1. Differentiated Instruction
Fall Cohort 2009
Cypress Springs High School

2. Welcome… Objectives Syllabus How the course works Wikispace training
What is Differentiated Instruction?

3. Wikispace training… How to get to the Wikispace
What’s on the Wikispace
Discussion boards

4. Things to think about:
How many different types of students do we have in our classrooms?
How many of our students are truly learning the content we teach?
What would that learning look like?
What are the obstacles to the learning?
Of those obstacles, what do we have control over?
Wouldn’t it be great if our students worked harder than we did?
Isn’t it time for a change?

5. What’s the change, the cure?
Is it…
more technology?
understanding learning styles?
laptop computers?
more money? (well, yes, a pay raise would be nice!)
positive sounding classroom rules?
multiple intelligences?
rigor and relevance, preparing all students for college, vocabulary skills, cooperative learning, mega monitoring, better textbooks, higher expectations, questioning strategies, Marzano strategies,SFA’s, data analysis, smarter students, better parents?

6. Working with 2 books: “Never Work Harder Than Your Students”
Rethinking about teaching and learning
Bringing back fun in the classroom
Placing the work back on the students
7 Principles to follow
“How to Differentiate in Mixed Ability Classrooms”
What is Differentiated Instruction
How to do it
Strategies to apply in your lessons

7. The Seven Principles
1. Start where your students are.
2. Know where your students are going.
3. Expect to get them there.
4. Support them along the way.
5. Use feedback to help you both get better.
6. Focus on Quality vs. Quantity.
7. Never work harder than your students.

8. How to use the book: Chapters 1- 7 outline each of the principles.
You’ll see in each chapter
Real classroom stories
Introduction of a principle
How to practice the principle
“Yes, but…” sections—these are the real world questions and concerns in the classroom
Getting started—how to put the principle into practice in the classroom

9. What we call differentiation is not a recipe for teaching
What we call differentiation is not a recipe for teaching. It is not an instructional strategy. It is not what a teacher does when he or she has time. It is a way of thinking about teaching and learning. It is a philosophy Carol Ann Tomlinson

10. “It means teachers proactively plan varied approaches to what students need to learn, how they will learn it, and/or how they will show what they have learned in order to increase the likelihood that each student will learn as much as he or she can, as efficiently as possible.”

11. Multiple intelligences…Jigsaw…4MAT…Graphic Organizers…RAFTS
Differentiation
Is a teacher’s response to learner’s needs
Guided by general principles of differentiation
Proactive Planning
Flexible grouping
Continual assessment
Teachers Can Differentiate Through:
Environment
Content
Process
Product
According to Students’
Readiness
Interest
Learning Profile
Through a range of strategies such as:
Multiple intelligences…Jigsaw…4MAT…Graphic Organizers…RAFTS
Compacting…Tiered assignments…Leveled texts…Complex Instruction… Learning Centers

12. Good Differentiated Instruction Is Not:
The same thing as individualization
Just another way of saying do group work!
Expecting less of struggling learner
Chaotic
New
Good Differentiated Instruction Is:
Varied avenues to content, process and product
Respectful of all learners
Proactive
Student centered---The students do the work!
A blend of whole class, small group, and individual instruction

13. Group work with cartoons:
Red Groups
Blue Groups
White Groups

14. Exit Card
What connection did you make today that made you say, “ I get it”!
Write a question you’d like to ask or something you’d like to know more about.
Bring your favorite unit and the TEKS next week.
Remember---we meet again on September 22!