about success. I want to teach my students about success. I want my students to feel successful whenever they are giving it their all or whenever they are growing. Not everyone will be good at math or reading. Not everyone will love learning about history or science. But everyone can be successful if they are giving it their best. I love the quote so much, I think it could make a really good class creed.