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Identify one or two ways you can, as Dr. Black says, “build a structure [in your classroom] that also has a level of flexibility.”
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When doing activities such as math or literacy centers, the students have a choice of three activities. Each activity meets the same academic standard but they can choose how they want to do it.
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As an art teacher, I give my students more flexibility as they gain concepts. All of my elementary students do “the same project”, I’m teaching how to use materials, I’m teaching vocabulary, I’m teaching specific skills. By middle school, I’m giving the assignment with more “how”, but far less “what”. By the high school level, my flexibility becomes far more prominent. Maybe slightly less so at the intro level, but I often give a lot of choices to my advanced students. Because I am at a small school where I often have multiple levels of courses in the same room at the same time, I put my lessons in Google classrooms. For each assignment, I type out my lessons with my Biblical integration. I spell out my parameters, but then I give them the flexibility to choose the direction they want to take it. This means that some may choose to paint on canvas, some may draw the assignment in graphite or ink, some may go 3D with it. All of it is fine, so long as they are meeting my minimum requirements.
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When I assign summer reading, I always like to give my students a range of choice for their presentation. The activities are varied with some requiring artistic skill, some requiring analytical skills, and some requiring strong writing skills. This gives students an opportunity for ownership over their presentation, but still requires that they fulfill specific standards.
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You can create your lesson plan but also have some activities that can be changed in order to accommodate how students comprehend the concepts.
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Making sure that I am constantly differentiating assessments and letting students show their skills in places where they thrive.