1. Differentiated Instruction
Bolded notes are phrased as words to say to participants.
Non- bolded notes are considered notes/directions for presenter(s).
The presenter introduces herself and surveys who is in the audience: teachers, GE/SE, programmatic level, administrators, coaches, etc.
Success for ALL

2. “Student differences matter and effective teachers attend to those differences thoughtfully and proactively.”
Presenter shows quote, then says: Let’s begin with this statement. Do you agree with it? What about your colleagues? Would they agree?
Animate in Well, all of these professional organizations, whose work it is to determine expectations for teachers are in solid agreement. They stand behind the importance of teachers valuing student differences and behind what teachers need to do about their students’ differences.
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
Association for Middle Level Education
National Association for the Education of Young Children
New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC)
National Association of Secondary School Principals

3. Easier said,
than done.
Anyone want to agree with this statement?

4. Challenges Require more time
Bring with them to the classroom great reservoirs of knowledge that other students do not bring
Need to move around more than others
Seem to have given up on school – or themselves or adults – and are angry or lethargic much of the time
Have difficulty concentrating during whole-class discussions
Are poor test takers but actually understand far more than they show
Will not engage with learning if they fail to see the point of it
From Leading and Managing a DI Classroom pgs 74-76
As you skim down through these descriptions of students, is there anyone who isn’t thinking of students they’ve known who match up with one or more of these challenges?

5. Today’s students…
Are accustomed to watching a particular TV show when it is convenient rather than when it’s broadcast
No longer buy entire albums to “own” a particular song but rather download just the selections they like
Order computers specifically designed for their needs
Get news on demand and information they need when they need it
Etc.
- Leading and Managing A Differentiated Classroom
by Carol Ann Tomlinson and Marcia B. Imbeau
And what about all this? Students today…Animate the bullets in one at a time and read them aloud.
So, not only do learners compose an increasingly diverse group, but isn’t it also a reality that our young people live in a world of personalization – at least outside of school.

6. “… the question is not whether teachers recognize that such differences exist in virtually every classroom, or even whether they impact student success.”
“The question that plagues teachers is HOW TO attend to the evident differences in a room that contains so many young bodies.”
So, are we saying…presenter reads the first statement on the slide.
Then, animates in the 2nd text box and says…Is this the question we need to answer? Let participants read the blue box to themselves.
We believe it’s reasonable to assume that this is not the first time anyone in this room has heard about differentiated instruction; the concept and some of the techniques have been with us for a long time.
Today, we hope to:
Refresh some of what folks already know, understand and are already doing with DI…and
Consider some of what might be done to convince more teachers that DI is becoming more and more ESSENTIAL and maybe even more important - POSSIBLE!
Leading and Managing A Differentiated Classroom by Carol Ann Tomlinson
and Marcia B. Imbeau

7. Differentiated Instruction is_____________.
So, we need to start by giving everyone an empty plate – Now, wouldn’t that be a dream come true?
Seriously, I am going to ask that you set everything aside, and focus for a minute or two on what YOU, personally already know about DI.
Animate sentence stem. What can you put on this blank plate?
Now take a couple more minutes to share and consolidate what your table collectively has come up with, because the 3rd step will be to compare what you’ve gathered with a couple of current definitions offered by national experts.

8. What Experts Say about DI…
It is a comprehensive and flexible process that includes the planning, preparation and delivery of instruction to address the diversity of students’ learning needs within the classroom. Through DI, teachers take into account who they teach, what they teach, where they teach and how they teach.
National Professional Resources, Inc.
National Professional Resources Inc. researched and published a set of overview tools that we have been referencing and often providing in our professional learning sessions. This quote comes from the one they prepared on DI.
I am going to read it to you, and I want you to listen for common ground between the words you all have used to define DI and how it is described here?
Any luck? Let’s try another one.
Later, pass out the plastic brochure from National Professional Resources, Inc. And, direct participants to: Page 1 “what is DI? 3rd paragraph.

