1. Differentiation for Secondary Teachers
August 2013
Matthew Dean
Differentiation for Secondary Teachers

2. “When a teacher tries to teach something to the entire class at the same time, “chances are, one-third of the kids already know it; one-third will get it; and the remaining third won’t. So two-thirds of the children are wasting their time.”
Lillian Katz

3. Define differentiation
How do you implement this in your classroom?

4. Differentiated Instruction is consistently using a variety of instructional approaches to modify content, process, and/or products in response to learning readiness and interest of academically diverse students.
Source: from The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners by Carol Tomlinson

5. The good news………
Differentiation does not mean that every single lesson or unit includes a differentiated content, process, and product for each student’s interest, readiness level, and learning profile.

6. Discuss the differences in bright and gifted students
Discuss the differences in bright and gifted students. Lead discussion of the idea that at the secondary level we are not examining whether a student who has been identified for services is gifted or not; if they are identified we will provide services. That said, secondary teachers need to be encouraged to identify students who exhibit these characteristics who may not have been identified. Students who moved to Arkansas may not have been identified in previous schools.

7. What are the regulations about the curriculum for gifted learners?
9.01  Curriculum for the gifted extends or replaces the regular curriculum. 
9.02  Curriculum is differentiated in content, process, and/or product. 
1.  Content is differentiated in breadth or depth, in tempo or pace, and/or in kind. 
2.  Processes for gifted students stress creativity and higher level thinking skills.   
3.  Students investigate problems in depth and develop products which are communicated to appropriate audiences.   
Read and discuss these state regulations about curriculum for gifted learners. Emphasize that gifted students are to do a different curriculum, not to have more work assigned to them. Ask teachers if they are familiar with curriculum compacting. If not, define curriculum compacting and explain how students who already know most of the information in a unit can be given a different curriculum that goes beyond the regular classroom curriculum. Discuss the use of pre-assessments to determine where students are in their learning.

8. Arkansas Definition of Giftedness
3.01. "Those of high potential or ability whose learning characteristics and educational needs require qualitatively differentiated education experiences and/or services." 
General definition of giftedness; read and discuss with the group; assess whether the teachers have buy in to the definition. Point out that Achievement is not a criteria in the definition.

9. You are the best resource!
First you need to differentiate in classrooms!
Enrichment doesn’t always mean more work, it means a higher level of work.

10. Pre-Assessment Academic readiness Know student interests
K-W-L charts
Concept Maps
Self-Assessments
Short quizzes
Journals
Letters written by students regarding what they know about the topic
Know student interests
Know student learning styles

11. What to differentiate Content
What do you plan to teach? What do you want your students to know and be able to do at the end of the learning?
Process
How you teach! How will you plan your instruction?
Product
Assessment of content acquisition and process skill is “the product of instruction.” Again, we cannot assume that "one size fits all.”

12. We want Gifted learners to be challenged every day, but to provide the "written curriculum description" a sample is taken each 9 weeks.
Specialists may add suggestions about what the sample may be. State regulations do not dictate what the sample is.
See p. 21 of GT Regulations

13. Ways to differentiate curriculum (this is not a complete list)
Increase text level for high achieving students
Have them defend an author’s point of view
Have them critique a piece of writing
Have them apply concept to new situation
Curriculum compacting (do 5 in this lesson and 5 from next lesson)

14. What does Differentiation look like?
This video shows a new teacher's process in learning about differentiation and employing it in class. Science teacher-new, doesn’t have all the answers. Ask teachers to think of questions as they watch the video and look for the essential elements of differentiation.
(12 minutes) Following the video, ask teachers what their questions were and discuss them as a group.
Questions to ask the group: 
What were the components of differentiation addressed in the video? (On-going assessment, tiering and scaffolding, flexible grouping)
What are some types of on-going assessment? Informal polls, quizzes, exit slips
How did the teacher differentiate? Wormelli suggested changing the complexity of the word problems for the differing abilities of student groups
What were the challenges for the teacher? Grouping and the time it takes
What advice die Mr. Wormelli give the teacher? Differentiation is not something that happens quickly. Begin a little at a time and add on each quarter.
iating-instruction

15. Project Menus Social Studies Menu
ds/MeaningfulMenus.pdf
Social Studies Menu
1.) Main Dish (must Do)
Ex: Research Revolutionary Hero
2.) Side Dish (must pick One)
Ex: Create Powerpoint
Create Animoto
Write 3 page report
3.) Dessert (May pick one)
Write a play of your hero meeting another hero to perform
Compose a song or obituary about character
Create an image of the hero demonstrating best quallity
Project Menus are schemes to allow student choice in assignments that include higher order thinking. 
Have teachers select a menu in their group and experiment with it. Then present it to the whole group
(TEKS are the standards in Texas)
Project Wikis are available to facilitate projects and teachers may want to use them.

16. Think Tack Toe
Think-Tac-Toe-For-The-Revolutionary-War.htm
Power Point on Think Tack Toe
b&cd=2&ved=0CDQQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdaretodiffere ntiate.wikispaces.com%2Ffile%2Fview%2FThink%2BTac%2BT oe.ppt&ei=ybuuTqD2LqmusQKF1szkDg&usg=AFQjCNG7t1fTj TvwTR6COKCKYj5OqAU0fg
Think Tack Toe is an alternative form of assessment and review that is adaptable for all grades and all subjects. Students can work in groups or alone. They must choose three projects of varying difficulty. The first line contains simple projects; the middle line requires a little more thought; the bottom line requires more time and effort to complete. Students can pick projects so that they score a Think - Tac - Toe vertically, horizontally, or diagonally.  The web sites provide examples of Think Tack Toes for any subject area.

18. Tiered Activities Overview of Tiering
Tiered activities are used for differentiation to ensure that students explore ideas and use skills at a level that builds on what they already know and encourages growth.  
While students work at varied degrees of difficulty on their tasks, they all explore the same essential ideas and work at different levels of thought.  Groups eventually come together to share and learn from each other. Tiered assignments should be: Different work, not simply more or less work; Equally active; Equally interesting and engaging; Fair in terms of work expectations and time needed; Require the use of key concepts, skills, or ideas.
These websites provide examples of tiered lessons.
Examples:

19. Diamente Poem
Line 1: write down one character (animal or human). Then skip to line 7 and write down an opposite character
Line 2: write two adjectives describing the character in Line 1
Line 3: write three participles (verb form ending with –ed or –ing) that relate to the character in Line 1
Line 4: write four nouns related to the two characters. The first two nouns will relate to the character in Line 1; the last two nouns will relate to the opposite character written in Line 7.
Line 5: write three more participles that relate to the character in Line 7.
Line 6: write two adjectives that describe the character in Line 7.
Line 7: opposite character of Line 1.
© Kathy Glass

20. Other tools Graphic Organizers RAFT Dialectical Journal Exit Cards
Helpful websites

21. Generic Exit Card What did you learn new today?
•What questions do you have about today’s lesson?
•How can this lesson help you?
•What was the easiest task you did today? The hardest task?
•What made you really think?
•What did you like about working with a partner, alone or in a group?
•How can you connect what you learned to something else?
•Was there anything that frustrated you?
•Was there something that made you feel successful today in your learning?
Source: from Lesson Design for Differentiated Instruction by Kathy Glass

22. Sources
ADE “Teaching Secondary Content” PowerPoint 7/2013 Teaching Channel videos licensing agreement: Differentiated Tools, Strategies, and Assessments for Social Studies, Writing, Reading, and Science Classrooms ♦ Grades 3rd to 10th Idaho Statewide Title 1 Conference ♦ Boise ♦ April, 2011