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A Week in a Differentiated Classroom: Inside the Mind of a Teacher Planning for Differentiated Instruction By Carol Ann Tomlinson Understanding by Design: A Designer’s Guide by Grant Wiggins

Differentiation… is a teacher’s response to a learners needs… shaped by mindset and guided by general principals of differentiation Respectful tasks Quality curriculum Flexible management Teachers can differentiate through… ContentProcessProductAffect/Environment Continual assessment Building community According to students’… ReadinessInterest Through a variety of instructional strategies such as: RAFT’s, graphic organizers, scaffolding reading, small-group instruction, think-tac-toe, learning contracts, tiering, learning/interest centers, independent study, intelligence preferences, orbitals, complex instruction, WebQuests and Web Inquiry, differentiated homework, product options, expert groups Learning profile

 Discuss at your table your current thinking on differentiation and how it relates to preparing college and career ready students.  Be ready to share one key idea from your table group in a whip around.

 Great teaching happens when the teacher says, “And I’ll do whatever it takes to make it work for every student!”

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Everett Kline

 What is the best test you have ever taken?

 What do these tests have in common?

While we must design backward from what standards demand, the standards are NOT the curriculum Standards are the lists of curriculum ‘building code’; curriculum is a ‘blueprint’ for how to meet code in the most engaging and coherent way The test is like the building inspection

FOCUS needs to cause increased student achievement, not treatment or a purpose MORAL IMPERATIVE- “Students have the right to know how well they will succeed in life before they leave your realm of influence” FEEDBACK is critical, but it should tell how to improve MEASURES of quality and sophistication are different LOCAL ASSESSMENTS of high quality are better; national tests can only audit superficially, are not models of good assessment and are reliable to nothing for an individual student. It is a one-shot snap –shot on that particular day.

1. Explanation-theories= the why 2. Application- of knowledge in context 3. Interpretation-meaning, stories, transitions 4. Perspective-other points of view, critical stance 5. Empathy- “walk in the shoes of” 6. Self-knowledge-wisdom, “knowing thyself” aware of prejudice

◦ Useful ◦ Credible ◦ Fair and Honest ◦ Assess for Understanding ◦ Feasible

 Balance is essential when working with assessment.  The challenge is to ground the evidence in authentic work.  That is how you assess understanding.

 Make it engaging, clear and insightful for students ◦ G- What is the GOAL? ◦ R- What is your ROLE? ◦ A-Who is the AUDIENCE? ◦ S- What is your SITUATION? ◦ P-What is the PERFORMANCE challenge? ◦ S- By what STANDARDS will you work be judged?

 Beginning with the end in mind is not necessarily about the assessment; it is about the journey toward the assessment.

-- Mirrors relevant challenges faced by adults -- Requires students to address an audience that is meaningful -- Has the kind of restraints and opportunities that an adult would find in a similar situation

 Use of notes – Consider if we don’t allow students to use their notes, would you want to prevent the professionals in your life from referring back to their notes?

Concept Understanding Skill Attainment Application Of innovative problem solving Presentation of Theory and Practice Modeling Practice and feedback Coaching Study Teams Peer observation Source: NSDC, adapted from the research of Bruce Joyce. 85% 18%85% 15% 5% 80%90% 15%80% 85% 5%

Implications for our lives in Springdale Assessments need to be rigorous, relevant, and inform instruction. Changing our paradigm toward assessment

Implications for our lives in Springdale National standardized exams are useful to provide trend data, but are not helpful for understanding the individual student needs Changing our paradigm toward assessment

Implications for our lives in Springdale With Common Core Standards, the new assessments will provide genuine opportunities to diagnose the individual student’s needs Changing our paradigm toward assessment

Implications for our lives in Springdale Teachers must go beyond the canned instruction to collaborate across disciplines and plan meaningful formative assessments along the way. Changing our paradigm toward assessment

Motivation

The journey of a thousand miles sometimes ends very, very badly

No single raindrop believes it is to blame for the flood.

It took millions of years to create something this extraordinary. You have about 74.

It could be that the purpose of your life is to serve as a warning to others.