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Take a few minutes to make a list of the factors that influence classroom environment.

As we continue through the module, check your list to see which factors are identified and look for any additional factors.

As you read this expectation and definition of Standard 4: Differentiated Instruction, what words or phrases seem most important?

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As you read this expectation and definition of Standard 4: Differentiated Instruction, what words or phrases seem most important?

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Where are you on the TKES rubric for Performance Standard 4? Why did you select the level you did?

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Teachers all understand that students are different and have different needs. However, this slide clearly points out that fact. This teacher is facing three different levels of knowledge and each student has a different need. The only way this teacher can move all students forward is to differentiate the instruction for her students.

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Let’s review the components of differentiation as identified by a leader in differentiation, Dr. Carol Ann Tomlinson.

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As we proceed through this presentation, we will review most of these components. However, we will also focus on those that can have the greatest impact on improving student achievement.

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Differentiation is a teacher’s response to what the students need!

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We’ve reviewed the various components of differentiation from the point of view of the teacher, methods, students, and instructional strategies, but we need to break the various principals of differentiation down a little further.

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We’ve reviewed the various components of differentiation from the point of view of the teacher, methods, students, and instructional strategies, but we need to break the various principles of differentiation down a little further.

Respectful tasks – Every student’s work needs to be equally engaging, equally appealing, and equally important. For example, the students that already know and understand the standard don’t need to be doing something fun, while the students struggling are forced to do practice skills associated with the standard. What you really want is every student to be focused on the knowledge, understanding, and skill for the learning concept.

In a differentiated classroom, students often work on different tasks simultaneously. The tasks may be adjusted for different readiness levels, interests, or learning preferences, but regardless of which task a student is assigned to (or selects) it should be respectful. If some students look like they are doing a task that is challenging, engaging, and thought-provoking to them while other students work on filling in a simplistic worksheet, the activities are not effectively differentiated and will affect how students perceive their status in the classroom.

It’s very easy to fall into the pattern of rewarding students that have already mastered the concept with fun, exciting things to do and giving some kids no-brainer tasks. What you really want is every student to be focused on the essential knowledge, understanding, and skill. And for every student to have to think to do their work.

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What do we want them to know, understand, and be able to do as a result of the learning experience?

Designing good curriculum starts with identifying the essential Understandings -- the concepts, principles, or big ideas of the unit topic. Understandings that are meaningful, intriguing, and thought provoking allow students to see the relevance of what they are studying to other subjects and to the world around them.

Knowledge includes the key facts (names, dates, places, etc.), vocabulary, and examples that you want students to know. In isolation, this knowledge is easily forgotten. But when linked with the understandings, the knowledge items help students to uncover and make sense of the understandings.

High-quality curriculum engages students in exploring important ideas and challenges students to develop the skills and attitudes needed to do rigorous, quality work.

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One tip for achieving this is to plan the most complex learning activity first – one that would challenge the most advanced learner in your class. Then modify that activity for students who are currently at lower readiness levels.

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One tip for achieving this is to plan the most complex learning activity first – one that would challenge the most advanced learner in your class. Then modify that activity for students who are currently at lower readiness levels.

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Using ungraded assessments or surveys, to pre-assess students' readiness and interests before or at the start of a unit allows a teacher to determine where each student is in relation to the unit and guide the teacher in identifying initial student groupings and task assignments in the beginning of the unit.

During the unit, continually assessing each student’s progress toward the learning goals guides the teacher in planning the next instructional steps in the classroom. Formative assessments such as exit cards, questions for the day, journal prompts, observation and one-on-one conversations with students all help in identifying when there is a need to re-teach something to certain students or to raise the challenge higher for some students. Formative assessments can be differentiated as long as they are aligned with the unit.

Summative assessments can also be differentiated based on readiness, interest and learning profile. It is critical, however, that all variations of the summative assessment allow students to demonstrate what they have learned in reference to the unit

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In an effectively differentiated classroom, the teacher focuses on building a learning community where students feel safe, accepted, and supported; one where students treat one another with respect, help one another to be productive, and share in one another's successes.

In a differentiated classroom, students understand what differentiation is all about and everyone feels they play an important role in the community. Students have a voice in how the community works and take responsibility for identifying and solving problems in the classroom

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Teachers can differentiate in various ways.

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As we look at the next component of this slide, we see the focus moves to things that teachers can differentiate. Teachers can differentiate through content, process, product, affect, and learning environment.

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Our primary focus will be on content, process, and products. It is important for all effective teachers to have a clear understanding of these three aspects.

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Content is what we teach, what we want the students to learn, as well as the materials we select to give students access to what we want them to learn.

The first step in differentiating content is to be very clear about what a student should know and be able to do as a result of a lesson.

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Real learning—of the sort that enables students to retain, apply, and transfer content—has to happen in students, not to them (National Research Council, 2000; Wiggins & McTighe, 1998). We can adapt activities to provide higher functioning students with more challenge and others with more scaffolding, depending on their readiness levels.

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Affect is the absence of emotional threat, how feelings impact learning

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Learning Environment – routines, space, time, learning styles, and flexibility

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As we move further down the flow chart on differentiation, we see there are three ways to differentiation for the student: (1) Readiness, (2) Interest, and (3) Learning Profile.

We will review these briefly and then move into more detail on how to differentiate.

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The last component in the flow chart are the instructional strategies that can be used for differentiation in the classroom. On pages 7 and 8 of the Participant's Guide is a list of Differentiation Strategies with a brief definition. At the bottom of page 8, there are a few Assessment Strategies listed. Since differentiation works best when tied to assessment, these strategies may be very useful.

Mark those that you have used in the past and identify 1 or 2 that you would like to know more about or try.

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Readiness. To differentiate in response to student readiness, a teacher constructs tasks or provides learning choices at different levels of difficulty. Some ways in which teachers can adjust for readiness include

Adjusting the degree of difficulty of a task to provide an appropriate level of challenge.

Adding or removing teacher or peer coaching, use of manipulatives, or presence or absence of models for a task. Teacher and peer coaching are known as scaffolding because they provide a framework or a structure that supports student thought and work.

Making the task more or less familiar based on the proficiency of the learner's experiences or skills for the task.

Varying direct instruction by small-group need.

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Let’s talk about one way to Make Differentiation Happen!

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This chart identifies one of the most effective ways to differentiate. Assess your students, put them in flexible groups based on the assessment, ensure that classroom procedures are in place to allow for group work and / or different activities as well as provide something for student to work on, anchor activities, if they complete their task, and finally use tiered lessons or tasks for students to work on the same concept but at different levels. We will elaborate on these steps in upcoming slides.

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Along with these being the key components in the scenarios, they are also the basic steps for differentiating an assignment using assessments for flexible groups. Research has clearly identified differentiation tied to assessments, flexible groups, and tiered instruction/ assignments can make a positive difference in student learning.

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Using what you have learned in this module, develop a plan for how you intend to improve or strengthen the identified area in your classroom.

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