DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION (A.K.A. INCLUSIVE PRACTICES) Delaware County Intermediate Unit Professional Development Diane Messer

Define Differentiated Instruction Apply basic principles of Universal Design for Learning Acquire a set of strategies that support varied student learning across the curriculum Address common areas of concern related to differentiated instruction.

“At its most basic level, differentiation consists of the efforts of teachers to respond to variance among learners in the classroom. Whenever a teacher reaches out to an individual or small group to vary his or her teaching in order to create the best learning experience possible, that teacher is differentiating instruction.” - Carol Ann Tomlinson (Excerpted from Tomlinson, 2000) “If we teach so that students learn, we do whatever it takes to make this happen. This is differentiation.” (Wormeli, p. 11) “If we teach so that students learn, we do whatever it takes to make this happen. This is differentiation.” (Wormeli, p. 11) How do these definitions differ?

 Tomlinson speaks to changing instruction for individual student needs.  Wormeli is vague about what

Read the excerpt from Fulfilling the Promise of the Differentiated Classroom, by Carol Ann Tomlinson, Reflect in writing: How does the information in the reading relate to what is happening in your school?

Compare definitions: “Whenever a teacher reaches out to an individual or small group to vary his or her teaching in order to create the best learning experience possible, that teacher is differentiating instruction.” - Carol Ann Tomlinson, 2000 “If we teach so that students learn, we do whatever it takes to make this happen. This is differentiation.” - Rick Wormeli, 2007

MAIN LESSON LOW READER LESSON ELL LESSON BEHAVIORALLY CHALLENGED LESSON GIFTED LESSON SLOW PROCESSER LESSON ADHD LESSON AKA: The Teacher- Burnout Method

Good Teaching Helps All Students AKA: The Unrealistically Optimistic Method

1. IDENTIFY THE BIG IDEAS 2. UNIVERSAL DESIGN COMES BEFORE DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION 3. UNDERSTAND WHAT IT TAKES TO LEARN A NEW CONCEPT 4. TYPES OF DIFFERENTIATION 5. RESPOND TO COMMON PROBLEMS IN WAYS THAT INCREASE LEARNING 6. RECOGNIZE AND PREPARE FOR THE NEEDS OF EXTREME CASES.

What do you want them to remember a year from now? Start with ten big ideas. Plan everything around these ten important ideas. Teach these big ideas every way you can think of. Have them use the ideas to make connections. Pull in other content, but remember that is just gravy. Based on 2 truths: You can’t cover it all. They won’t remember it all. You can’t teach it all. They can’t remember it all.

Background: UNIVERSAL DESIGNS are essential for some and useful for all. Ramps Closed captioning Push to open doors Low sinks Elevators Wide doorways Hand rails

Say as many ways as you can think of that information can be made more accessible to struggling students AND that actually end up helping all students learn more quickly and more thoroughly

Posted vocabulary Formulas provided Teacher takes notes Provide outline of topic Frontloading Explain Retest Rubrics Syllabi Sorting Mapping Give out test questions Example / non-example Essential questions Semantic feature analysis Instruction in nonfiction text structures I do, We do, You do Connections

Prior knowledge accounts for up to 81% of the difference between high and low performing students. True, long-term Connecting new learning information with what we already know The more we know, the easier it is to learn.

 Read to them.  Take them places.  Talk to them about everything.  Give direct instruction on a topic BEFORE you ask them to read about it or study it.  Don’t remove kids from science and social studies.  Do not limit their reading material by their decoding proficiency. Teaching Content is Teaching Reading

Reflect in Writing: How will the information in this video impact your work?

They can’t come up with anything They don’t finish on time. Short attention span. Text is too difficult Written answers are off-mark Homework is not completed

Students who speak little or no English. Students who decode more than 3 years below grade level. Students with physical handicaps that make writing difficult.

 Preston, Alison. "How Does Short-term Memory Work in Relation to Long-term Memory? Are Short-term Daily Memories Somehow Transferred to Long-term Storage While We Sleep?: Scientific American." How Does Short-term Memory Work in Relation to Long-term Memory? Are Short-term Daily Memories Somehow Transferred to Long-term Storage While We Sleep?: Scientific American. Scientific American, 26 Sept Web. 20 Feb  Strangman, Nicole, and Tracey Hall. "Background Knowledge." Aim.cast.org. National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum, 26 Oct Web. 20 Feb  Tomlinson, Carol A., and Caroline Cunningham Eidson. Differentiation in Practice: A Resource Guide for Differentiating Curriculum, Grades 5-9. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Print.  Tomlinson, Carol A. Differentiation of Instruction in the Elementary Grades. Champaign, IL: ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education, University of Illinois, Print.  Tomlinson, Carol A. Fulfilling the Promise of the Differentiated Classroom: Strategies and Tools for Responsive Teaching. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Print.  Willingham, Daniel. "Teaching Content Is Teaching Reading." YouTube. YouTube, 09 Jan Web. 20 Feb  Wormeli, Rick. Differentiation: From Planning to Practice, Grades Portland, Me.: Stenhouse, Print.