Differentiated Instruction

1
Differentiated Instruction

• Meeting the Learning Needs of All Students

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Differentiation Overview

• What is it?
•  Why is it important?
• When do you use it?

3
The most important factor affecting student
learning is the teachereffective teachers
appear to be effective with students of all
achievement levels.. (Wright et.al., 1977,
pg.63)
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One of the Biggest Challenges for Teachers
isSuccessfully responding to the academic
diversity of their students in their
classrooms.
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Diversity

• Academic Performance
• Individual Differences

• Learning Style
• Socioeconomic Status
• Family Structure
• Readiness and Confidence
• Learning Pace
• Cultural/Ethnic Influence
• Students Value of Learning

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Simple But True..

• Students learn differently because they are
  different.

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Differentiation

• Differentiation is a collection of strategies
  that helps you better address and manage the
  variety of learning needs in your classroom. It
  also supports you in diagnosing student learning
  needs, provides the learning opportunities that
  will increase student likelihood of success, and
  reinforces the belief that instruction is not on
  what you teach but what students learn.
• - Carol Ann Tomlinson

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Differentiation

• Is a way of thinking about teaching and learning.
• Is based on best practices in education.
• Enhances learning for all students because the
  activities meet each students individual
  learning needs.
• Can be implemented/accomplished in many different
  ways.

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Think About It.

• Our students come to us already
  differentiated
• Doesnt it make sense that we should
  differentiate our instruction, so that we can
  meet each students individual learning needs?

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Differentiation Is Not

• A recipe for teaching.
• An instructional strategy.
• What a teacher does with extra time.

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The Differentiated Classroom

• Focuses on student diversity.
• Links assessment with instruction.
• Encourages students in their roles as active
  learners.

Tomlinson, 1999
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In A Differentiated Classroom

• Learning is collaborative and flexible.
• Group and individual norms are balanced.
• Content, process and products are continuously
  evaluated for effectiveness.

Tomlinson, 1999
13
Teacher
Can
Differentiate
Process How
Content What
Product Results
Tomlinson, 1999
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Content What

• What a student should
• Know
• Understand
• Be able to do
• And
• The materials and resources that
• address diversity.

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Process How

• The activities are designed to assist the
  student to make sense of or own the content.

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Product End Results

• The student demonstrates what he/she has come to
  know, understand and be
• able to do.

Tomlinson, 1999
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Differentiation is based on
The Students
Interest
Learning Profile
Readiness
Tomlinson, 1999
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A Students Readiness

• Is a students entry point relative to a
  particular understanding or skill.

Tomlinson, 1999
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A Students Interest

• Is an individuals passion, interest and/or
  curiosity for a topic or skill.

Tomlinson, 1999
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A Learning Profile

• Is a students previous knowledge and preference
  for how she/he learns best.

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Whats the Relationship of Standards to
Differentiation?

• Standards tell us WHAT to teach.
• Differentiation allows us, or shows us HOW to
  teach, so that all students maximize their
  individual potential for learning.