THE DIFFERENTIATED JOURNEY:EXPLORING NEW TERRITORY

June Preszler, TIE, Spearfish School District

Jan. 18, 2010http://jpreszler.tie.wikispaces.net/

http://www.tie.net/content/showcase/booklets.htm

GOALS:

Defining differentiation Considering choice Finding differentiation through choice Using differentiation and choice

DIFFERENTIATION DEFINEDOn note card:

Your impression of differentiated instruction

One way you differentiate in your classroom

One concern regarding differentiation

Share with two or three others and create an agreed upon working definition of differentiated instruction.

ONE POSSIBLE DI DEFINITION Differentiation is classroom practice

that looks eyeball to eyeball with the reality that kids differ, and the most effective teachers do whatever it takes to hook the whole range of kids on learning.

(From Carol Ann Tomlinson, ASCD)

WHAT DI IS…

Multiple approaches Student centered Ebb and flow Different learning modalities Student competes against self Flexible use of classroom time Carol Ann Tomlinson, The Differentiated Classroom, 1999

BELIEFS BEHIND DI Learning profiles differ Making meaning priority Opportunity for choice

Greatest challenge? Developing respectful activities that are interesting, engaging, challenging

Differentiation of InstructionDifferentiation Strategy Booklets, 4-6guided by general principles of differentiation

such as:

respectful tasks flexible grouping ongoing assessment teachers can differentiate

Content Process Product according to students’

Readiness Interests Learning Profile

through a range of instructional and management strategies

Sometimes Classroom Environment

PREP STEPS

Start small—one strategy, one area. Start with what is—mine ideas;

determine what all students will do, what some students will do; identify basic and advanced activities.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN…

Know Understand Do Differentiate, 4-12, pages 6-7

COUNTING COUP The concept: Counting Coup What do you think it means? Think-Ink-Pair-Share—Content Area Writing, 12-13

THE ENEMY IN FRONT OF US Not a person But a thing “The biggest enemy our children have

are those things sitting in front of you and they’re called books.”—Gerard Baker

THE WARRIOR “What do you do with your enemies?

You conquer them.” “We have to redefine our enemies and

conquer them.”

COUNTING COUP “We have to count coup on books.” Vocabulary Notebook/Map

Define Counting Coup in your own words Compare it to something else Draw it Explain it

HOW DID WE DO? In what ways did the Counting Coup

activity differentiate? How could you use this type of activity

or a variation of it when teaching vocabulary?

How could it be applied to more than one content area?

I WANTED YOU TO Know the historical context of counting coup. Understand that counting coup can be

applied to more contemporary situations, including the struggles that students face in schools.

Draw your understanding of the concepts and be able to explain that interpretation to group. Furthermore, I wanted you to consider how this concept might affect the way you approach students.

LEVELS OF READING Gettysburg Address (http://myloc.gov)

THINK-TAC-TOE (CHOICE BOARD) Allows students choice Incorporates learning preferences Takes readiness into account (basic and

advanced) Provides framework

On Target Differentiated Instruction , Grades 4-12, pages 14-15

http://webtech.cherokee.k12.ga.us/littleriver-es/ewilliams/tictactoeoceania.htm

MENU APPROACH Main dish: Everyone Side dish: Pick and choose Dessert: Optional but irresistible

On Target, Differentiated Instruction, Grades 4-12, pages 10-11

LEARNING CONTRACTS

TIERED INSTRUCTION Make slight adjustments within same

lesson to meet individual needs. Students learn same skills and

concepts but through varying modes and activities.

Appropriately challenges ability levels On Target, Differentiated Instruction, Grades

4-12, pages 8-9

TIERED ASSIGNMENTS Tiered assignments are multiple

versions that allow students to build on their prior knowledge and that prompt their continued learning.

Readiness based approach that is challenging but not frustrating.

STEPS IN TIERING Identify key concepts and understandings Pre-assess based on readiness, interests or

learning profiles Identify how you will cluster groups/activities Select elements to tier (content, process,

product) Create variations for each group

CUBING

Looks at topics from different angles

Eliminates flat thinking Includes six commands and a

prompt Describe, compare, associate,

analyze, apply or use, argue for or against

On Target, Differentiated Instruction, Grades 4-12, pages 12-13

A LITTLE LIE GOES A LONG WAYS Three Facts and a Fib Strategies to Help Struggling Readers,

page 25

HOW IT WORKS…SIMPLE SAMPLE Three Facts and a Fib Basically a reading strategy Encourages group interaction Allows for different learning styles Takes readiness into consideration Follows a process/not an activity

THREE FACTS AND A FIB1.When I took my son to college, I camped

out in the dorm parking lot for the first night…just in case.

2.I played soccer for a championship youth team in Brazil in the 1970s.

3.In one month, I traveled over 3000 miles for education-related business, had one accident in a BHSSC/TIE vehicle, and received two undeserved speeding tickets.

4. I began my professional career as a recipe writer for the Aberdeen American News.

SIX WORD MEMOIRShttp://www.npr.org/programs/totn/features/2008/02/memoir/gallery/index.html

Time to learn. First! Sit down!--Mathew Cox

Energy like a dry erase marker--Teresa Blaskovich

Relationships first, then learning to follow--Bobby Sanborn

Perplexed, exhausted, maybe finally getting there--Stephanie Chaney

Spinning plates, but psyched about it--Alexa Miller

Best plans shared, shredded and learned--Ed Jackson

Never said the words, "I regret"--Dylan Huisken

Buried in the process of growing--Jennifer Dunekacke 

MY LIFE AFTER THREE MONTHS AS A NEW TEACHER:

EXIT CARDS Easy strategy for assessing student

learning Students respond to prompts or

questions; turn in cards as they leave Teacher uses card to help create

groups, monitor student progress, revise lessons

On Target, Strategies to Help Struggling Readers, page 27

Students who are struggling with the

concept orskill

Students withsome understanding

of concept or skill

Students whounderstand theconcept or skill

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Readiness Groups

EXIT CARD GROUPINGS

Montgomery County Public Schools, Rockville, Maryland

EXIT CARDS

Today you began to

learn about decimal

fractions List three things

you learned Write at least one

question you have about this topic

Montgomery County Public Schools, Rockville, Maryland

EXIT CARDS We have been learning about The Greenhouse Effect. Explain or depict your understanding of this important environmental issue.

What questions do you have about this topic?

Montgomery County Public Schools, Rockville, Maryland

EXIT CARDS

On your Exit Card---

Explain the differencebetween prime andcomposite numbers.You may wish to give some examples of eachas part of yourexplanation.

Montgomery County Public Schools, Rockville, Maryland

EXIT CARDSOn your exit card---

Explain the differencebetween simile andmetaphor. Give some examples of each aspart of your explanation.

Montgomery County Public Schools, Rockville, Maryland

OUR EXIT CARD List three things you learned today. List two questions you’d still like to

explore. List one method of differentiation

and/or choice that you might apply in your classroom.

WEB SITES TO EXPLORE http://www.teach-nology.com/litined/dif_instruction/ http://www.help4teachers.com/ http://www.internet4classrooms.com/di.htm http://www.learnerslink.com/curriculum.htm http://webhost.bridgew.edu/kdobush/strategies%20for%20teac

hing%20reading/handbook/diff_inst/differentiated%20instruction.htm

http://www.k8accesscenter.org/training_resources/differentiationmodule.asp

http://www.differentiatedresources.com/