Differentiated Instruction What, Why, and How

What is Differentiation? Differentiating Instruction means changing the pace, level, or kind of instruction you provide in response to individual learners’ needs, styles, or interests

Differentiated Instruction Is Not: Is: One thing A program Adaptations “tacked on” to already developed lessons Tracking- mixed ability grouping is very important Changing parts of a lesson for one or two students A chaotic classroom- though it can appear that way at times The goal: the goal is student learnjng An approach that benefits all students Student centered Different approaches for students, not different amounts of work Creating diversity in instruction- mixing lesson formats, instructional arrangements, support, etc. for all learners Something most teachers are doing already perhaps without realizing it, but also a different way of thinking about how we cover material; A means to an end: and that end is student learning Adapted from Tools for Schools, Kluth, Paula (2000)

Some Traits of Quality Differentiation Rooted in student need an extension of high quality curriculum Derived from on-going assessment Respectful of each learner Builds community Involves students as decision –makers Demonstrates teacher-students partnerships in teaching & learning Growth focused Scaffolds growth for each learner Supports successful collaboration Stretches each learner Promotes & rewards individual excellence Addresses readiness, interest, & learning profile Attends effectively to gender & culture Spans content, process, & product Effective & varied use of instructional approaches Teaches students to take responsibility for own learning Flexible use of time, space, materials, groupings Maximizes opportunity to “show what you know” Balances student & teacher choice Planned (proactive) plus tailoring Occurs when either teacher or student is on center stage Includes whole class, small group, & individual instruction Supports success for each learner & the class as a whole Builds collaborations with parents

Differentiated Instruction is Based on the Following Beliefs Students differ in their learning profiles Classrooms in which students are active learners, decision makers and problem solvers are more natural and effective than those in which students are served a “one-size-fits-all” curriculum and treated as passive recipients of information. “Covering information” takes a backseat to making meaning out of important ideas. From How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms by Carol Ann Tomlinson

Why Differentiate The past two decades have provided extraordinary progress in our understanding of the nature of learning. Never before have neuroscience and classroom instruction been so closely linked. Because advances in technology enable us to view the working brain as it learns, educators can now find evidence-based neuroimaging and brain-mapping studies to determine the most effective ways to teach. Much suggests that differentiated instruction can maximize brain development

How Does Research Support DI? Differentiated Instruction is the result of a synthesis of a number of educational theories and practices. Brain research indicates that learning occurs when the learner experiences moderate challenge and relaxed alertness –readiness Psychological research reveals that when interest is tapped, learners are more likely to find learning rewarding and become more autonomous as a learner.

Brain Cell Structure

Brain Plasticity and Pruning A 2004 report in Nature found that people who learned how to juggle increased the amount of gray matter in their occipital lobes (visual memory areas). When they stopped practicing the juggling, the new gray matter vanished. A similar structural change appears to occur in people who learn—and then don't practice—a second language. The decrease in connecting dendrites and other supporting brain connecting cells that are not used is called pruning. The loss of native language ability, juggling skills, or learned academic material that is not practiced is the flip side of the brain's growth response to learning. It is the “use it or lose it” phenomenon. The process is called “pruning” because the brain pathways and connections that are used regularly are maintained and “hard-wired,” while others are eliminated, or pruned. Pruning. Just as hedges are pruned to cut off errant shoots that don't communicate with many neighboring leaves, the brain prunes its own inactive cells. By the time we enter adolescence, our brain has chosen most of the final neurons it will keep throughout our adult life based on which cells are used and which are not.

Dendrite growth Neuron growth stops after about age 20, but dendrite growth can continue throughout life Dendrites increase in size and number in response to learned skills, experience, and information. These neural networks, similar to electric circuitry, are the roadways that connect various parts of the brain. the more alternative pathways there are to connect with a memory, the more efficiently the traffic will flow, and the more rapidly that memory will be retrieved when needed. Like an exercised muscle, the more they are utilized, the more these circuits become more efficient and easier to access and activate.

Dendrite Growth (cont.) Dendrites increase in size and number in response to learned skills, experience, and information. New dendrites grow as branches from frequently activated neurons. This growth is stimulated by proteins called neurotrophins. Nerve growth factor is one of these neurotrophins. Although the brain measurements of neurotrophins are highest during childhood (when the brain's connecting cells are undergoing their greatest growth and development), as students continue to learn, neurotrophin activity is elevated in the brain regions responsible for new learning

Oxygen Oxygen Oxygen Heart rate increases with motion, challenge and recognition of novelty Blood flow increases with heart rate All cell processes- including dendrite growth- increases with blood flow Ergo, increased heart rate grows dendrites so your students are likely to learn more if there is physical or mental motion and challenge in connection with your curiculum! (Gum anyone?)

