Differentiating instruction is doing what’s fair for students. It means creating multiple paths so that students of different abilities, interests, or learning needs experience equally appropriate ways to learn.

Let’s Define Differentiated Instruction

Definitions of Differentiated Instruction (DI)

refers to a systematic approach to planning curriculum and instruction for academically diverse learners.

It is a way of thinking about the classroom with the dual goals of honoring each student’s learning needs and maximizing each student’s learning capacity

(Carol Ann Tomlinson)

In a DI class...a teacher proactively plans varied

approaches to what students need to learn, how they will learn it, and/or how they will express what they have learnedin order to increase the likelihood that each student will learn as much as he or she can.

The Goals of Differentiation Every student will make continuous progress

no matter how old she is or at what level her knowledge and skills are as she begins the unit of study.

Every student will become a lifelong learner, the long-term goal for all children and young people.

-Julia A. Roberts and Tracy F. Inman

Different levelsof readiness

Different Interests

The Rationale for Differentiated Instruction

Different Ability Levels

Different Cognitive Needs

The Rationale for Differentiated Instruction

do a formative assessment

create an individual profile of each of his/her student in each class he/she is handling.

BUT assessment should be on-going and diagnostic for these assessments

provides teachers a day-to-day data on their students.

How to start?

Assessment is today’s means of understanding how to modify

tomorrow’s instructions. Using the results of the assessment, teachers can

modify/differentiate content, process or product along with the learning area.

The differentiation should be based on the students’ Readiness, Interest and Learning Profile.

Remember that

Interest refers to a child’s affinity, curiosity or passion for a particular topic or skill.

Interest

Learning profile has to do with how the students’ learn.

It may be shaped by intelligence, preferences, gender, culture, or learning style.

Learning Profile

Laying the Foundation for Differentiated Instruction

Differentiated instruction does not happen by accident. It requires planning, commitment, and acknowledgment of the fact that diverse abilities, experiences, and interests have a tremendous impact on student learning.

If you are considering using differentiated instruction in your classroom, the three steps below provide a place to start.

1. Get to know your students.

Identify the level at which individual students are working in your subject area. Standardized test scores and other information found in student records can help determine this information.

Administer a learning style inventory to determine how your students best learn. An instrument can be obtained through the guidance department at your school.

Determine student interests. On a regular basis, ask students to identify topics that interest them and activities that occupy their non-school time.

2. Identify areas of your curriculum that could be adapted to differentiated instruction.

Study the instructional goals and objectives for your subject established by the department of education. Identify the major concepts, principles, and skills students should learn.

Choose one or two broad concepts or skills that lend themselves to being taught at different degrees of complexity.

Brainstorm ideas for activities, tasks, and assessments that address a specific concept or skill. Ideas should cover a range of learning preferences, abilities, and interests.

3. Examine your role as teacher in the differentiated classroom.

Develop a general plan for facilitating time, space, and materials in your classroom. On any given day, not all students will be working on the same assignment at the same time. You must have a plan for student access to necessary materials, where individuals or groups will work, and how much time can be allotted to specific tasks.

Identify alternative methods of assessing student performance and understanding. Assessment results should increase teacher understanding of students' abilities, interests, and needs, and should be incorporated into future planning.

The content

The process

The product

Teachers can differentiate according to ….

Content is input.

It is what a student should come to know (facts), understand (concepts and principles), and able to do (skills).

Content

Differentiating ContentDetermine the

Ability Level of Your Students

Survey Past Records, Look at Their Chums

Align Tasks and Objectives to Learning Goals

Survey Student Interests

Interest Inventories, Interview/

Conference, Respond to Open-Ended Questionnaire with Questions

Differentiating ContentWhat are Your

Students Multiple Intelligences & Learning Styles?

What are Your Student’s Preferences and Motivators?

Instruction is Concept-Focused and Principle-Driven

What do Brain-Based Research say?

Ultimately, teachers need to Know THEIR Students.

Differentiating ContentSample Activities

Use Reading Materials at Varying Readability Levels

Put Text Materials on ppt, mp4 or mp3 format

Use Spelling/Vocab. Tests at Readiness Levels of Students

Use Reading Buddies

Meet with Small Groups to Re-Teach an Idea or Skill for Struggling Learners, or Extend the Learning

Process is the opportunity for students to make sense of the content.

Part of process is the activities in the lesson. They should be well-thought of.

Process

Reciprocal teaching

Graphic organizing

Scaffolding

Webbing

Self Talk

Web Quests

Guided Notes

Differentiating Process

have a clearly defined instructional purpose

focus students squarely on one key understanding

cause students to use a key skill to work with key ideas

ensure that students will have to understand (not just repeat) the idea

help students relate new understandings and skills to previous ones, and

match the student’s level of readiness.

Effective ONLY if they ...

Product is a vehicle through which a student show (and extends what he or she has come to understand and can do as a result of a considerable segment of learning.

It is something students produce to exhibit major portions of learning.

Product

These are culminating projects that ask the student to rehearse, apply, and extend what he/she has learned in a unit.

Product

Initial and on-going assessment of student readiness and growth are Essential

Authentic Assessment is a must.

Students should be trained to be active and responsible explorers.

Teachers should vary expectations and requirements for student responses

For outcomes, teachers should consider each student’s multiple intelligences and learning styles

Remember...

Give Students Options of How to Express Required Learning

Create a Puppet Show, Write a Letter, Develop Mural with Labels

Use Rubrics that Match Student’s Varied Skill Level

Use RubiStar.com

Allow Students to Work Alone (or) in Small Groups

Performance -Based Assessment

Student Portfolios

Knowledge Mapping

How do we do that?

Teachers should look at the level of readiness of their students as they differentiate content, process or product.

Keep in mind...

someone to help them identify and make-up gaps in their learning so they can move ahead;

more opportunities for direct instruction or practice;

activities or products that are more structured or more concrete, with fewer steps, closer to their own experiences and calling on simpler reading skills; or

a more deliberate pace of learning.

Students with less–developed readiness may need:

a student needs it and

modification increases the likelihood that the learner will understand important ideas and use the important skills more thoroughly as a result.

Modify a curricular element only when

What Differentiation Is …

Student Centered

Best practices

Different approaches

3 or 4 different activities

Multiple approaches to content, process, and product

A way of thinking and planning

Flexible grouping

What Differentiation Isn’t

One Thing

A Program

The Goal

Hard questions for some and easy for others

35 different plans for one classroom

A chaotic classroom

Just homogenous grouping

What Differentiated Instruction Means for Teachers

Teachers DO Teachers DON'T

provide several learning options, or

different paths to learning, which help

students take in information and make

sense of concepts and skills.

develop a separate

lesson plan for each

student in a

classroom.

provide appropriate levels of challenge

for all students, including those who

lag behind, those who are advanced,

and those right in the middle.

"water down" the

curriculum for some

students.

What is fair isn’t always equal…

and

Differentiation gets us away from “one size fits all” approach to curriculum and instruction that doesn’t fit anyone

In Summary…..

EVERY MAN is in certain respects

a. like all other men,b. like some other men,c. like no other man.

-Murray, H. A. & C. Kluckhohn, 1953