Support for Personalized Instruction
Differentiated Instruction
Presented by
Brenda Clark
RESA 5 Professional Growth Coordinator
A recorded version of this presentation will be posted to
http://wvde.state.wv.us/osp/sebta2.html
“Our challenge as educators is to make sure that we provide all children in
our public schools the opportunity for success. Teachers of children with
special needs understand this challenge more than most. They are dedicated
individuals who have a passion for teaching and high expectations that every
child can learn given an opportunity.” – James B. Phares, Ed.D.
Differentiated Instruction
Success for ALL
“Student
differences
matter and
effective
teachers attend
to those
differences
thoughtfully and
proactively.”
http://wvde.state.wv.us/teacherevalpilot/evaluationpilot_guide.pdf
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
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
Question????
“… 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.”
Leading and Managing A Differentiated Classroom
by Carol Ann Tomlinson and Marcia B. Imbeau
Differentiated
Instruction
is_____________.
Differentiated Instruction
DI is a way for teachers to teach with individuals,
as well as content, in mind. It supports the
idea that high functioning DI depends on
strong relationships and conversations
between teachers and students, allowing
them to co-design learning experiences and
share the investment and the responsibility
for the results.
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.
“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.”
Carol Ann Tomlinson - HOW TO Differentiate
Instruction IN Mixed-Ability Classrooms -2nd Edition
High functioning DI is an outcome of deep
understanding of the principles of 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
Misconception vs. Reality #1
Misconception : 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.
Misconception vs. Reality #2
Misconception: It’s adequate for a district or
school leader 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.
Misconception vs. Reality #3
Misconception: 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.
Misconception vs. Reality #4
Misconception: 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.
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
How can 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 Profile: A preference for taking in,
exploring, or expressing content.
Carol Ann Tomlinson, 2000
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.
All Grades 2012
All Grades 2012
Learning Styles - VARK Model by
Neil Fleming
Visual
Reading
and
Writing
Aural
Kinesthetic
FOCUS
“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
Critical Connections of
Differentiated Instruction
Teachers can differentiate at least four
classroom elements based on student
readiness, interest, or learning profile:
• Content
• Process
• Product
• Learning environment
Content
What does the student need to learn
and how will the student get access to
the information?
Content Examples
Using reading materials at varying lexile
equivalency levels
Providing Accessible Instructional Materials
Using multiple means of representation
Highlighting vocabulary
Providing charts and models
Providing interest centers
Providing varied manipulatives and resources
Providing peer and adult mentors
Process
What activities are best for this
student to engage in to make sense
of or master the content?
Process Examples
• Using tiered activities through which all learners work
with the same important understandings and skills,
but proceed with different levels of support,
challenge, or complexity.
• Providing interest centers that encourage students to
explore subsets, of the class topic , that are particular
interest to them.
• Hands-on materials
• Vary pacing according to readiness
• Allow for working alone, in partners, triads, and small
groups
• Allow choice in strategies for processing and for
expressing results of processing
Product
What culminating project(s) could you
offer or develop with a student that
would allow him/her to rehearse, apply,
and/or extend what he/she has learned
in a unit? And, how flexible is the
project?
Product Examples
•
•
•
•
Using multiple means of expression
Students determining individual or group status
Student made rubrics
Modeling, using and encouraging students to use
technology within products and presentations
• Providing product choices from all multiple
intelligences, and options for gender, culture,
and race
• Using related arts teachers to help with student
products
Learning Environment
What changes in the classroom
and/or school climate and culture
would have a positive effect on
how each student feels and
functions?
Learning Environment Examples
• Making sure there are places in the room where
students can work quietly and without
distraction, as well as places that invite student
collaboration.
• Providing materials that reflect a variety of
cultures and home settings.
• Setting out clear guidelines for independent work
that match individual needs
Evidence of Learning
Content Standards and
Objectives
Directions:
•Pick a NxG content 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
Video -Teaching Channel
New Teacher Survival Guide: DI Science 9-12
So what?
1. Why is assessment a key part of
differentiation?
2. What kinds of assessments
could/should these be?
3. What aspects of your lesson can be
tiered to meet students at their
level?
4. What are simple ways you can start
differentiating tomorrow?
5. More difficult ways you can work at
over the year?
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
Principles
of
DI
Building Community
Quality Curriculum
Respectful
Tasks
Continual
Assessment
Flexible Grouping
Principles of DI
DI Tools for the Road Ahead…
In this refreshing addition to
differentiated learning literature,
Rick Wormeli takes readers step-bystep 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.
http://www.stenhouse.com/html/wormelipodcast.htm
Flexible and Connected
…Your
knowledge of your
students, the relationships you
have with them paired with
your willingness and capacity
to be instructionally flexible…
will have impact.
We know this because…
 “ In fact, research tells us that quality teaching
can completely offset the devastating effects
poverty has on students’ academic
performance.”
- The Economics of School Quality by E. Hanushek, 2005)
 “If you are serious about helping kids succeed,
stop wishing for a miracle. Five years of strong
teaching is the miracle.”
- Engaging Students with Poverty in Mind by Eric Jensen, 2013
Bibliography & Resources
Campbell, Bruce. The Multiple Intelligences Handbook: Lesson Plans and More.
Stanwood, WA. 1996.
Daniels, Harvey and Bizar. (2005). Teaching The Best Practice Way:
Methods that Matter, K-12. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.
Gregory, Gayle. Differentiated Instructional Strategies in Practice. Thousand Oaks,
CA. 2003.
Hanushek, E. The Economics of School Quality. German Economic Review., 6(3),
269-286.
Jensen, Eric. Engaging Students With Poverty in Mind. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. 2013.
Tomlinson, Carol Ann. The Differentiated Classroom. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. 1995.
Wormeli, Rick. Fair Isn’t Always Equal: Assessment and Grading in the
Differentiated Classroom, Stenhouse Publishers, 2006.
Office of Instructional Enhancement and Internal Operations/Office of Special
Education, Mississippi Department of Education
Thank you for your participation. At the
conclusion of this webinar,
please download the
NCIPP mentor-mentee attachments.
If you require additional assistance please contact the
Office of Special Programs
304-558-2696