LOSING SIGHT OF THE SHORE

DIFFERENTIATING CURRICULUM AND

INSTRUCTIONHeartland Curriculum

NetworkMary Schmidt

School Improvement ConsultantHeartland AEA 11

mschmidt@aea11.k12.ia.us

WHAT ARE YOU?

Enthusiast?Explorer?Sightseer?Vacationer?Prisoner?

You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the

courage to lose sight of the

shore.

G

You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage

to lose sight of the shore.

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

What is differentiation? Why is it important? How is it accomplished? Where does collaboration fit in? How does one assess the success of

efforts to differentiate? What are the recommendations for

instructional leaders in schools ready to differentiate?

GUIDING ASSUMPTIONS1 A “teach to the middle” or “one size

fits all” classroom is less responsive to and less effective in meeting the needs of the diverse populations in our classrooms than a classroom which offers various learning opportunities designed to meet different learning needs.

2 A differentiated classroom offers different approaches to what students learn, how they learn it, and how they demonstrate what they’ve learned.

GUIDING ASSUMPTIONS

3 Flexible grouping enables teachers to match student with learning experience.

4 Developing a differentiated classroom takes time, support, and commitment.

WHAT IS DIFFERENTIATIO

N?

DIFFERENTIATION ala...

WEBSTER“…to make unlike; to develop specialized differences in…”

TOMLINSON“…shaking up what goes on in the classroom so that the curriculum is a better fit for all.”

DIFFERENTIATION ala...

BORLAND“…a course of study that is in some manner different from the one to which students in the mainstream are exposed…Differentiation is not enough. To be appropriate, a curriculum for…students must be defensible as well…Defensibility in this context implies that the curriculum is not only different from the norm, but educationally right for…students.”

DIFFERENTIATION INVOLVES...

creating specialized differences in curricular experiences

creating multiple options for knowledge acquisition, sense-making, and product creation

providing different work, not more of the same building on the characteristics which create

differences providing what is educationally right for

learners

WHY DIFFERENTIATE?

IT’S THE LAW!12.5(12)Provisions for gifted and talented students. Each school district shall incorporate

gifted and talented programming into its comprehensive school improvement plan as required by Iowa Code section 257.43. The comprehensive school improvement plan shall include the following gifted and talented program provisions:

valid and systematic procedures, including multiple selection criteria for identifying gifted and talented students from the total student population

goals and performance measures a qualitatively differentiated program to meet the students’ cognitive and

affective needs staffing provisions an in-service design a budget qualifications of personnel administering the program.

Each school district shall review and evaluate its gifted and talented programming. This subrule does not apply to accredited nonpublic schools.

REDUCE RISK OF UNDERACHIEVEMENT

“Smart children soon learn that what is important in school is one thing--and what is important in life is another, and they live in this schizophrenic existence satisfactorily. Many, however, do not. Everything we learn doesn't have to be relevant. But if some of our school learning isn’t meaningful, we may get turned off enough so that we don’t want to learn anything anywhere. We may simply drop out.”

William Glasser

Schools Without Failure

ALLEVIATE DISCIPLINE PROBLEMS

DISCIPLINE PROBLEMS REFLECT A COLLISION WITH

INAPPROPRIATE CURRICULUM.--Susan Winebrenner

INCREASE MOTIVATION

TWO MOTIVATIONAL STATES INTERFERE WITH LEARNING. ONE IS ANXIETY; THE OTHER IS BOREDOM. ANXIETY OCCURS WHEN TEACHERS

EXPECT TOO MUCH, BOREDOM WHEN THEY EXPECT TOO LITTLE.

Mihaly CsikezentmihalyiFlow: the Psychology of Optimal

Experience

ADDRESS LEARNER READINESS

WHEN WE TEACH THE SAME THING TO ALL KIDS AT THE SAME TIME,

1/3 ALREADY KNOW IT,1/3 GET IT, AND

1/3 NEVER WILL. SO 2/3 OF THE KIDS ARE WASTING

THEIR TIME.--Scott Willis

BUILD SELF ESTEEM

THE SUREST PATH TO POSITIVE SELF ESTEEM IS TO SUCCEED AT

SOMETHING WHICH ONE PERCEIVED WOULD BE DIFFICULT. EACH TIME WE STEAL A STUDENT’S STRUGGLE, WE STEAL THE OPPORTUNITY FOR THEM TO BUILD SELF-CONFIDENCE. THEY

MUST LEARN TO DO HARD THINGS TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT THEMSELVES.

--Sylvia Rimm

NORMAL IS ONLY A SETTING

ON THE WASHING MACHINE

THAT STUDENTS DIFFER MAY BE INCONVENIENT, BUT IT IS

INESCAPABLE. ADAPTING TO THAT DIVERSITY IS THE INEVITABLE PRICE OF PRODUCTIVITY, HIGH

STANDARDS, AND FAIRNESS TO THE STUDENTS.

--Theodore Sizer

WAYS IN WHICH INDIVIDUALS CAN DIFFER

Prior knowledge or skill expertise Learning rate Cognitive ability Learning style preference Motivation, attitude, and effort Interest, strength, or talent

THE GRADE LEVEL CURRICULUM:

exposes all students to the same skills and content

sets predetermined completion times stresses a single activity expects all students to achieve all objectives

•provides most instruction in large groups•bases instruction on the average student•uses limited single resources•provides few student decision making opportunities

WHAT CAN BE DIFFERENTIATED?