9. “At its most basic level, differentiating instruction means “shaking up” what goes on in the classroom so that students have multiple options for taking in information, making sense of ideas, and expressing what they learn.”
This definition of DI comes from the 2nd edition of Carol Ann Tomlinson’s book.
Did you already have the gist of DI?
Does any of this seem WRONG to you?
Well then, we have to think about why it isn’t happening as much as we know it needs to, and what we can do about it.
Carol Ann Tomlinson - HOW TO Differentiate Instruction IN Mixed-Ability Classrooms -2nd Edition

10. Challenges to Conquer Let’s work smarter, not harder! 1. CHALLENGES
2. WAYS TO CONQUER
Let’s consider some of the reasons teachers may struggle with differentiated instruction.
With your table, develop a T- chart to represent challenges teachers face as they try to differentiate instruction, and then we will take a walk-about and see what we might come up with to conquer or at least confront the challenges.
After charts are up, use a timer to rotate small groups. Reduce the processing time progressively since duplications will exist. Ask a couple of volunteers to make summative observations about what appeared on the charts. Lots of great ideas!
The teachers in the 3 SPI Academies did this activity as part of the SPI/DI module last summer. And, we thought they were pretty impressed by the ideas they collaboratively generated for paving an easier road to more DI in their classrooms.
Everything in current pedagogy says they are far more likely to go back and tackle some of these challenges than they would have been if we had just given them the information.
Let’s work smarter, not harder!

11. How do we DO DI?
If we only learn methods, we are tied to those methods, but if we learn principles, we can develop our own methods.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Carol Ann Tomlinson, in her book Leading and Managing a Differentiated Classroom tells about a teacher whose district wanted all of its teachers to differentiate instruction, so they created a notebook of strategies for the teachers to use.
The teachers described the notebook as really nice, bound and everything and containing a dozen strategies. Tomlinson responded by saying: “I’m glad you found it useful.” The teacher paused and then said she did find it useful and reported that she had used every one of the ideas. And then she said: “And now I guess I’m just waiting for the next notebook.”
She had done DI cover to cover and had no idea where to go next.
Because she had no basis for understanding how the ideas in the notebook had been generated, she was left feeling as if she had no basis for charting her own growth.
This conversation reinforces a point made by Ralph Waldo Emerson that I want you to keep in mind as I we work through the next sections of this overview …Animate in text box with Emerson quote.
This anecdote also highlights 4 very common misunderstandings about DI. Let’s take a look.

12. #1
Misunderstanding : Differentiation is a set of instructional strategies. Reality: Differentiation is a philosophy – a way of thinking about teaching and learning. It is, in fact, a set of principles.
I will read the misunderstanding, but I’ll be looking for volunteers, with strong voices to read the reality statements.
Presenter reads the MISUNDERSTANDING #1
Volunteer reads the REALITY

13. #2
Misunderstanding : It’s adequate for a district or school leader (or professional developers) to tell, or even show, teachers how to differentiate instruction effectively. Reality: Learning to differentiate instruction well requires rethinking one’s classroom practice and results from an ongoing process of trial, reflection, and adjustment in the classroom itself.
Presenter reads the MISUNDERSTANDING #2
Volunteer reads the REALITY

14. #3
Misunderstanding : Differentiation is something a teacher does or doesn’t do. Reality: Most teachers who remain in a classroom for longer than a day do pay attention to student variation and respond to it in some way- especially with students who threaten order in the classroom. However, very few teachers proactively plan instruction to consistently address differences.
Presenter reads the MISUNDERSTANDING #3
Volunteer reads the REALITY

15. #4
Misunderstanding : Differentiation is just about instruction Reality: Although differentiation is an instructional approach, effective DI is inseparable from a positive learning environment, high-quality curriculum, assessment to inform teacher decision making, and flexible classroom management. To the degree that any one of those elements is weak, the others are also diminished.
Presenter reads the MISUNDERSTANDING #4
Volunteer reads the REALITY
Animate in the SPL atom and say…Is that last sentence not what we have all been learning about the 6 components of SPL?
The elements all impact one another.

16. I’m guessing, by now, those of you who are not auditory learners are beyond ready for a moment to absorb and reflect on what has been said.
So, take a couple, and we will use the time to give you some resources that will be helpful in the parts to come.
Materials to pass:
Four Common Misconceptions about Differentiated Instruction – handout of slides 12-15
Learning Styles Inventory - handout
Bloominizer Questions - handout
Leading and Managing A Differentiated Classroom - book

17. If we only learn methods, we are tied to those methods, but if we learn principles, we can develop our own methods.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Time, now to go a bit deeper INSIDE DI with Emerson’s advice in mind…Animate text box and read it to them.
Time to dig into those important principles that will serve as a basis for our teachers to make DI a reality for their students.

