danny brassell, ph.d. jeff miller, ph.d
TRANSCRIPT
Dare to Differentiate!
50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Danny Brassell, Ph.D.Jeff Miller, Ph.D.
www.lazyreaders.com
Learning GoalsBy the end of this presentation, we will
have: Determined what differentiated
instruction means and why it is important;
Discussed ways to meet standards without sacrificing student readiness, interests and learning styles;
Examined 50 tricks teachers may keep in mind when differentiating instruction; and
Reviewed songs, games and activities designed to stimulate student interest in school.
What Is Differentiate
d Instruction?
Differentiated instruction is a teaching philosophy based on the premise that teachers should adapt instruction to student differences. Rather than marching students through the curriculum lockstep, teachers should modify their instruction to meet students’ varying readiness levels, learning preferences, and interests. Therefore, the teacher proactively plans a variety of ways to ‘get at’ and express learning.- Carol Ann Tomlinson
huh?
Whenever a teacher reaches out to an individual or small
group to vary his or her teaching in order to create the
best learning experience possible, that teacher is
differentiating instruction.
- CAROL ANN TOMLINSON
Oh…
Why Is Differentiating
Instruction Important?
To learn a particular concept, some children need days; some, ten minutes, but the typical lockstep school schedule ignores this fundamental fact. - Marilyn Hughes
Eight Principles of a
Differentiated Classroom
Principle #1The teacher is
clear about what matters in the content area.
Principle #2The teacher
understands, appreciates and
builds upon student differences.
Principle #3Assessment
and instruction are
inseparable.
You’re wrong!vs.Why did you say that?
Principle #4All students
participate in respectful
work.
Principle #5Students and
teachers collaborate in
learning.
Principle #6The teacher adjusts
content, process, and product in response
to student readiness, interests, and
learning styles.
Principle #7Goals of a
differentiated classroom are
maximum growth and continued
success.
Principle #8Flexibility is the
hallmark of a differentiated
classroom.
Environment
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #1
Create a supportive
environment of respect (teacher-
students, students-to-students).
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #2
Develop a sense of community.
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #3
Facilitate an environment
where students feel safe to take
risks.
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #4
Promote the development of a
broad range of skills and interests,
incorporating all senses.
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #5
Set-up physical classroom for
student-centered
instruction.
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #6
Provide purposeful
materials and resources.
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #7
Have high expectations for
ALL.
If you refuse to accept anything but the best in life, you very often get it.
- Somerset Maugham
Readiness
When a teacher tries to teach something to the entire class at the same time, chances are, one-third of the kids already know it; one-third will get it; and the remaining third won’t. So two-thirds of the children are wasting their time.
- Lilian Katz
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #8
Allow students to “show what
they know” in a variety of ways.
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #9
Provide students with plenty of
time to explore, understand and transfer learning
to long-term memory.
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #10
Permit students time to revisit
ideas and concepts in order
to connect or extend them.
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #11
Ensure lessons are
developmentally appropriate.
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #12
Tier activities to provide
appropriate level of
challenge.
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #13
Compact curriculum to
provide enrichment and
challenge.
Interest
If a student has a spark (or better still, a fire), a curiosity about a topic, learning is more likely for that student.
- Carol Ann Tomlinson (2001)
If there is anything we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see
whether it is not something that could better be changed in
ourselves.- Carl Jung
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #14
Incorporate creativity.
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #15
Provide students real choices in what
they learn, how they learn and how they demonstrate learning (flexible
and varied).
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #16
Offer real-world challenges that
are directly connected to the students’ lives.
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #17
Offer novel, unique and engaging
activities to capture and
sustain students’ attention.
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #18
Use multi-media/technolog
y.
Learning Profile
The biggest mistake of past centuries in teaching has been to treat all children as if they were variants of the same individual and thus to feel justified in teaching them all the same subjects in the same way.
- Howard Gardner
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #19
Focus on students’
learning styles.
It’s not how smart you are.It’s how you are smart.
Sternberg’s Three Intelligences
Creative Analytical
Practical
• We all have some of each of these intelligences, but are usually stronger in one or two areas than in others.
• We should strive to use all three…but also recognize where students’ strengths lie and teach through those intelligences as often as possible, particularly when introducing new ideas.
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #20
Emphasize brain-
compatible instruction.
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #21
Recognize and honor cultural
diversity.
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #22
Emphasize student strengths and
develop ways to compensate for weaknesses so
they do not inhibit what student can
do.
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #23
Permit positive movement.
Content
Instruction begins where the students are, not at the front of the curriculum guide.
- CAROL ANN TOMLINSON
to Differentiate Content
Reading Partners / Reading Buddies *Choral Reading/Antiphonal ReadingFlip BooksSplit Journals (Double Entry – Triple Entry)Books on TapeHighlights on TapeDigests/ “Cliff Notes”Notetaking OrganizersVaried TextsVaried Supplementary MaterialsHighlighted TextsThink-Pair-Share/Preview-Midview-Postview
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #24
Present the curriculum
through interdisciplinary
“big ideas” versus
disconnected small facts.
