Differentiated Instruction and Technology

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Differentiated Instruction and Technology

• Melanie Kitchen
• mkitchen_at_e1b.org

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What does it mean to be smart?

• Think, Ink, Pair, Share
• Write your own thoughts about what it means to be
  smart
• Turn to a partner, share what you wrote, listen
  to what they wrote
• Go back to your written statement. Change,
  enhance, add, or modify what you wrote.
• Think about what changed your thinking.

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Brain research confirms what experienced teachers
have always known

• No two children are alike.
• No two children learn in the identical way.
• An enriched environment for one student is not
  necessarily enriched for another.
• In the classroom we should teach children to
  think for themselves.

Marian Diamond
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Essential Question

• How can we modify our instruction
• to meet the needs of all learners?

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Where

• Students will be engaged in respectful tasks
• Flexible grouping will be utilized to meet
  educational objectives
• Teachers will be engaged in on-going assessment
  and adjustment

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Creating a Table in Word

• Open up Microsoft Word to a blank document
• On the menu bar, click on TABLE, INSERT, TABLE
• A window will open and ask how many columns (3)
  and how many rows (5)
• 1st column Article Title
• 2nd column Main Ideas
• 3rd column If you could only take away one
  thing from this article, what would it be?
• Format the font and size of the text to your
  liking

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Jigsaw Articles

• Open up Internet Explorer
• qp.wnyric.org/cslo
• Staff Areas
• Melanie Kitchen
• Differentiating Instruction with Technology
• Bookmark this site by adding it to Favorites

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Jigsaw Activity

• Get together with 4 other teachers who teach the
  same grade level
• This is your HOME GROUP
• Within your group decide who will be an A, B, C,
  D
• Get together with those teachers who have the
  same number as you (ex. all the 1s get together,
  etc)
• This is your EXPERT GROUP
• Read your assigned article and discuss
• Go back to your computer, type your notes in a
  Word table (dont forget to save)
• In your HOME GROUP, share your article
• Go back to your computer and type your notes

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Differentiated Instruction

• Is not
• Primarily for students with disabilities
• Adaptations that are tacked-on to pre-developed
  lessons
• Changing pieces of the lesson for 1 or 2 students
• A new and unfamiliar approach to teaching and
  learning

• Is
• An approach that benefits all learners
• Curriculum, instruction, and assessment carefully
  designed up-front
• Creating diversity in instruction by mixing up
  formats, strategies, etc
• Most teachers already do this without realizing
  it!!

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Differentiation of Instruction
Is a teachers response to learners needs
Guided by general principles of differentiation
such as
Respectful tasks
Ongoing assessment and adjustment
Flexible grouping Teachers can differentiate
Product
Empathy
Environment
Process
Content
According to students
Readiness
Interest
Learning Profile
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Differentiating by Content

• WebQuests
• www.webquests.org
• Curriculum Compacting
• Orbitals
• Learning Contracts
• Mentorships
• Ex spelling

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Differentiating by Process

• Instructional Strategies Online
• http//olc.spsd.sk.ca/DE/PD/instr/alpha.html
• Glossary of Instructional Strategies
• http//www.teachersgarden.com/professionalresourc
  es/glossary.htmlA
• Instructional Framework
• http//www.aea267.k12.ia.us/cia/framework/thinkin
  g/index.html

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Differentiating by Environment

• RISE Reaching Individual Students Everyday
• http//www.manteno.k12.il.us/curriculumdiff/differ
  entiating_learning_environment.htm

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Differentiating by Readiness

• Preassessment
• Funbrain www.funbrain.com
• Internet4classrooms http//www.internet4classroom
  s.com/k12links.htm
• Brainpop www.brainpop.com
• Tiered Lessons
• Inspiration
• Layered Curriculum
• Dr. Kathy Nunley
• http//www.help4teachers.com/samples.htm

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Differentiating by Interest

• Independent Study
• Choice Boards
• Interest Centers/Interest Groups
• Mentorships

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Differentiating by Learning ProfileLearning
Styles

• Online Inventory
• For adults
• http//www.ldpride.net/learning_style.html
• For students
• http//www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.ht
  ml
• Online Project http//www.msad54.k12.me.us/MSAD5
  4Pages/SAMS/Pinesite/web/brainproj.html

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Students Retain

• 10 of what they READ
• 20 of what they HEAR
• 30 of what they SEE
• 50 of what they SEE AND HEAR
• 70 of what they SAY
• 90 of what they SAY AND DO
• Rief, Sandra F. How to Reach and Teach ADD/ADHD
  Children Practical Techniques, Strategies, and
  Interventions for Helping Children with Attention
  Problems and Hyperactivity. The Center for
  Applied Research in Education, 1993, p. 53

