Differentiated Instruction & Technology-Day 1 Tuesday, February 26, 2013 Tippett Centre

Personal Action Planning 1.What specific learning goals do you have for this session? 2.What specific areas would you like to focus on regarding DI & Technology? 3.What do you anticipate potentially learning from your colleagues in this session? 4.How do you think participating in today’s session will impact your teaching practice and the learning of your students?

Today’s Agenda 1.Personal Action Planning 2.Minds-On: Deck of Questions 3.CLC Overview 4.DI Overview 5.Vincent & Brandon 6.Consolidation: Revisit Personal Action Plans

Minds-On: Deck of Questions 1.Take a letter size paper and fold in half. 2.Fold in quarters. 3.Fold again to create eight equal sections. 4.Tear along folded region, to create 8 pieces. 5.On each piece, record a question you would not mind someone asking you. 6.Combine your deck of questions with a partner. Shuffle the deck and take turns asking each other questions. Remove questions once used.

CLCs )Using Technology to Deliver DI in the Secondary Science Classroom (Vincent & Brandon) 2)Cooperative Learning (Leila & Agnes) 3)Supporting Pathways-Chemistry (SCH4C) (Samina & Abdul) 4) Digital Technology in Action (Roslyn Farmer & Ashlyn Young)

CLC Overview Professional Learning CycleDay 1: Feb. 26 Day 2: March 27 (Tippett Centre) Day 3: April 18 (Exploration Classroom, Cedarbrae C.I.) Day 4: May 7 (Peckham Centre) Plan Act Observe Reflect

Plan Act Observe Reflect The Professional Learning Cycle

Plan, Act, Observe, Reflect Cycle is not static (active) Learning happens when we are involved in activity Strategies for continuous improvement Improve student achievement & engagement

Plan, Act, Observe, Reflect An Example: 1.Plan-lesson plan (examine data/evidence) 2.Act- Execution of lesson to class 3.Observe-Observe students & collect information; moderated marking 4.Reflect-resolve differences, new approach?, offer possible solutions

11 Key Features of a DI Classroom Choice Respectful tasks based on curriculum Flexible grouping Shared Responsibility for Learning

12 TDSB Framework for Differentiation: The Teacher’s response to LEARNER NEEDS Guided by these DI principles: Continual Assessment Flexible Groupings Respectful Tasks Readiness Learning ProfileInterests ContentProcessProduct Learning Environment Teachers can differentiate : According to a student’s: Adapted by the TDSB from The Differentiated Classroom : Responding to the Needs of All Learners by C.A. Tomlinson, 1999 Quality Curriculum Building Community

13 STRUCTURE STRATEGY A DI STRUCTURE and a DI STRATEGY What’s the difference?

14 strategy An instructional strategy is used intentionally by the teacher, sometimes with all students, to achieve a specific purpose. For example: the Exit Card – purpose is to find out students’ still-burning questions after the lesson. Admit Slip The Admit Slip - purpose is to determine students’ READINESS for the learning experience

15 DI structure A DI structure used in teaching formalizes CHOICE for students based on their: readiness for the learning different interests in the topic learning profiles (how they learn best)

16 6 DI Structures that give choice in the products students create Cubing RAFT (GRASP) Choice Board Learning Centres Tiered Instruction Learning Contracts

17Cubing Use six-sided figure (cube): each face has a different task, question or image Students roll the cube and complete the task on the “face” they’ve rolled Excellent for tasks that involve different perspectives or aspects of a topic A great way to give students different types and levels of questions to prompt thinking

18 RAFT An acronym for Role, Audience, Format, Topic Variations: GRASP (Science), DRAFT (History) Students choose an option by reading across the grid to assume a role, audience to address, format in which to work, and the topic they will explore Great for students’ interests (especially Topic and Role) and learning preferences (Format) Readiness can be met by altering the difficulty of the topic or complexity of the format

What does it look like? RoleAudienceFormatTopic Perspective from which they will write Who they are writing it for Type of finished product What’s it about? Oreo cookie Oreo cookie Other Oreo cookies Travel guide Journey through the digestive system LungsCigarettes Complaint Letter Effects of Smoking In Science…

20 The RAFT If we’re differentiating some aspect of students’ learning, then something must be the same for all so that we can evaluate students fairly, e.g.: ROLEAUDIENCEFORM: Opinion paragraph TOPIC / PERSPECTIVE DIFFERENTSAMEDIFFERENT

GRASP or GRASPS (Science) G OAL – The goal of the person in the role (Overall Expectation) R OLE – The role that the student undertakes A UDIENCE – Who is the role person addressing? S CENARIO – The situation that the person in the role finds themselves in P RODUCT – What does the role person have to do/produce? S TANDARDS FOR SUCCESS

22 Choice Boards Provides students with a choice of tasks. Students select one or more tasks to complete All choices address the same learning goal or expectation Clear assessment criteria are established Choices may be based on: Learning preference/intelligence interest

Learning Centres Are different instructional tasks that take place in various places in the classroom Can be designed for individuals, pairs or groups of students Tasks at each centre are varied according to student readiness, interest, or learning preference All tasks address the same learning goal or expectation

Learning Centres – Examples Example 1: – BLM “Drawing Bohr-Rutherford Diagrams of first 20 elements” Example 2: – Grade 9 Biology class studying the cell cycle – Delta Secondary School, HWDSB - Debrief

25 DI Teaching/Learning Examples 25

26 Helpful Resources Program DI Web site for resources specific to science GAINS Web site:

Resource Binder 1.Cubing 2.RAFT (science: GRASP) 3.Choice Board 4.Learning Centres 5.Learning Contracts

Personal Action Planning Card

3 Things I Learned… 2 Questions I still have… 1 Strategy I will use to remember… Personal Action Plan 5.At the end of the day, using a different colour writing utensil, comment on your earlier notes. 6.Share this page with the facilitator and your peers Exit Card