Remember jigsaw puzzles: they’re much easier when you can see the whole picture
first.
- GORDON DRYDEN,The Learning Revolution
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #25
Plan before, during and after
instruction.
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #26
Negotiate contracts to
provide appropriate
learning activities for students.
Motivation and productivity skyrocket when students reach
their goals.- BETTIE B. YOUNGS,
The 6 Vital Ingredients of Self-Esteem: How to Develop Them in Students
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #27
Challenge students (i + 1).
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #28
Create centers.
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #29
Co-develop standards with
students.
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #30
Clearly state expectations (be
specific about requirements).
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #31
Empower learners!
Encourage students to help set and enforce
norms.
Process
Learning is most effective when it’s fun.
- PETER KLINE,The Everyday Genius
I never worked a day in my life. It was all fun.
- Thomas Edison
To learn it, do it!
- ROBERT C. SCHANK,Engines for Learning
TO DIFFERENTIATE PROCESS
Fun & GamesRAFTsCubing, Think DotsChoices (Intelligences)CentersTiered lessonsContracts
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #32
Utilize active, hands-on learning.
80 percent of learning difficulties are related to
stress. Remove the stress, and you remove
the difficulties.
- GORDON STOKES,The Learning Revolution
Children learn best when they are helped
to discover the underlying principles for
themselves.
- PETER KLINE,The Everyday Genius
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #33
Allow students to work
collaboratively and
independently (flexible
grouping).
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #34
Make use of higher level thinking and questioning strategies.
If the questions are simple so is the thinking.
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #35
Offer students plenty of time for reflection
and goal setting.
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #36
Vary strategies.
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #37
Consider integrated curriculum,
problem-based learning and
service learning.
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #38
Balance teacher-chosen and
teacher-directed activities with
student-chosen and student-
directed activities.
The art of teaching is developing into the art of teaching children to
teach themselves.
- HELENA H. WALLENBERG and MICHAEL S. BOGOLEAThe Welfare Rennaissance:
The New Swedish Model
Children’s work IS their play. Children
learn from everything they do.
- CAROLYN HOOPER,New Zealand Playcenter Movement
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #39
Help students understand
group’s shared needs for success,
to belong, to trust, the future,
etc.
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #40
Monitor student progress
constantly.
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #41
Aim high; scaffold
weaknesses.
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #42
Teach for meaning; not
rote.
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #43
Be flexible (with time, space,
materials and groupings).
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #44
Teach strategies explicitly so student has
“easy way out” of tough spots.
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #45
Collaborate with parents, resource
specialists, etc. It takes a village!
Product
If there were only one truth, you couldn’t paint a hundred canvases on the same theme.
- Pablo Picasso
All children are born geniuses, and we spend the first six years of their lives degeniusing them.
- BUCKMINSTER FULLER
to Differentiate Product
Choices based on readiness, interest, and learning profile
Clear expectationsTimelinesAgreementsProduct GuidesRubricsEvaluation
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #46
Provide opportunities for
projects, creativity,
problems and challenges.
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #47
Focus on student growth.
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #48
Initiate student-maintained
portfolios and assessments with
varied and original products.
THINKING ABOUT ON-GOING ASSESSMENTSTUDENT DATA
SOURCES1. Journal entry2. Short answer test3. Open response test4. Home learning5. Notebook6. Oral response7. Portfolio entry8. Exhibition9. Culminating product10. Question writing11. Problem solving
TEACHER DATA MECHANISMS
1. Anecdotal records2. Observation by checklist3. Skills checklist4. Class discussion5. Small group interaction6. Teacher – student
conference7. Assessment stations8. Exit cards9. Problem posing10. Performance tasks and
rubrics
Differentiated Report Cards
A = Excellent Growth
B = Very Good Growth
C = Some Growth
D = Little GrowthF = No
Observable Growth
1=The student is Above Grade Level
2=The student is Working At Grade Level
3=The student is Working Below Grade Level
On report cards, I need to find a way to show individual growth and relative standing to students and parents
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #49
Support students in creating products
for real events/audience through public displays and
performances.
Dare to Differentiate: 50 Terrific Teacher Tricks
Trick #50
Emphasize quality of
thought and expression vs.
accuracy.
ReviewIn this presentation, we:
Determined what differentiated instruction means and why it is important;
Discussed ways to meet standards without sacrificing student readiness, interests and learning styles;
Examined 50 tricks teachers may keep in mind when differentiating instruction; and
Reviewed songs, games and activities designed to stimulate student interest in school.
The real art of discovery consists not in finding
new lands, but in seeing with new eyes.
- Marcel Proust