18. INSIDE DI - Getting to HOW we influence student learning?
Readiness
A student’s current proximity to specified knowledge, understanding, and skills.
Interests
That which engages the attention, curiosity, and involvement of a student.
Learning Profiles
A preference for taking in, exploring, or expressing content.
There are 3 commonly accepted DOORS, or entry points that DI attends to and uses to influence student learning. We are expecting these doors will ring bells for most, if not all of you; because they have not changed. But, teachers, especially all the new teachers coming into the profession, weren’t around when this research came out and, more likely than not, were not educated in schools where their use was pervasive . Click to reveal the word Readiness and click again to reveal the meaning.
Teachers can differentiate instruction for students through READINESS. We are differentiating instruction, when we identify and respond to lack of readiness. We support students in ways that fill gaps. What are some ways you, or teachers you know, already do this? (more direct instruction, practice, or learning activities that are more structured or concrete, use of graphic organizers, strategies for skimming an scanning, leveled text..
What can we do for students who are not motivated; or just don’t like to do school? Click to reveal the word interest and click again to reveal the meaning. INTEREST refers to a student’s curiosity for a particular topic. Ex: one student may find American History fascinating while another finds events of the past boring. What are some ways you or teachers you know use students’ INTERESTS to get them more engaged?( provide choices, open-ended assignments, learn what motivates them) And, how do you, or teachers you know determine the interests of your students?
3. A 3rd entry point that DI uses to influence student learning is the student’s LEARNING PROFILE. Click to reveal the words Learning Profiles and click again to reveal the meaning. Learning Profiles have to do with how we learn. A learning profile can be shaped by:
(1) gender, (2) culture, (3) intelligence preferences and/or (4) learning styles.
Intelligence preferences are part of the learning profile and therefore impact how a student learns. Let’s take a look.
Tomlinson, C.A. (2000) Differentiating in the Elementary Grades

19. Student Learning Profile: Multiple Intelligences
Logical/mathematical - learning experiences that give the opportunity to think conceptually, use clear reasoning, look for abstract patterns and relationships, experiment, test things, classify and categorize.
Kinesthetic - processing knowledge through bodily sensations, communicating through gestures, learning by touching and manipulating, role playing, creative movement, and other physical activities. Kinesthetically dominant learners enjoy fixing and building things.
It’s recommended that a student’s learning profile contain information about the type or types of intelligence that are dominant for them.
Here, we see Howard Gardner’s model for 8 types of intelligence.
Again, it is reasonable to assume all of you have heard of these intelligences, before. So, you understand if your logical/mathematical intelligence is dominant, then we could expect you to be more readily engaged by: animate in text box… learning experiences that…
Research with these 8 intelligences has determined that one of them is definitely dominant among students with identified disabilities. Want to guess which one that would be? (Answer - kinesthetic)
And that would mean… animate in the final textbox. Are these the learning experiences we see in our schools? At best, don’t they fizzle out as students move up through the grades? Have you seen the performance data?

20. All Grades 2012
Follow the fall of the red bars representing math performance for SWDs.

21. All Grades 2012
Same story here for RLA performance What if the decrease in kinesthetic learning experiences plays into this steep decline?

22. Learning Styles - VARK Model by Neil Fleming
Visual
Reading and Writing
Kinesthetic
Aural
Learning Styles - VARK Model by Neil Fleming
Another component of a learning profile is LEARNING STYLE. This VARK model, developed by Neil Fleming, is one of the most common and widely-used categorizations of learning styles.
In the SPI/DI module, teachers work with partners to jot down and then share ideas for learning experiences that might appeal to one or more type(s) of learner. They are encouraged to use a Learning Style resource that was provided and through this collaborative investigation of a resource that was new to most of them, expand their options, and thereby grow the use of DI for their students. (Provide the learning style resource)
FOCUS

23. “Differentiation can be accurately described as classroom practice with a balanced emphasis on individual students and course content.”
Tomlinson & Imbeau (2010)- Leading and Managing A Differentiated Classroom
All the elements we’ve considered, so far, are characteristics of the students. But… animate in the textbox and read the quote. And, we all know that balance can be difficult to manage.

24. Content Process Product Affect
The knowledge, understanding, and skills we want students to learn
How students come to understand or make sense of the content.
How students demonstrate what they have come to know, understand, and re able to do after an extended period of learning
How students’ emotions and feelings impact their learning
Content
Process
Product
Affect
At the core of the classroom practice of DI is the adjustment of 4 curriculum related elements: (1) content, (2) process, (3) product and (4) affect. Adjustments are made in response to the 3 categories of student need and variance that we already considered; (1) readiness, (2) interest and (3) learning profile.
Must this ENTIRE MATRIX be manipulated before we are doing DI? We laugh and/or sigh deeply, but hasn’t that misconception been known to sink the DI ship? Teachers last summer thought so.

