1. The Differentiated Classroom

2. The fact that students differ may be inconvenient, but it is inescapable.
Theodore Sizer

3. Think
Think about one or two students you teach who have unique learning needs.
What would those learners need in their classes to make it a great year?

4. Examine
Which makes better sense to you: that you do most of the work in the classroom, or that students are the primary workers and thinkers?
Does it seem more likely to you that everyone should always need the same book, math problem, or art lesson?

5. Examine
Do students all seem to learn in the same way or at the same pace?
Do you learn more about students by talking to them or talking with them?
Do learners care if they have choices about what and how to learn?

6. Examine
Is learning richer and more permanent when it’s rote or meaning based?
Are we most motivated to grow when we try to reach our own ceilings or when the ceilings are someone else’s?

7. Examine
Do students become independent learners in classrooms where they are always told what to do OR do students become independent when teachers give them more responsibility for learning and teach them how to use the independence wisely?

8. Differentiated instruction
is one set of goals….
With multiple ways
to get there.

9. What is an effective teacher of differentiated instruction?
An effective teacher believes that all students can learn and can be successful.
An effective teacher consciously creates a climate where all students feel included.
An effective teacher believes that there is potential in each learner and commits to finding the key that will unlock that potential.
Differentiated Instructional Strategies, Gayle Gregory

10. What can you differentiate?
the content students learn
the assessment tools being used
the performance tasks selected
the instructional strategies used

11. Content Process Product
what is to be learned and the materials through which it is accomplished
Process
activities designed to use skills to make sense of ideas and information
Product
vehicles which demonstrate and extend what has been learned

12. Readiness Interest Learning Profile
the entry point of learning relative to a particular understanding or skill
Interest
curiosity or passion
Learning Profile
how we learn – shaped by intelligence preference, gender, culture, learning style

13. of Differentiated Instruction
The Aim
of Differentiated Instruction
Maximize each student’s growth by meeting each student where he is and helping him to progress.