Doable Differentiation
Understanding how the
brain works and how
differentiating
instruction helps
students learn
GAME Plan
Goals
 Activities
 Measurement
 Evaluation

Goals
Participants will:
 Gain a better understanding of differentiating
instruction
 Participate in several strategies for wholeclass differentiation.
 Learn how the brain works and how this
supports the philosophy of differentiating
instruction.
Activities
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Appointment Clock
Think, Pair, Share
Hands-on Sort
Baggage Claim
10+2
Memory Song
ABA
Numbered Heads Together
Measurement
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Participation in Activities
Response Card Activity
Mind Map
Evaluation
 Plus/Delta
on post-its at the
conclusion of the workshop
Bonny Buffington
•14 years sp ed resource room teacher
•3 years intervention specialist, inclusion
•12 years teacher trainer for co-teaching,
inclusion strategies
•21 years high school math teacher
•23 years district administrator
•2 years as educational consultant
Nearly 75 years!
Robert Hutchins
The Conflict in Education in a Democratic Society
“Perhaps the greatest idea that America
has given the world is education for all. The
world is entitled to know whether this idea
means that everybody can be educated or
simply that everyone must go to school.”
Appointment Clock Activity
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Think of one personal comment that comes
to your mind when you read the Hutchins
quote.
Go around the room and share your
comment with others as you make
“appointments” to fill in your appointment
clock.
You may revise your comment as you listen
to others’ opinions.
Robert Hutchins
The Conflict in Education in a Democratic Society
“Perhaps the greatest idea that America
has given the world is education for all. The
world is entitled to know whether this idea
means that everybody can be educated or
simply that everyone must go to school.”
Differentiated Instruction:
What it is, What it’s not
Differentiated Instruction Awareness
Lilian Katz, director of ERIC
Clearinghouse on Elementary and
Early Childhood Education
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.”
DI: What it is; What it’s not
Traditional Classroom
Differentiated Classroom
1.
Assessment at the end of a unit
of study
1.
Assessment is ongoing,
diagnostics and influences
instruction
2.
Dominance of whole class
instruction
2.
Variety of instructional
strategies used within a
classroom
3.
Adapted textbooks are the main
instructional resource
3.
Multiple types of materials are
utilized as resources
4.
The teacher is the main
problem solver
4.
Students are actually engaged
in solving problems
5.
Quantitative focus to
assignments
5.
Qualitative focus to
assignments
(Based on C Tomlinson, 2000)
Think, Pair, Share Activity
Reflect on DI: What it is; What it’s not
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As a student, what kind of classroom
did you experience?
As a teacher, what kind of classroom
did you practice?
Think of an experience you had with an
excellent teacher. What kind of
classroom did he/she maintain?
Discuss your responses with your 6:00
appointment
DI: What it is; What it’s not
Traditional Classroom
Differentiated Classroom
1.
Assessment at the end of a unit
of study
1.
Assessment is ongoing,
diagnostics and influences
instruction
2.
Dominance of whole class
instruction
2.
Variety of instructional
strategies used within a
classroom
3.
Adapted textbooks are the main
instructional resource
3.
Multiple types of materials are
utilized as resources
4.
The teacher is the main
problem solver
4.
Students are actually engaged
in solving problems
5.
Quantitative focus to
assignments
5.
Qualitative focus to
assignments
(Based on C Tomlinson, 2000)
Defining
Differentiated Instruction
Differentiated Instruction Awareness
Differentiated
Instruction
Defined
“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
Key Principles of Differentiation
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High quality curriculum
Ongoing assessment
Respectful tasks
Varied learning styles
Flexible grouping
Teacher/student collaboration
Student choice
Differentiation is:
responsive teaching
rather than
one-size-fits-all
teaching.
Differentiated Instruction:
How?
Differentiated Instruction Awareness
Differentiation of Instruction
Is a teacher’s response to learner’s needs
guided by general principles of differentiation
Respectful tasks
Flexible grouping
Ongoing assessment
Teachers Can Differentiate Through:
Content
Process
Product
According to Students’
Readiness
Interest
Learning Profile
Hands-On Sort Activity
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Get with your 3:00 appointment.
