Differentiating Instruction Identifying With Your English Learners & Success In The Making

1. Differentiating InstructionIdentifying With Your English Learners&Success In The Making

2. Our Workshop Objectives We will recognize why we need to differentiate instruction for all students through group discussions and PowerPoint presentation. We will ascertain what is and what is not differentiated instruction throughout the workshop through discussion. We will discuss students learning styles and explore why this is important to differentiating instruction. We will compose a list of Before, During, and After activities that Differentiate Instruction throughout your lesson. We will review in small and whole group ways we can accommodate assessments for ELs We will share success stories we have had working with our ELs, through school or system efforts.

3. Today At a Glance

4. What Does Differentiating Instruction Mean to You? Pair and Share

5. From Mehlinger, 1995 . . . “Most teachers teach every child the same material in the same way, and measure each child’s performance by the same standards…. Thus, teachers embrace the value of treating each child as a unique individual while instructing children as if they were virtually identical.”

6. Differentiating Instruction Is… • Differentiated Instruction applies an approach to teaching and learning that gives students multiple options for taking in information and making sense of ideas. Differentiated instruction is a teaching theory based on the premise that instructional approaches should vary and be adapted in relation to individual and diverse students in classrooms . • (Tomlinson, 2001).

7. To Differentiate InstructionWhat Must We Know About Our ELs? With a Partner • Discuss • Take Notes • Present to Whole Group

8. To Differentiate Instruction We Must Know Our ELs… • English Language Proficiency Level • Learning Style/s • Student History • Student Culture • Readiness • Interests

9. Teachers are Successful AtDifferentiating Instruction for ELs When They: • Know their students learning styles • Hold high expectations • Employ Research Based ongoing informal assessments • Provide multiple types of assessments Adapted from ColorinColarado

10. AndWhen They: • Differentiate homework • Collaborate • Use flexible grouping • Make content comprehensible Adapted from ColorinColarado

11. What are You Doing Today to Differentiate Instruction for ELs? Jot and Share

12. How Do You Make Content Comprehensible For ELs? Turn and Share • Make a partner list of ideas • Share in whole group

13. Characteristics of ADifferentiated Classroom • All students explore, apply, and understandthe same benchmarks • Continuous assessment is an integral part of the curriculum. • Flexible grouping is used consistently • Students are active explorers

14. What Can You Differentiate? • Activity • Walk around the room and speak to three people you do not know. • Discuss what can be differentiated in a classroom. • Take notes • Whole group share This activity develops language acquisition and provides ideas about the content you may not have thought about.

15. What Can You Differentiate? • Time • Teaching Strategies • Learning Strategies • Classroom Assessments • Materials and Resources • Grouping • Expectations

16. Differentiated Instruction IS NOT… IS… - Tracking - A New Strategy - Static - Teaching to the Middle - A series of activities - Lowering the Bar - Flexible Grouping - Student Centered - Rigorous / Relevant - For all Learners - Based on academic and personal needs - Fosters relationshipsand reflection

17. What Does It Take To Differentiate? • Set rigorous and relevant goals • Students need to know / be able to do? • Where are they on the learning curve now? • Select instructional strategiesthat will enhance the learning. • Monitor student progress andadjust instruction if needed.

18. 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 • Discuss bullets in small group • Share in whole group

19. What Is A Learning Style? A learning style is… • A way to take in and process information • A preference that gets stronger the more it is used • The way the mind operates • The way we learn!

20. Why Should I Care About Learning Styles? • The way a child learns affects his/her entire personality and development. • Understanding learning styles will help teachers and students to better communicate. • Understanding learning styles will help teachers to differentiate instruction.

21. Learning Styles Activity • Pass out one question per table • Discuss question at your table • Answer the question with your group • One person per table will share in whole group

22. Sensing Thinking Learner(ST) Likes: • Immediate responses and feedback • Details and sequential order • Hands-on activities with a specific, correct answer • Clear, concise, step-by-step directions • Knowing exact expectations; why something has to be done, and how well it is to be done • Drill and practice

23. Intuitive Thinking Learner (NT) Likes: • Planning and organizing before working • Working independently • Analyzing and examining pros and cons • Arguing and debating • Thinking about ideas and how they are related • Finding/designing a new way to do something • Logical and strategic games

24. Intuitive Feeling Learner(NF) Likes: • Learning without time constraints • Praise for personal ideas and insights • Using creativity and imagination • Open-ended activities with many possibilities • Working on many things at once • Self-expression and self-discovery • Creative and artistic activities

25. Sensing Feeling Learner(SF) Likes: • Getting personal attention and praise • Sharing feelings and experiences • Working in groups/being part of a team • Having someone show how to do something • Role-playing and personal expression • Non-competitive games where no one loses • Interpersonal activities; opportunities to learn about himself/herself

26. Example.. Questions Students May Have • Sensing Thinking (ST): WHAT? ST: WHAT is the correct way to do this? • Intuitive Thinking (NT): WHY? NT: WHY does is have to be done this way? • Intuitive Feeling (NF): WHAT IF? NF: WHAT IF we tried doing it this way? • Sensing Feeling (SF): WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO ME? WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO ME to do this?