CONTENTCONTENT--What students learnPROCESSPROCESS--How they learn itPRODUCTPRODUCT--How students show what they’ve learned

LEARNING ENVIRONMENTLEARNING ENVIRONMENT--The conditions under which learning takes shape

IN DIFFERENTIATED CLASSROOMS, TEACHERS...

begin where students are, not at the front of the curriculum guide.

build upon the premise that learners differ in important ways.

engage students through different learning modalities, by appealing to different interests, and by using varying rates of instruction and degrees of complexity.

ensures that students focus more on individual growth than on competition with other students.

recognize that each student’s roadmap to learning differs from that of others.

believe that students should be held to high standards.

IN DIFFERENTIATED CLASSROOMS, TEACHERS...

ensure that struggling, advanced, and in-between learners think and work harder than they meant to; achieve more than they thought they could; and come to believe that learning involves effort, risk, and personal triumph.

help students learn that success is achieved through hard work.

use time flexibly. employ a range of instructional strategies. become partners in learning with their students. accept, embrace, and plan for the commonalities

and differences learners bring to their classrooms.

INDICATORS OF DIFFERENTIATION

Consistent use of pretesting A decrease in the frequency of large

group activities An increase in:

– Small group teaching activities– Flexible small group learning

activities An increase in individual alternatives:

– Centers– Homework– Contracts

THE DIFFERENTIATION PROCESS

•Objective•Introduction•Initial instruction•Pretesting•Diagnosis

Breadth

Depth

Branching Out

Managing Flexible Small Groups

Alternative Activities

Adjusting the Breadth

Tiered AssignmentsAltering the

Depth

OFFERING ALTERNATIVE ACTIVITIES

To Increase the Breadth of a Lesson

MISSION CONTROL (The Teacher)

PROVIDES:Whole Group Introduction and Instruction and Launches Satellites (small groups) on Alternative Activities

Choice of Resources

Product Options

Alternative Activities

Varying Goals

TIERED ACTIVITIESTo Alter the Depth of a

Lesson

KEY FEATURES: INCREASE/DECREASE:•Abstraction

•Extent of Support•Sophisticatio

n•Complexity

ofGoals/Resources/Activities/

Products

• Whole Group Introduction

• Whole Group Initial Instruction

• Identification of Developmental Differences

List 5 synonyms for everlasting.

Make a list of 10 things that areeverlasting.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Put those 10 things on a continuum frommost everlasting to least everlasting.J ustify your ranking.

HOW DO GIFTED STUDENTS SPEND THEIR TIME?

Gifted ProgramClassroom

(Starko, 1986)

HOW DO I KNOW IT’S WORKING?

LISTEN TO AND OBSERVE THE KIDS MONITOR AND MEASURE

ATTAINMENT OF GOALS DEVELOP BEHAVIORIAL CHECKLISTS YOU SEE MOTIVATED, ENGAGED,

SELF-DIRECTED LEARNERS ABLE TO FUNCTION AND THRIVE WITHIN AN ENVIRONMENT WHICH CHALLENGES THEM.

WHERE DO WE BEGIN?THE BUILDING LEVEL

BEGIN SMALL. TRY A FEW PILOT TEACHERS AND CLASSROOMS.

BEGIN WITH TEACHERS WHO HAVE THE SKILL AND WILL TO CHANGE.

CREATE TEAMS OF TEACHERS. COLLEGIALTIY, NOT ISOLATION, NOURISHES NEW IDEAS.

GO FOR ACTION AND APPLICATION. ADJUST SCHOOL SCHEDULES TO

PROVIDE TEACHERS LARGER BLOCKS OF UNINTERRUPTED TIME.

WHERE DO WE BEGIN?THE BUILDING LEVEL

CONSIDER ADOPTING MULTIPLE TEXTS INSTEAD OF ONE FOR A GIVEN SUBJECT AND GRADE LEVEL.

CONSIDER MODIFIED REPORT CARDS TO PROVIDE A LOOK AT PERSONAL GROWTH INSTEAD OF, OR IN ADDITION TO, GROUP COMPARISONS.

CONSIDER NARROWING THE RANGE OF LEARNERS IN SOME CLASSROOMS.

DEVELOP COTEACHING AND COLLABORATIVE RELATIONSHIPS.

EFFECTIVE LEADERS WILL...

make time for teachers to plan differentiated lessons.

provide opportunities to visit differentiated classrooms.

give access to a wide range of learner materials.

create an environment where teachers feel safe trying a new approach w/o fear of judgement.

give meaningful, targeted feedback about teachers’ work with differentiation.

provide support networks.

YOU’VE EITHER GOT TO SEE THE LIGHT OR FEEL

THE HEAT.

REMEMBER THAT NOTHING THAT’S GOOD WORKS BY ITSELF JUST

TO PLEASE YOU. YOU’VE GOT TO MAKE

THE DAMN THING WORK.

--Thomas Edison

T.T.T.Put up in a place where

it’s easy to see,The cryptic

admonishment,T.T.T.

When you feel how depressingly slow you climb

It’s well to remember that THINGS TAKE TIME.

FOR MORE INFORMATION...

http://www.aea11.k12.ia.us/curriculum/differentiated.html