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Differentiating by Learning ProfileMultiple
Intelligences

• Multiple Intelligences
• Inventory http//www.lessonsforhope.org/survey/S
  urvey_Naturalist.asp
• MI Smart http//www.chariho.k12.ri.us/curriculum/
  MISmart/mi_smart.htm
• MI for kids http//www.atc.unh.edu/fisk/MIKids.h
  tml
• Student Projects http//www.chariho.k12.ri.us/cur
  riculum/MISmart/stndunit.html
• MI games http//surfaquarium.com/MI/intelligences
  .htm

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Tiered Assignments

• Teacher uses varied levels of activities
• Builds on prior knowledge
• Allows students to work with appropriately
  challenging tasks
• Avoids work that is anxiety-producing (too harsh)
  or boredom-producing (too easy)
• Promotes success and is therefore motivating
• Be sure the task is focused on a key concept or
  generalization essential to the study

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Tiered Products

• Primarily used to differentiate for readiness,
  interest, learning profile
• Can be passion-producing
• Must provide coaching for quality

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Learning Contracts

• An agreement between the student and the teacher
• Teacher grants certain freedoms about how a
  student completes tasks, student agrees to use
  freedom appropriately to complete work
• Allows student to work at appropriate pace
• Teachers work with individuals and small groups
• Match content to readiness, interests, and
  learning style
• Provide rules for the contract in writing

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Interest Centers/Interest Groups

• Centers are often used with younger learners
• Groups are often used with older learners
• Can be differentiated by level of complexity and
  independence required
• Allows student choicemotivating
• Allows for long blocks of time for work, change
  centers less often to allow for depth of study,
  make certain tasks are challenging

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Flexible Grouping

• Students work in many different groups or alone
  according to readiness, interest, or learning
  style.
• Teachers may create skills-based or
  interest-based groups that are heterogeneous or
  homogeneous in readiness level.
• Sometimes teachers select groups and sometimes
  students select them.

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Rationale

• Allows for quick mastery of information/ideas and
  need for additional exploration by students
  needing more time
• Allows for both collaborative and independent
  work
• Allows for students to work with a wide variety
  of peers
• Keeps students from being pegged as advanced or
  struggling

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Guidelines for Use

• Ensure that students have opportunities to work
  with students most like themselves in terms of
  readiness or interest, etc and students
  dissimilar
• Teacher assigns groups when task is designed to
  match readiness based on preassessment or to
  ensure that students work with a variety of
  classmates
• Students select groups when task is well-suited
  for peer selection
• Be sure to teach group guidelines in advance and
  consistently reinforce

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Varying Questions

• Teachers vary the sorts of questions posed to
  learners based on their readiness, interests and
  learning styles
• Appropriately helps nurture motivation through
  success
• Use open-ended questions where possible
• Give students a chance tot talk with thinking
  partners before giving answers
• Require students to explain and defend their
  answers

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Mentorships

• Students work with a resource teacher, media
  specialist, parent volunteer, older student, or
  community member who can guide their growth in a
  particular area.
• Extend learning beyond the classroom
• Taps into student interest, strengths, and needs
• Monitor progress of the mentorship regularly
• Connect what is learned in the mentorship to what
  goes on in class whenever possible

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Curriculum Compacting

• 3 step process
• Assesses what a student knows about material to
  be studied and what the student needs to master
• Plans for learning what is not known, excuses
  student from what is known
• Plans for freed-up time to be spent in enriched
  or acclerated study
• Challenges all students, especially those who
  excel and are sometimes overlooked
• Explain the process and its benefits to students
  and parents
• Use written plans and timelines for accelerated
  study

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Independent Study

• Students and teachers identify problems or topics
  of interest to the student
• Both plan a method of investigating and
  identifying the product the student will develop
• Allows work with complex and abstract ideas
• Allows long-term and in-depth work
• Use preset timelines to zap procrastination
• Use process logs to document the process involved
  throughout the study
• Establish criteria for success

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Choice Boards

• Display of teacher selected activities based on
  theme or topic
• Students choose certain number of activities to
  complete
• Primarily used to differentiate for readiness and
  interest
• Balances teacher choice and student choice

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4-MAT

• Primarily used to differentiate for learning
  profile
• Helps teachers be more conscious of student
  learning style/mode

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