Identify the issues in the following story:

1. Identify the issues in the following story: • What was the basic premise of the animal school? • Was the school successful? Why or why not?

2. The Animal School:A Fableby George Reavis

3. The animals…. decided they must do something heroic to meet the problems of a “new world” so they organized a school. They had adopted a curriculum consisting of running, climbing, swimming and flying. To make it easier to administer the curriculum, all the animals took all the subjects.

4. The duck… …was excellent in swimming. In fact, better than his instructor. But he made only passing grades in flying and was very poor in running. Since he was slow in running, he had to stay after school and also drop swimming in order to practice running. This was kept up until his webbed feet were badly worn and he was only average in swimming. But average was acceptable in school so nobody worried about that…. except the duck!

5. The rabbit… started at the top of the class in running -- but had a nervous breakdown because of so much makeup work in swimming…

6. The squirrel… was excellent in climbing until he developed frustration in the flying class where his teacher made him start from the ground up instead of the treetop down. He also developed a “charlie horse” from overexertion and then got a C in climbing and D in running.

7. The eagle… was a problem child and was disciplined severely. In the climbing class, he beat all the others to the top of the tree but insisted on using his own way to get there.

8. At the end of the year, an abnormal eel that could swim exceeding well and also run, climb and fly a little had the highest average and was valedictorian.

9. The prairie dogs… stayed out of school … because the administration would not add digging and burrowing to the curriculum. They apprenticed their children to a badger and later joined the groundhogs and gophers to start a successful private school.

10. So….. • What was the basic premise of the animal school? • Was the school successful? Why or why not? • Just FYI: This story was written when George Reavis was the Assistant Superintendent of the Cincinnati Public Schools… back in the 1940s! • This content is in the public domain and free to copy, duplicate, and distribute.www.janebluestein.com

11. Why Differentiate? • Can every child of the same age wear the same shoe? • If all the children of the same age wore the exact same shoe, would they all move at the same pace? • Would they all arrive at the same place at the same time? • If they had a choice, would they all choose the exact same style and color? • Like shoes, learning is not “one size fits all.” • Readiness levels, experiences, temperament, interests, gender, culture, socioeconomic status, and learning styles make each student unique.

12. The absurdity of one-size fits all education is that…. It doesn’t work!!

13. We Know That…. Students of the same age, in the same grade, differ in their readiness to learn, their interests, their learning profiles, and their life circumstances.

14. The differences in students make a major impact on what students need to learn, the pace at which they need to learn it, and the support they need from teachers and others to learn it.

15. Students learn best when they are challenged slightly beyond where they can work with assistance. Zone of Proximal Development –Vygotsky Students learn best when they can make a connection between learning and their interests and life experiences. Concept Based Instruction – Erikson Teaching for Understanding by Design – Wiggins & McTighe

16. Students learn best when learning opportunities are natural, meaningful, and context-laden. Concept-Based Instruction Erikson Students achieve significantly higher when taught new and difficult information according to their learning styles preferences. Dunn & Dunn Learning Styles Model Rita Dunn

17. You must learn how to cook this delicious Indian Meal, for 4 people. Think about the ways you would and would not like to learn to do this. Jot down your thoughts Take about 3 minutes to talk with a partner and compare your answers.

18. Why Differentiate? • “One size fits all” instruction does not address the needs of many students. • Students come to us with different interests, learning profiles, and readiness levels.

19. Providing a “Rack of Learning Options” • We need to do more than “tailor the same suit of clothes.” • Differentiation requires thoughtful planning and proactive approaches.

20. Aerodynamically, the bumblebeeshouldn’t be able to fly but thebumblebee doesn’t know it so itgoes on flying anyway. • Mary Kay Ash

21. The real voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new landscapesbut in having new eyes. • --Marcel Proust

22. Is Not . . . Individualized instruction. Is . . . All students are exposed to key concepts, but at differing levels of complexity and depth. Differentiated Instruction

23. Is Not . . . A new idea or an instructional strategy. Is . . . A way of thinking about and organizing teaching and learning. Differentiated Instruction

24. Is Not . . . A way to track students or make homogeneous groups. Is . . . Flexible grouping including working alone, in pairs, student-selected groups, whole class, cooperative groups. Differentiated Instruction

25. Is Not . . . Just summative assessment to see "who got it.” Is . . . preassessment, formative assessment, summative assessment, and, adjustment of instruction. Differentiated Instruction

26. Is Not . . . Giving some students “watered” down tasks and others more of the same work to do. Is . . . All students engaged in challenging and respectful tasks. Differentiated Instruction

27. Is Not . . . Every student completing the same work at the same time in the same way. Is . . . Designing learning experiences based on student readiness, interest, and learning profile. Differentiated Instruction

28. Differentiation of Instruction is a teacher’s response to learners’ needs guided by general principles of differentiation such as: respectful tasksflexible groupingongoing assessment and adjustment teachers can differentiate Content Process Product according to students’ Readiness Interests Learning Profile through a range of instructional and management strategies such as:

29. Strategies That Support Differentiation Instructional Assessment • Choice Boards • Flexible Grouping • Tiered Activities • Anchor Activities • Learning Centers • Curriculum Compacting • Learning Contracts • Adjusting Questions • Independent Study • Choice Boards • Higher Order Questions • Choice of Questions • Pre-assessment • Authentic • Formative • Non-traditional • Varied • Rubrics

30. “Creating a differentiated classroom is not a yes/no proposition but rather a continuum along which teachers move as they develop skills of responsive teaching.” Carol Ann Tomlinson

31. Not Differentiated Fully Differentiated • Reactive • Fixed • Closed • Proactive • Fluid • Open • Pre-assessments • Flexible Grouping • Tiered Activities • Anchor Activities • Formative Assessments • Rubrics • Learning Contracts • Adjusting Questions • Curriculum Compacting “One size fits all.”

32. “The biggest mistake of past centuries in teaching has been to treat all children as if they were variants of the same individual and thus to feel justified in teaching them all the same subjects in the same way.” --Howard Gardner

33. Fairness does not mean everyone gets the same. Fairness means everyone gets what he/she needs to succeed.

34. “Tasks must be at the proper level of difficulty to be and to remain motivating: tasks that are too easy become boring; tasks that are too difficult cause frustration.” National Research Council, 1999

35. I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; I will not refuse to do the something I can do. Helen Keller

36. Push me! See how far I go!Work me ‘til I drop. Then pick me up.Open a door, and then make me run toit before it closes.Teach me so that I might learn,Then let me enter the tunnel ofexperience alone.And when, near the end,I turn to see you beginning another’sjourney,I shall smile. Written by: Kathleen, a fourteen year old student Found in: How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms by Carol Tomlinson

37. Do you prefer to express the “Essence of Differentiation” as an …? author artist architect actor alto, soprano, etc