Differentiating Instruction

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Differentiating Instruction

• Shari Gallin Washburn Christy Lendman

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A New Look at Blooms
Evaluation
Analysis
Knowledge Comprehension
Synthesis
Application
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A New Look at Blooms cont.

• Critical thought processes are interrelated and
  interactive
• Critical thought has knowledge and comprehension
  at the center
• Critical thought builds knowledge
• The full range of thinking skills may be involved
  when learning

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Differentiated Instruction
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What Gets Differentiated?
CONTENT What students should Know Understand Be able to do
PROCESS How students will Create their own understanding of the concept Construct their knowledge
PRODUCT Demonstration of knowledge
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Differentiated Instruction A Philosophy

• Students differ in their
• Readiness
• Interests
• Learning styles

adapted from C.Tomlinson, ASCD, Sept., 2000
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Differentiated Instruction A Philosophy cont.

• Students require varied
• Knowledge
• Pace
• Supports

adapted from C.Tomlinson, ASCD, Sept., 2000
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Differentiated Instruction A Philosophy cont.

• Students learn best when
• Challenged
• They make connections
• Learning is authentic
• There is a community of respect

adapted from C.Tomlinson, ASCD, Sept., 2000
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Setting Goals

• Let standards be your guide
• Clarify the essentials
• Goal vs. demonstration
• Skills vs. content knowledge

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Pre-Assessment

• Data that drives differentiated instruction
• Empowers you to make learning appropriately
  challenging
• Assess for readiness, interest, and learning
  styles

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Pre-assessment should

• Be reasonable in length
• Include all of the skills in the unit
• Be easy to interpret
• Be open-ended when appropriate
• Be on-going

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(No Transcript)
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Pre-Assessment cont.
Readiness Interests Learning
Coursework
Surveys
Concept maps
KWL
Skill Quizzes
Story telling
Observations

Inventories
Interviews
Logs
Journals
Checklists
Inventories
4MAT
Checklists
Choice
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Now What?

• Flexible grouping
• Tiering
• Stations and Centers
• Contracts and Compacts

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Flexible Grouping Principles

• Group based on readiness, interests, learning
  styles
• Keep the group size small (3-5)

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Flexible Grouping Principles cont.

• Keep groups flexible
• Vary level and pace
• Change membership
• Teach group social skills
• Turn-taking
• Accountability

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Tiering

• Leveling activities while maintaining
• the same essential goal.

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Tiering Principles

• Students work on the same
• Essential idea
• Key skills

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Tiering Principles cont.

• Students work at different levels of
• Complexity
• Abstractness
• Open-endedness

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Tiering Principles cont.

• Should include problem-solving
• That is teacher facilitated
• Through a wide range of activities

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Tiering Principles cont.

• Activities are
• Open-ended
• Appropriate to readiness
• Require complex exploration with appropriate
  supports

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The Activity Ladder
High skill complexity




Low skill complexity

1. Chart the complexity of a current activity
2. Determine what supports, materials, connections,
   timelines, resources, application, and monitoring
   will enable activity to be more or less complex
3. Clone the activity

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Cloning a Lesson The Tiering Continuum

• 1st Tier 2nd Tier 3rd Tier
• Concrete ideas Abstract ideas
• Teacher plans, designs, Student plans,
• and monitors activities designs, and
  monitors activities
• Structure use of Discovery through
• manipulatives manipulatives

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Learning Stations

• Different areas within the classroom
• All stations work in concert with each other
• Symmetry
• Angles
• Geoboards
• Tangrams
• Tessellations

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Learning Stations cont.

• Students work on various tasks simultaneously
• Incorporate flexible grouping
• Within the station different tasks
• Schedule rotation
• Different combinations of stations
• Different lengths of time

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Centers

• Teach, reinforce, or extend a particular skill or
  concept
• Focus on mastery
• Vary activity types for different
• Readiness levels
• Learning styles
• Interests

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Contracts Compacting

• Negotiated Agreement
• Content delineates
• Skills
• Working conditions
• Consequences
• Outcome criteria
• Signatures/
• accountability

• Assess prior knowledge
• Identify unknowns
• Student buys-back time for an alternative
  activity
• Challenging
• Meaningful

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How to Begin?

• Start small
• Slowly but surely
• Envision and predict
• Reflect and assess

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Key Principles of Differentiating Instruction

• Teacher clarifies important subject matter
• Assessment and instruction are inseparable
• Goals
• Maximum growth
• Individual success

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Key Principles of Differentiating Instruction
cont.

• CONTENT, PROCESS and PRODUCTS are adjusted
  according to student
• Readiness
• Interests
• Learning style

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Key Principles of Differentiating Instruction
cont.

• Teacher recognizes and appreciates student
  diversity
• Community of respect
• Teachers and students collaborate
• Work is challenging and meaningful for all
  students (UnequalFair)
• Flexibility!
• Adapted from C. Tomlinson, The Differentiated
  Classroom, 1999.