Differentiated Instruction 101

1. Differentiated Instruction 101

2. Goals for this afternoon • What is differentiated instruction? • Why work towards differentiated instruction? • Methods/ideas to help with differentiated instruction. • Brainstorm ideas to prepare for the ‘now what are you going to do?’ question.

3. Have you ever been to IKEA? That’s a joke, who hasn’t been to IKEA

4. Being in the school system is a bit like being in IKEA (without the Swedish lamps). You must follow a path, that systematically exposes you to the things it wants you to be exposed to and in the order it wants you to be exposed to it. It doesn’t care that you may want to visit the BILLY bookcases before the OSLO beds. There’s not much room for your choice in this process. Sure, IKEA cares that you come to their store but if you do - you’re going to do it their way. In the education system students enter school and progress grade by grade having no choice in the topics of study or when they take them. Students are lumped together by age, not by interests or talents or some other meaningful measure of grouping. If you are wondering how some students must feel in the system, just ask Pink Floyd.

5. I am NOT suggesting that as teachers we do not TREAT individual students as individuals (we do try to get to know our students and accept their differences) I am, however, suggesting that as teachers we do not TEACH individual students as individuals ( Using their individual differences to help them learn)

6. Differentiated Instruction is based on the philosophy that students are unique and deserve to be treated as individuals.

7. What is differentiated instruction? “At it’s most basic level differentiating instruction means ‘shaking up’ what goes on in the classroom so that students have multiple options for taking in information, making sense of ideas, and expressing what they learn. In other words, a differentiated classroom provides different avenues to acquiring content, to processing or making sense of ideas, and to developing products so that each student can learn effectively.” Carol Ann Tomlinson (2001, p.1) (DI Guru)

8. A Different View They say - You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink. Differentiated Instruction says we should bring the water to the horse, and we should do everything within our power to entice him to drink.

9. Differentiate Instruction Content Process Product Based on Students Learning profile Interests Readiness

10. The cornerstone of differentiated instruction is the recognition that no two students are the same Therefore this process logically begins with getting to know the students.

11. Tomlinson (2001) suggests knowing students interests allows: • Students to realize there is a match between school and their own desires to learn eg. Link interest based exploration with key components of the curriculum • Uses skills and or ideas familiar to students as a bridge to ideas or skills less familiar to them eg. ‘Anchoring’ as an effective memory strategy • Enhances motivation to learn eg. If for no other reason, students perceive you care about their learning “Teachers need to become so familiar with a student’s hobbies and interests that it is easy to refer to these outside activities in informal conversations when an opportunity presents itself” (Chapman & King, 2005, p.24)

12. Examples of focus on interest (Tomlinson, 2001, p.56)

13. Student readiness refers to the student’s capability to succeed at the task at hand. • Chapman and King (2005) suggest pre-assessment before the learning to: - understand the learner’s knowledge base and experiences in relation to the upcoming topic or skill - establish a starting point for planning learning experiences - address the students’ strengths and needs during instruction. Formative assessments are continuously administered to ascertain the student’s progress. “This is the time to plan strategically to reteach, readjust, revamp, enhance, or enrich according to the diverse needs of the learners” (Chapman & King, 2005, p.82) “A task that’s a good match for student readiness extends that student’s knowledge, understanding, and skills a bit beyond what the student can do independently” ( Tomlinson, 2001, p. 45)

14. The students learning-profile indicates their: • Learning Style auditory, visual, touch • Intelligence preference Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Robert Sternberg (analytic, practical, creative) • Gender ( although, sometimes this one’s obvious) • Culture The teacher must establish how individuals from other cultures learn, and then differentiate their instruction accordingly

15. Intelligence Preferences Multiple Intelligences Robert Sternberg

16. Once you know the learners readiness, interests, learning profile, this can be applied to Differentiating CONTENT PROCESS PRODUCT

17. Content can be differentiated based on student Interest Learning Profile Including in the curriculum ideas and materials that build on current student interests Ensuring a student has a way of accessing the materials that match his preferred way of learning Readiness Choosing assignments and activities that are just beyond what the student can do independently and ensuring structures are in place to help the student move forward

18. Differentiating Content Differentiating content can be thought of in two ways: 1) We can adapt WHAT we teach 2) We can adapt or modify HOW WE GIVE STUDENTS ACCESS to what we want them to learn (Tomlinson, 2001, p. 72)

19. Differentiated instruction based on student readiness Example 1) Differentiating what we teach After assessing students in a science 10 class it may be apparent that some students are ready to move on to acceleration and some students are still struggling with velocity, it makes little sense to begin acceleration unless the student has mastered velocity or to hold back the students who are ready to move forward.

20. Differentiated Instruction Based on Student Readiness Example 2) How students access the content Advanced students can be encouraged to read ahead independently and then in small groups tackle acceleration problems. Struggling students can get caught up on velocity problems and begin acceleration with mini lessons.