Three Principles of How the Brain Learns Learning environments must feel emotionally safe for learning to take place. To learn, students must experience appropriate levels of challenge. Each brain needs to make its own meaning of ideas and skills. http://www.ascd.org/pdi/demo/diffinstr/tomlinson.html How the Brain Learns, Carol Ann Tomlinson and M. Layne Kalbfleisch

How to Differentiate 4 basic ways: By content By process By product By learning environment

The Key The Key to a differentiated classroom is that all students are regularly offered CHOICES and students are matched with tasks compatible with their individual learner profiles. Curriculum should be differentiated in three areas: 1. Content: Multiple option for taking in information 2. Process: Multiple options for making sense of the ideas 3. Product: Multiple options for expressing what they know

Differentiating Content Using reading materials at different readability levels Putting text on tape Using spelling or vocabulary lists at readiness level of students Presenting information through visual and auditory means Using reading buddies/reading partners Think-Pair-Share/Preview-Midview-Postview Meeting with small groups to re-teach ideas or skills for struggling learners or extend the thinking or skills of advanced learners Excerpted from: Tomlinson, C. A. (August, 2000) Differentiation of Instruction in the Elementary Grades. ERIC Digest. ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education.

Differentiating Process Using tiered activities- all learners working with same understandings and skills, but with different levels of support or challenge Creating interest centers that encourage students to explore parts of the class topic of particular interest to them Providing agendas- task lists containing whole class work and work addressing individual needs of students Providing manipulatives or hands-on materials Varying length of time to complete tasks Excerpted from: Tomlinson, C. A. (August, 2000) Differentiation of Instruction in the Elementary Grades. ERIC Digest. ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education.

Differentiating Products Giving options on how to express required learning (make a mural, write a letter, create a puppet show, etc.) Using different rubrics to match and extend students’ skill levels Allowing students to work alone or in groups to complete product Encouraging students to create own product as long as it contains the required elements Excerpted from: Tomlinson, C. A. (August, 2000) Differentiation of Instruction in the Elementary Grades. ERIC Digest. ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education.

Products Map Diagram Sculpture Discussion Demonstration Poem Profile Chart Play Dance Campaign Cassette Quiz Show Banner Brochure Debate Flow Chart Puppet Show Tour Lecture Editorial Painting Costume Placement Blueprint Catalogue Dialogue Newspaper Scrapbook Questionnaire Flag Graph Museum Learning Center Advertisement Book List Calendar Coloring Book Game Research Project TV Show Song Dictionary Film Collection Trial Machine Book Mural Award Recipe Test Puzzle Model Timeline Toy Article Diary Poster Magazine Computer Program Photographs Terrarium Petition Drive Teaching Lesson Prototype Speech Club Cartoon Biography Review Invention

Differentiating Learning Environment Allowing for places to work quietly without distraction, as well as places for students to work collaboratively Setting clear guidelines for independent work Developing routines for students to get help when teacher busy working with other students Allowing for those students who need to move around when learning, while others need to sit quietly Excerpted from: Tomlinson, C. A. (August, 2000) Differentiation of Instruction in the Elementary Grades. ERIC Digest. ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education.

Where to Start?

Guidelines to remember when aspiring to differentiate: Clarify key concepts and generalizations to ensure that all learners gain powerful understandings that serve as the foundation for the future learning. Use assessment as a teaching tool to extend versus merely measure instruction. Assessment should occur before, during, and following the instructional episode. Emphasize critical and creative thinking as a goal in lesson design. The tasks, activities, and procedures for students should require that students understand and apply meaning. Engaging all learners is essential. Provide a balance between teacher-assigned and student-selected tasks. Teachers should assure that students have choices in their learning. http://www.cast.org/ncac/index.cfm?i=2876

Begin Slowly – Just Begin! Low-Prep Differentiation Choices of books Homework options Use of reading buddies Varied journal Prompts Orbitals Varied pacing with anchor options Student-teaching goal setting Work alone / together Whole-to-part and part-to-whole explorations Flexible seating Varied computer programs Design-A-Day Varied Supplementary materials Options for varied modes of expression Varying scaffolding on same organizer Let’s Make a Deal projects Computer mentors Think-Pair-Share by readiness, interest, learning profile Use of collaboration, independence, and cooperation Open-ended activities Mini-workshops to reteach or extend skills Jigsaw Negotiated Criteria Explorations by interests Games to practice mastery of information Multiple levels of questions High Prep Differentiation Tiered activities and labs Tiered products Independent studies Multiple texts Alternative assessments Learning contracts 4-MAT Multiple-intelligence options Compacting Spelling by readiness Entry Points Varying organizers Lectures coupled with graphic organizers Community mentorships Interest groups Tiered centers Interest centers Personal agendas Literature Circles Stations Complex Instruction Group Investigation Tape-recorded materials Teams, Games, and Tournaments Choice Boards Think-Tac-Toe Simulations Problem-Based Learning Graduated Rubrics Flexible reading formats Student-centered writing formats

What you will see in the Successfully Differentiated Classroom Learning experiences are based on student readiness, interest, or learning profile. Assessment of student needs is ongoing, and tasks are adjusted based on assessment data. All students participate in respectful work. The teacher is primarily a coordinator of time, space, and activities rather than primarily a provider of group information. Students work in a variety of groups configurations. Flexible grouping is evident. Time use is flexible in response to student needs. The teacher uses a variety of instructional strategies to help target instruction to student needs. Clearly established criteria are used to help support student success. Student strengths are emphasized.

THE BOTTOM LINE: At the 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

Next class differentiation activities that can be done in any classroom Resources- on line and text Testimonials from teachers using it effectively