Characteristics of a Differentiated Learning Environment

Remember to Teach Whole Children  Understand children have intellect, emotions, and changing physical needs  Self-esteem is important  “We teach children not subjects.”

Help Students Make Their Own Sense of Ideas  Provide context for learning  Relate learning to their experiences  Learning takes place through struggle and invention

Share the Teaching with Students  Tap into prior knowledge and insights  Students teach students  Engage in conversations on rules, schedules, and procedures

Strive for Student Independence  Provide direction, guidelines, and choice  Gradual relinquishment of responsibility  Make yourself increasingly “useless” in students’ lives

Appreciate Each Child as an Individual  Find out who they really are  What makes them unique in the world?  Share yourself

Continue to Develop Your Expertise  Master applications of insights and skills not just facts  Find meaning in stories of life  Use understanding at high-quality level

Link Students and Ideas  Spark meaningful reflection among students  Make seemingly remote subjects real and relevant

Strive for Joyful Learning  Children are “programmed” to respond to joy  Ensure essentials of subjects are joyful experiences

Offer High Expectations- and Lots of Ladders  Help students dream big  Know a child’s needed scaffolding  Be a coach

Use Positive Energy and Humor  Express treatment of all topics as valuable  Treat all with respect and kindness  Make jokes  View errors as learning experiences

Covert Discipline  Strive for a desire for personal growth  Use shared decision- making  Use understanding and learning, not conflict between adversaries

Guiding Principles of Constructivism 1) Pose problems of emerging relevance 2) Structure lessons around “big” concepts and ideas, not facts and skills. 3) Look for and value the students’ points of view. 4) Adapt curriculum to challenge students’ suppositions. 5) Assess student learning authentically and within the context of teaching.

Artful Teaching Teacher Students Content