Differentiation of Instruction

What is it? What does it look like? How can it benefit our students? Where do I begin?

Not just something else for you to do…CORE Business

One of the primary tasks of teachers is to provide work for students: work that students engage and from which students learn that which it is intended that they learn.

A second task of teachers is to lead students to do well and successfully the work they undertake.

Therefore, teachers are leaders and inventors, and students are volunteers.

What students have to volunteer are their attention and commitment.

Differences in commitment and attention produce differences in student engagement.

Differences in the level and type of engagement affect directly the effort students expend on school-related tasks.

Effort affects learning outcomes at least as much as does intellectual ability.

What is differentiation of instruction?

A teaching philosophy based on the premise that teachers should adapt instruction to student differences.

Students have multiple options for acquiring content, processing and making sense of ideas, and developing products so each student can learn successfully.

Concept is not new to us. Without differentiation, what would happen?

A patient with a broken leg goes to a doctor who takes out his appendix instead of setting the broken bone because the doctor has more patients with appendicitis than a broken bone.

Someone orders steak in a fine restaurant only to find that it’s not on the menu because most of the restaurant’s patrons are health conscious and prefer chicken.

A shoe salesman tells a customer that he has only size 6 shoes because most of his customers need a size 6 and that he’ll just have to fit his feet into the size 6 shoe.

You purchase a brand new sport car and take it out for a spin only to find that it will not go above 45 mph because that’s as fast as the slowest car on the road can go.

Why do we need to differentiate instruction?

Traditionally, schools are designed or organized for, left-brained thinking students who are book lovers. This type of student represents only 25% of the school population.

What about the other students?

Students come to the learning process with

different levels of readiness.

They have different backgrounds, exhibit different strengths and weaknesses, learn at different paces, and comprehend at different levels of complexity and depth.

Students have different learning/personality styles and preferences.

Some students learn best by hearing, some by reading, some by manipulating objects and/or data—and some learn best by different combinations of these modalities.

We must provide different avenues for learning which accommodate different styles.

Students have different interests.

Students learn best when they’re interested in the content and are engaged in activities that have personal relevance and meaning.

We have a choice. We can teach to the middle and

hope for the best. OR We can accommodate the full

diversity of academic needs and accept the challenge of diversity.

Through differentiated instruction, teachers provide a variety of learning experiences which accommodate differences in…

Student readiness Student learning/personality

profiles Student interests

Teachers provide multiple approaches to…

CONTENT—what students learn PROCESS—how students go about

making sense of ideas and information PRODUCT—how students demonstrate

what they’ve learned

2 Newly Identified Areas to Differentiate

**Affect—How students link thought and feelings in the classroom

**Learning environment—The way the classroom feels and functions

Differentiation is NOT… Individualized instruction of the

1970’s Chaotic Just another way to provide

homogeneous grouping Tailoring the same suit of clothes

Differentiated instruction is STUDENT CENTERED.

The teacher plans instruction according to individual needs, preferences, readiness, strengths, weaknesses, and learning styles.

Differentiation is DYNAMIC. No more one-size-fits-all instruction Teacher monitors the match between

learner and learning and makes adjustments as needed.

Teacher sees differentiation as a way of life in the classroom, not as a recipe to follow.

Teacher does whatever it takes to reach out to EACH learner.

Differentiation is PROACTIVE.

Teacher assumes different learners have different learning needs and then plans different ways for them to “get at” and express learning.

Differentiation is QUALITATIVE.

Teachers do not give more work for some students and less for others.

One book report may be too much for struggling learners.

If one book report is too easy for advanced learners, doing twice as much of the same thing isn’t a solution.

We must adjust the nature of assignments.

Differentiation is ROOTED in ASSESSMENT. Assessment Drives Instruction

Pre-assessment Formative Rubrics Authentic—Journals, Graphic

Organizers, Projects, Learning Logs, Conferences, etc.

Test Utilization

In a differentiated classroom, the teacher proactively plans and carries out varied approaches to content, process, and product in anticipation of and in response to student differences in readiness, interest, and learning styles/preferences.

What should you see in a differentiated classroom? Active engagement Students working on

different tasks to demonstrate understanding.

Student focused instead of teacher focused

Variety of assessments

Student choice Fair and equal are not

synonyms.

Work that is neither too easy or too difficult

Different grouping methods

Students working at own pace.

Students creating meaning for themselves.

An atmosphere of respect for all differences.

The changing role of teacher… Athletic Coach—

provide clear goals for individual team members, determine what motivates players, identify areas of strength and weaknesses, push and challenge players, build team spirit, run the game from the sidelines, create game plans

Orchestra Leader-Knows music and can interpret it, can motivate working in groups, provides time for group rehearsals and individual practice, works to polish performance of individuals and the group.

The changing role of teacher… Jazz Musician—can think inside and

outside of the box; has the big picture and can add notes, change tempo, step back for a soloist, or abandon the score for the sake of the music, the group or the audience.

Compacting Time and Coverage! Example

Give pretest in math and grade Write numbers of problems down the side of

paper or on white board Either you or the students make tally marks

by each problem missed on the test Able to easily see the skills and concepts that

students understand or need more work on

Most Difficult First Teach the lesson. Assign homework with 10 or so minutes left in

class. Star the 5 most difficult problems of the

assignment. Allow any student the opportunity to try to do the 5

most difficult. If they have 4/5 right during the time given, they do not have to do the rest of the assignment.

If they miss more than one, they need the additional reinforcement of the homework.

If they can’t complete the 5 problems in a reasonable time, they also need the reinforcement of the homework.

Take what you do and improve it.

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Acrostics

Tic-Tac-Toe Boards or Extensions Menus Allows for choice. Allows students to use their

learning styles. Provides different ways to

demonstrate understanding. Remember Blooms, Gardner’s

Learning Styles,…

Exclusion Brainstorming Helps students

activate and build on prior knowledge.

Students must use critical thinking and evaluative skills.

Directions: Cross out the words you think do not apply to the subject. Circle the words that you think do apply.

Factory ReformHate reparations disaster

fairness humanitarian fire investigation safety insurance floor survivor employees rules acquittal quiet unharmed locked doors

I’m done. Now what…Anchor Activities Activities that students can select from to

work on when they are finished with their work.

High Interest Not Graded Content Based—There are times when

you can decide to have activities that aren’t content based.

Samples--Handouts

Resources The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the

Needs of All Learners (Tomlinson) Leadership for Differentiating Schools and

Classrooms(Tomlinson and Allan)

Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom (Winebrenner)

Teaching Young Gifted Children in the Regular Classroom: Identifying, Nurturing, and Challenging Ages 4-9 (Yahnke, et al)

More Resources Differentiation in Practice: A Resource

Guide for Differentiating Curriculum, Grades K-5 (Tomlinson and Eidson)

Differentiation in Practice: A Resource Guide for Differentiating Curriculum, Grades 5-9 (Tomlinson and Eidson)

http://webtech.cherokee.k12.ga.us/woodstock-es/berrianwebb

The Mindful School: How to Assess Authentic Learning (Burke)