25. Examples of Differentiation Based on Student Need Readiness Interest
Figure 1.1
Examples of Differentiation Based on Student Need
Readiness
Interest
Learning Profile
Content
Process
Product
If you look at Figure 1.1 on page 18 of Leading and Managing a Differentiated Classroom by Tomlinson and Imbeau, you will see the matrix with examples filled in. The SPI/DI module scaffolds teachers through a partner task in which they generate student tasks that are relevant to content they currently teach.
Tomlinson & Imbeau (2010)- Leading and Managing A Differentiated Classroom

26. Evidence of Learning Directions: Pick a standard from the cards
Content Standards and
Objectives
Directions:
Pick a standard from the cards
Decide what acceptable evidence of deep learning might be
List a variety of end products, performance tasks and/or assessments that would be acceptable
Here is another activity from the SPI/DI Module that offers teachers relevant application experience.
Animate in the directions…With this activity participants can practice connecting their growing understanding of DI with their content standards. We encourage them, during this activity to use the list of higher order questions we provide to them and are included in your handouts.
The point here is for them to use what they know about DI to generate a variety of options.

27. Video -Teaching Channel
New Teacher Survival Guide: DI Science
Why is assessment a key part of differentiation?
What kinds of assessments could/should these be?
What aspects of your lesson can be tiered to meet students at their level?
What are simple ways you can start differentiating tomorrow?
More difficult ways you can work at over the year?
This video from Teachingchannel.org is of a first year high school science teacher who learns to design her lessons with embedded DI using formative assessment to guide her decisions.
As you watch and listen, I encourage you to jot down a few things that strike you as most important take-a-ways.
After the video plays, animate in and say… So what?
Talk it over with your table for a few minutes and see what parts of this video are worth remembering and using.
Did you notice the Questions to Consider? Animate text box of questions on the slide. Perhaps they will support your conversations.
Responses are shared. . .
So what?

28. One differentiated idea per month for three years; that’s a teacher on pace for implementing this.” – Rick Wormeli
“I know that one day I will be an expert in differentiated instruction. It won’t be today, and it won’t be tomorrow. It just takes a lot of time.” – Laura Gurick
Wouldn’t it be great if we could arrange Skype sessions with Rick Wormeli or Carol Ann Tomlinson or Robert Marzano for all our teachers?
So, in truth, over the last year, as the TAS and I studied the DI research, we discovered that the instructional practice of differentiated instruction has not changed much over the last decade. And, we also saw that the professional development work of our State’s DI Cadre, initiated about 5 years ago, was grounded in essentially these same principles.

29. Principles of DI Principles of DI Quality Curriculum
Respectful Tasks
Quality Curriculum
Building Community
Continual Assessment
Flexible Grouping
Principles of DI
The principles of DI have not changed. So, what reasons do we have to believe that DI can take off now when it has historically been such a struggle?
I think we agreed in the beginning, today, on a couple of things.
First, we acknowledged that the students today are very different than students a decade ago, or even 5 years ago.
We also agreed that we need more differentiating happening in our classrooms.
If we acknowledge 4 more current or impending realities, perhaps we can see this happening now:
Animate NxG logo - Carol Ann Tomlinson is very clear that quality DI instruction must be grounded in in HQ curriculum; which of course includes strong content and strong instructional practice.
Animate SPL logo - Support for Personalized Instruction is pulling our system together and giving us a process for working as a community
3. Animate Smarter Balanced logo - As Rick Wormeli said, quality formative assessments have quality summative assessments as a clear target.
4. Animate in/site logo - And finally, aren’t our technology tools making it increasingly possible to be more flexible and give students access to more engaging and relevant learning tasks? In-site is of course just one of the ever-growing bank of digital resources on the WVDE website. And our website is certainly not the only place to look, right?
…LOTS OF NEW THINGS THAT CAN GIVE DI THE FOUNDATION IT NEEDS.
Principles of DI

30. DI Tools for the Road Ahead…
In this refreshing addition to differentiated learning literature, Rick Wormeli takes readers step-by-step from the blank page to a fully crafted differentiation lesson. Along the way he shows middle and high school teachers and behind-the-scenes planning that goes into effective lesson design for diverse classrooms.
So, we’re in this for the long haul, it seems. And that is why, a big part of SPI is about teachers learning to manage their own professional learning; to sustain it and to keep it relevant to their needs as well as grounded in the ever-changing mass of evidence-based practices. We will go into more detail with the Reflective Teacher Module later today.
I want to close this overview of DI by sharing 2 more valuable resources.
First is a podcast of Rick Wormeli talking about his book on DI. At this site, you can also find several other relevant podcasts. In one of them Wormeli talks about assessment as it relates to DI
We also have for each of you the DI resource I referenced at the beginning published by National Professional Resources
We hope you will study these resources, find many more of your own, and use them to support your teachers in committing to strengthening DI in their classrooms.