Match the given activity cards with the
correct space on the differentiated grid.
Differentiated Instruction: Why?
Differentiated Instruction Awareness
Why differentiation?
Differentiation is classroom practice
that looks eyeball to eyeball with the
reality that kids differ, and the most
effective teachers do whatever it
takes to hook the whole range of
kids on learning.
Tomlinson 2001
Research Support for Differentiation
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Research for differentiating by readiness:
Vygotsky (1978), Fisher (1980)
Research for differentiating by interest:
LeDoux (1996), Abrantes, Seabra, and Lages
(2008)
Research for student choice: Renate and
Caine (1994), Glasser (1999)
Research for using multiple learning styles:
Torrance and Ball (1978), Edelman (1992),
Restak (1994)
How Brain Research supports
Differentiated Instruction
Differentiated Instruction Awareness
Baggage Claim Activity
On an index card, LEGIBLY write your
response to these questions:
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What do students need in order to learn?
What can teachers do to facilitate student
learning?
Rules for Baggage Claim
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When I say “GO,” find a partner to share what
you have written.
Explain your responses to your partner, and then
give your index card to that person.
He/she will explain his/her responses to you and
then give his/her index card to you.
Repeat after 60 seconds when I say
“GO” again
The Brain Stem
Differentiated Instruction Awareness
The Brain Stem
Involuntary actions – blinking, breathing,
heartbeat
 Also called “reptilian brain”
 Collects and delivers
sensory information
to higher brain
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The Limbic
System
Hippocampus
Amygdala
Cerrebellum
Differentiated Instruction Awareness
Amygdala
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Gatekeeper
Three levels of attention
The need to BELONG
The need to be SAFE
The Hippocampus
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Transferring memories
Making new memories
Inhibition
Smell
Location
The Cerebellum
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Movement
Balance
The Cerebellum
“It's like a math co-processor. It's not
essential for any activity ... but it makes
any activity better. Anything we can think
of as higher thought, mathematics, music,
philosophy, decision-making, social skill,
draws upon the cerebellum....” Dr. Jay
Giedd, National Institute of Mental Health
10 + 2 Activity
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On a piece of paper, write down as much as you
remember about the 2 parts of the brain that we
have discussed. Try not to peek!
Share what you remembered with your 12:00
appointment
Look at your notes and add whatever you forgot
to include
The Cerebrum
Parietal lobe
Frontal
lobe
Occipital
lobe
Temporal
lobe
Cerebellum
Differentiated Instruction Awareness
The Frontal Lobe
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How we interact with our surroundings.
Our judgments on daily routines.
Our expressive language.
Assigns meaning to words we choose.
Involves word association.
Memory for habits and motor activities
The Parietal Lobe
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Location for visual attention.
Location for touch perception.
Goal directed voluntary movements.
Manipulation of objects.
Integration of different senses that allows for
understanding a single concept.
The Occipital Lobe
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Vision
The Temporal Lobe
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Hearing
Memory
Visual perceptions.
Categorizing of objects.
T
Memory Song Activity
Sung to the tune of “10 Little Indians”
Touch the appropriate area of your brain as you
sing:
Temporal, Occipital, Parietal
Temporal, Occipital, Parietal
Temporal, Occipital, Parietal
Frontal, Cerebellum
Response Cards Activity
Which lobe(s) would students mainly use when:
 Sorting colors into primary, secondary, tertiary
 Playing spelling Twister
 Typing vocabulary words
 Copying notes from the board
 Listening to teacher lecture
 Role playing an event from history
 Completing a word find
 Discussing the pros and cons of a proposal
A NEURON
Differentiated Instruction Awareness
Higher Level Thinking
Using the Gray Matter!