27. In A Nutshell… • No one learning style is better than another. • We all have characteristics of each learning style; some characteristics are just stronger than others. • Learning about each style will help us to better understand and communicate with our students. • Knowing about each learning style will help teachers to better understand how students learn and how to differentiate instruction.

28. Differentiated Instruction IS NOT… IS… - Tracking - A New Strategy - Static - Teaching to the Middle - A series of activities - Lowering the Bar - Flexible Grouping - Student Centered - Rigorous / Relevant - For all Learners - Based on academic and personal needs - Fosters relationshipsand reflection

29. Differentiating Instruction Video Clip

30. Differentiating Instruction

31. DifferentiatingInstruction • Before the Lesson • During the Lesson • After the Lesson

32. DI Before The Lesson • Plan Ahead • Student’s Background • Vocabulary • Student’s Knowledge • Link to previous lesson

33. DI Before The Lesson Continued • Pre-teach • Reflect • Supplementary Materials • Word Banks • Adapt Materials • Lower level non-fiction materials

34. DI During The Lesson Now It’s Your Turn • Select a Partner/group • With Partner brainstorm DI During the Lesson • Compose a List of Ideas • Partners/group writes 2 ideas on chart paper • Share in whole group

35. Other Suggestions For DIDuring The Lesson • Simplified language/vocabulary • Pre-Questions • Present concrete concepts/vocabulary • Categorize content information • Highlighting

36. More Suggestions For DIDuring The Lesson Repeat/Paraphrase Real life experiences Teach text skills Model and reinforce learning strategies Teach note taking/recording

37. DI After The Lesson • Provide quality notes • Watch content videos/listen to recorded lesson • Provide activities to reinforce content and vocabulary • Support language development in small groups • Adjust assignments to ELs proficiency level

38. Differentiating AssessmentsFor English Learners,A Brief Look

39. Maintain A BalancedAssessment System “To maximize student success, assessment must be seen as an instructional tool for use while learningis occurring, and as anaccountability tool to determine if learning has occurred. Because both purposes are important, they must be in balance.” From Balanced Assessment: The Key to Accountability and Improved Student Learning, NEA (2003)

40. Experts Tell Us… “Assessment should promote learning, not simply measure it.” Jay McTighe

41. “Assessment should always have more to do with helping students grow than with cataloging their mistakes.” Carol Tomlinson

42. Categories Of English Learners • Newly arrived students with adequate formal schooling • Newly arrived students with limited formal schooling • Long-term English-language learners • Students exposed to two languages simultaneously

43. Consider The Purposes For Assessment Ask Yourself • “Does my assessment connect to the language and content standards and goals?” • Think about your assessment practices and are they consistent with your own instructional objectives and goals?

44. Use Authentic Assessment Tools • Conduct multiple forms of evaluations • Anecdotal records • Checklists • Portfolios • Rating Scales

45. Access In Non-Traditional Ways • Involve student in performance assessment. • Students show knowledge through non-language ways such as Venn diagrams, charts, drawings, mind maps, or PowerPoint slides. • Access learning through participation activities. • Teach students reading strategies and use these to access literacy.

46. Assessment Accommodations For Newcomers Students answer orally Bilingual professional assists with assessment Demonstrate reading progress through group assessments Allow students to provide responses in multiple formats Accept response in students’ native language if translation is possible. Use bilingual dictionary

47. Assessment Accommodations For DevelopingELs Have an aide record student answers Divide assessment into small chunks Use visuals Simplify vocabulary Begin the assessment with several examples Simplify assessment directions Add glossaries in English or the first language Ask questions in the affirmative rather than the negative and teach the language of testing

48. Forms of Assessments Dictation 2.  Cloze tests The student must decide the appropriate words for the blanks. 3.  Multiple-choice tests. Possibly omit choices to three. 4.  Strip stories where EL students put back in the correct order. 5.  Role play 6.  Using writing samples determines certain grammatical strengths and weaknesses. 7.  Portfolios show their progress and achievements in one or more areas. 

49. What have you learned today about Differentiating Instruction and Assessments for English Learners? Activity Parallel Lines

50. Success In The Making