The Differentiated Classroom

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

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?

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?

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?

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?

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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.