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Can actually generate NEW neurons
(neurogenesis)
Adds dendrites
Increases the thickness of the myelin sheath
Stimulating Environment Affects Learning
A child's ability to learn can increase or decrease
by 25 percent or more, depending on whether
he or she grows up in a stimulating environment.
www.brainconnection.com
Two times of ENORMOUS brain growth
and pruning:
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During the first month of life, the number of
connections or synapses increases from 50
trillion to 1 quadrillion.
If an infant's body grew at a comparable rate, his
weight would increase from 8.5 pounds at birth
to 170 pounds at one month old.
Overproduction ends, pruning begins until about
age 3
Second cycle of growth and pruning
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Dendritic growth spurt at age 11 in girls, 12 in
boys
Pruning phase during adolescence
Age 13 – 18 lose 1% of gray matter per year
If you don’t use it, you lose it!
The Teacher Effect
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Quality of classroom instruction is most
significant factor in students’ brain development.
Didactic instruction – teacher directed
Interactive instruction – student actively engaged
Which type do you think grows dendrites?
Sad Fact:
Use it or lose it: If dendrites are not
being used, they will be pruned.
Failing to engage students
actively can actually make
students dumber.
ABA activity
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Stand up for REVIEW!
Grab a partner
Decide who will be A and who will be B
A speaks for 60 seconds, nonstop
B speaks for 90 seconds, nonstop
A speaks for 30 seconds, nonstop
Firing those neurons: Memory
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Encoding: Establish meaning
Storage: Attach to other memories
Retrieval: Stimulate relationship
Memorize the following:
Bog
je
ljubav
Write the phrase on your paper.
Memorize the following:
Bog je ljubav
Write the phrase on your paper.
Memorize the following:
 God
is love.
To encode:
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The brain must be able to make meaning out
of the stimulus.
A student’s brain cannot make meaning if the
content is beyond his skill level.
Differentiating by student readiness
increases the likelihood of encoding
occurring.
To store:
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Information is “stored” in the brain according
to the modality used to encode.
We want to stimulate as many neurons as
possible to form relationships.
Differentiating by student learning style
increases the number of places the
information is stored in the brain.
To retrieve:
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If information is encoded and stored in many
places in the brain with many related
networks of neurons firing, the likelihood of
retrieval is increased.
Differentiating instruction by student interest
stimulates previously established networks
and improves retrieval.
Numbered Heads Together Activity
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In groups of 4, number each person 1, 2, 3,
and 4
Come to consensus on a response for the
question. I will draw a number and call on
the person with that number to give the
group’s response.
Match the following items to the correct percentage.
What we hear
What we see
What we see and hear
What we read
What we discuss
What we teach others
What we personally experience
95%
80%
70%
50%
30%
20%
10%
Correct answers:
10% of what we read
 20% of what we hear
 30% of what we see
 50% of what we see and hear
 70% of what we discuss with others
 80% of what we personally experience
 95% or what we teach others
- Edgar Dale
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Automaticity: Key to Higher Levels
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As pattern of neural stimulation develops by
use, less electrochemical activity is needed
in order to accomplish a task.
More electrochemical activity is devoted to
frontal cortex in a more efficient way.
Differentiated Instruction Awareness
Newborns Distinguish Speech
Children as young as four days old can
distinguish the vowel sounds of the language
in their natural environment from those of a
foreign language.
www.brainconnection.com
Pretty Weird
Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde
Uinervtisy, it deosn”t mttaer in what oredr the
ltteers in a wrd are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng
is that the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit
pclae. The rset can be a tatol mses and you
can still raed it wouthit porbelm. This is
bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed
ervey lteter by istlef, but the word as a
wlohe. Amzanig huh?
How do we gain automaticity?
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Active engagement increases automaticity.
Students become actively engaged when we
differentiate instruction.
Mind Map Activity
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Get with your 9:00 appointment.
Review what you have learned about
differentiating instruction.
Create a mind map to summarize the most
important points you have learned.
Using the Strategy Ring:
Q and A
Bonny Buffington
www.bonnybuffington.wikispaces.com
Knox County ESC
740-393-6767
Bonny_buffington@knoxnet.k12.oh.us