1. Differentiated Instruction
By:
Frank Oliva

2. Activity Step 1 – Please read the article called Bull vs. Bear
Step 2 – Prove that you understand the concepts of a Bull market by creating a political cartoon
Step 3 – Prove that you understand the concepts of a Bear market by creating a political cartoon
*You have ten minutes for this individual assignment

3. Share and Discuss Questions:
Who clearly understood the article but could not prove it due to the assessment?
Who did not understand the article but are excellent artists?
Was the time allotted enough, too little, or just right?
Would assigning partners make this activity more efficient?
Who already knew about Bear and Bull markets?
Who was bored (or challenged)?
How could this assignment be changed to benefit your needs?

4. Differentiated Instruction
“…ensuring that what a student learns, how he/she learns it, and how the student demonstrates what he/she has learned is a match for that student’s readiness level, interests, and preferred mode of learning.”
--Carol Ann Tomlinson

5. Breaking Down the Definition
Readiness Level
Was the Bull vs. Bear article difficult, easy, or just right?
Students need assignments to be challenging based on their readiness (ability).
Students readiness will be determined through pre-assessments, recommendations from previous teachers, discussions, and commendation plans.
Pre-assessments will determine a student’s knowledge, skills, and interests.

6. Breaking Down the Definition
Readiness Level
Foundational or
Transformational
Provide fundamental information for students to build off of to help them understand the material
Have students relate the material with other material and make connections
Simple to
Complex
Provide simple and “right to the point” readings and examples for the material
After understanding the foundation, have students go deeper into the material
Dependent to
Independent
Have students complete short term tasks to help build skill
Provide students with options, a time-line, and a self-evaluation sheet
-Have students create their own problems, time-line, tasks, and self-evaluation while teacher coaches
-Give students total independence and teacher provides feedback as needed

7. Breaking Down the Definition
Interests
Were you engaged in the Bull vs. Bear assignment?
“Engagement is a nonnegotiable of teaching and learning.”
Carol Ann Tomlinson
“Two powerful and related motivators for engagement are student interest and student choice.”
Bess and Brandt

8. Breaking Down the Definition
Interests
“Sidebar” Studies
Specialty Teams
Have students pick subtopics of the material and relate it to their own lives
Students with common interests will team up and study that specific topic
Design –A-Day
Jigsaw
Students choose a topic for the day as well as the activity with a self-assessment
Each student studies a specific topic and shares the information in his or her group
each strategy will engage class discussion

9. Breaking Down the Definition
Mode of learning (learning profile)
Did you use your best skills in the Bull vs. Bear assignment?
Was the environment suited for you?
Group Orientation
Learning Environment
Does the student work better in groups or alone?
Does the student work better with noise, cool weather , with a flexible lesson, or walking around?
Cognitive Style
Intelligence Preference
Is the student easily distracted, a visual learner, a collaborative learner, or a concrete learner?
* See next slide

10. Howard Gardner

11. Pre - assessments
How are students’ abilities, interests, and mode of learning determined?

12. Differentiated Instruction Model
Project – Based Model
Students need to take their time before picking a topic and ask themselves the following:
What topic should I pick?
What do I want to learn?
How much time do I have and when are the checkpoints?
Where can I find the materials?
What do I need before I begin?
How will my work look when completed?
How will I present it?
How will I self-assess?
How will my work be assessed?
Used to find information on a specific topic
Students can work alone, with a partner , or in groups
Activity must be student-centered with “coaching” by the teacher
Activity must meet each student’s needs, be a good use of time (no busy work), and challenge the students to comprehend the material
Activity should have the following:
-ongoing assessments
-be content related
-have independent work
-students research information
-be timed
-new material for students
-resources are available
-checkpoints
-rubrics for grading
Assessment
-rubric

13. Differentiated Instruction Model
Problem – Based Model
Teacher’s guideline to approve student’s choose:
Is the problem worth the time?
Do thee assignment and activities enhance the content and standards required at this grade level?
Will the results be observable for the learners?
Is the material available?
How will individual roles and tasks be assigned?
How will students assess their selves?
-Are there groups or is this and individual assignment.
-Do the students understand the assessment process?
Makes learning relevant to the real world
Students can work alone, with a partner , or in groups
Teacher presents critical thinking problems for students to choose from, then students present a question
Example – How can the environment be protected from the WTO?
Activity will turn students into detective sand investigators
Student’s guideline for choosing a problem:
-What problem do I want to investigate and will it make a difference?
-What information and research is needed?
-What material is needed and where can I receive it?
-What will the results compile?
-What do I have to do to solve this problem?
-How will I self-assess myself?
-How will I present my findings?
Assessment
-rubric

14. Discussion -Teacher design the projects to students’ abilities
How would the project – based model help the following: lower ability students, higher ability students, different interests, or one of the nine intelligences?
How would the problem – based model help the following: lower ability students, higher ability students, different interests, or one of the nine intelligences?
Readiness level
-Teacher design the projects to students’ abilities
-Teacher can “coach” more for those who need it
-Teacher can ask students for suggestions about the processes and procedures they will use to solve the problem
Interests
-Students can pick from several projects and topics assigned by the teacher
-Students can select the problem that want to solve (write their own essential question)and use their own methods to solve it
Mode of Learning
(Intelligences )
-It can be an individual or group project
-Students can use their best intelligence to present the project

15. Different Assessments
Grading
“In the differentiated classroom, there must be a combination of assessments so that a true picture of the student’s performance is given in the final grade.” – Chapman and King
Different Assessments
(these grades reflect the student’s current level of work and expectation level)
Grades from base level content
Grades from independent assignments that are on the same level as other class members
Grades on differentiated instruction activities

16. Grading Using Rubrics
“The best rubrics are created by the teacher, and they measure what is taught…Rubrics can be customized to assess specific content knowledge, writing, listening skills, behaviors, tasks, responsibilities, oral presentations, projects, demonstrations, or teamwork.”
-- Chapman and King
Retrieved these rubrics from websites

17. Grading Using Rubrics
Would the Bull vs. Bear activity be easier to understand with a rubric?
Retrieved these rubrics from websites

18. Grading Parent Communication
I blame differentiated instruction.
Grading
Parent Communication
Students need to get use to differentiated instruction
(just like driving, it takes time)
Guardians need to understand how differentiated instruction challenges students(of all abilities) and grades may be lower until students are familiar with the work load

19. Portfolio Used to collect each student’s work throughout the course
Student, teacher, and guardian can see progress and areas of concern
Students can determine their strengths and build on their weaknesses
Teachers can use the portfolio to create lessons based on the student’s strengths and weaknesses
Portfolio Rubric
–from Chapman and King 5 4 3 2 1
Above and Beyond
On Track
Not Quite There
Thrown Together
A “No Show Effort”
-completed more activities than those required
-all assignments are complete and organized
-turned everything in on time
-all assignments are complete
-the work is organized
-completed on time
-missing one or two pieces
-not well organized
-one day late
-three or more pieces missing
-organization
-two days late
-did not try
-no examples of ability
-more than two days late

20. What Does Differentiated Instruction Look Like?
Here is clip of a classroom using differentiated instruction. You will see coaching, students working in groups, and students working individually. There is no need to watch the entire video.
Differentiated classrooms:
have flexible lessons
have resources available for the activities
are proactive
are student-centered
are collaborative
are organized

21. References
Chapman, C. & King, R. (2005). Differentiated assessment strategies: One tool doesn’t fit all.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc.
Tomlinson, C. (2001). How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms.
Alexandria, Virginia: ASCD.