21. The Equalizer – one way to think about readiness differentiation ( Tomlinson, 2001, p. 47)

22. Tomlinson (2001) suggests the following strategies for differentiating content: Curriculum Compacting – Students who are compacting miss out on whole – class instruction and activities in content areas they have already mastered. Using varied text and resource materials – books of varied difficulty levels, internet, manipulatives, videos. Learning Contracts – Allows students some freedom in their use of class time. Contracts can contain knowledge and skills components Mini Lessons – reteaching or small group teaching based on student need Varied support systems – eg. Read & Write Gold

23. Differentiating process “Process means sense – making, or just as it sounds, opportunity for learners to process the content or ideas and skills to which they have been introduced” ( Tomlinson, 2001, p.79). Tomlinson (2001) lists the following strategies: Learning logs Jigsaw Journals Think- pair- share Graphic organizers mind- mapping Creative problem solving PMI Cubing model making Learning centers Labs Interest centers learning contracts Tiered assignments Literature circles Role playing Cooperative controversy Choice boards ANY activity students engage in that helps make the information theirs is a valuable learning opportunity. We already do many of these, the tweak is to MATCH the activity to the students’ INTERESTS, READINESS, AND LEARNING PROFILE.

24. Differentiating Product

25. In Differentiated Instruction PRODUCTS are assessments that give the student an opportunity to: 1) Show what they know 2) Guide the teacher’s planning Chapman and King ( 2005) define differentiated assessment as, “an ongoing process through which teachers gather data before, during, and after instruction from multiple sources to identify learners' needs and strengths” ( intro, xix )

26. MOST of a teacher’s assessments should be FORMATIVE ongoing, provide immediate feedback, helps student learn more effectively, few are used for formal grade Most are Some are Informal Assessments ANY tool to gather a snapshot of where the learners are at the moment Formal Assessments Example - test / quiz

27. In a differentiated classroom summative assessments–measures learning for the purpose of assigning grades - should make up a small amount of overall assessment

28. “In an effective classroom, students view each assessment activity as a way to highlight their strengths and needs so they can improve, extend, and celebrate learning” (Chapman & King, 2005, p. 13) Unfortunately, too often, too many, of our students, view assessments, as punitive

29. Flow of instruction in a differentiated classroom (Tomlinson, 2001, p.6)

30. Where to begin? 1 Know the students ( interests, readiness, learning profile) 2 Know the curriculum ( KEY concepts that give meaning to the topic) 3 Diversify instructional approaches (to different learning styles) 4 Formative assessment ( are they getting it ) 5 Assignments in homogeneous Small groups based on readiness 6 Diversify formative assessments to guide instruction (advanced learners, struggling learners) 7 Diversify student access to material ( students choose how they want to learn ) 8 Diversify product ( students choose how they would like to show they know the material ) “Many authors of publications about differentiated instruction strongly recommend that teachers adapt the practices slowly” ( Hall, 2011, p.3 )

31. Thank you for attending this example Of NON- differentiated instruction No pre assessment – I don’t care what you know - I don’t care what your interests are Everyone had access to the information the same way – power point or nothing There was no formative assessment during learning to see if you were ‘getting it’ Everyone has the same fill in the notes assignment Now everyone will write the same exam

32. References Chapman, C, & King, R. (2005). 11 practical ways to guide teachers toward differentiation (and an evaluation tool). Retrieved from http://www.cpco.on.ca/Learningto18/resources/11ways.pdf Chapman, C, & King, R. (2005). Differentiated assessment strategies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Hall, T. (2011) Differentiated instruction and implications for UDL implementation. Retrieved from http://aim.cast.org/learn/historyarchive/backgroundpapers/differentiated_instruction Tomlinson, C. A. (2001). How to differentiate instruction in mixed ability classrooms (2nd ed.) Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Graphics Slide 3 IKEA. Retrieved from http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_l9H1DotBZ1s/SmykS00tpgI/AAAAAAAAAIA/xor3EAsWnsc/s400/DSC00084.JPG Slide 6 Meer cats. Retrieved from http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k304/LilPuma04/meerkats.jpg Slide 8 Cowboy and horse. Retrieved from http://img1.eyefetch.com/p/1d/935096-de103b8d-8aff-4d06-a81a-daf1982fd71e.jpg Slide 15 Multiple intelligences. Retrieved from http://www.educationalvoyage.com/7int-pie.gif Robert Sternberg. Retrieved from http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3ByBMAn_igg/TDiXu4S7eAI/AAAAAAAAAYM/-MfKvIpm_To/s1600/Triarchic+Theory+of+Intelligence.jpg Slide 24 Differentiating product. Retrieved from http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T7MIgRS7nYY/Tjnca5stONI/AAAAAAAAAZU/n-kqP8dtLSE/s1600/standardizedanimals.jpg

33. Multiple intelligences. Retrieved from http://literacyworks.org/mi/assessment/findyourstrengths.html This website has 56 Questions students choose between 1-5 and will rank which of the top 3 intelligences the student is the strongest Learning style. Retrieved from http://ttc.coe.uga.edu/surveys/LearningStyleInv.html A simple choose the statement inventory of 27 questions, results indicate the level of visual, tactile, and auditory learning styles Additional Resources