Introduction to Differentiated Teaching
Maria M. Carreira, Ph.D.
NHLRC, Co-Director
Professor, California State University,
Long Beach
• Which reading is better suited to your
teaching situation? Why?
• But are all your learners alike?
My experience in the astronomy program
Me
High
Low
The class
Me
My experience in the German class
Me
High
Low
The class
Me
Dealing with these scenarios
• Ignore difference and work within the onesize-fits-all instructional paradigm (most
common approach)
• Attend to differences and work within a
learner-centered - differentiated instructional paradigm
Differentiated Teaching (DT)
In differentiated classrooms, teachers begin where students
are, not the front of a curriculum guide. They accept and build
upon the premise that learners differ in important ways…In
differentiated classrooms, teachers provide specific ways for
each individual to learn as deeply as possible and as quickly
and possible, without assuming one student’s roadmap for
learning is identical to anyone else (Tomlinson, 2000:2).
The “learner-centered” classroom
What can you differentiate?
• Content
• Process (how you gain mastery of the material)
• Product (how you demonstrate mastery of the
material)
• Pacing
According to students’
• Readiness, strengths/weaknesses
• Interests, affective needs, goals
• Learning profile
• It’s too much work!
• What am I, a psychic? How I am supposed to know
about the needs of my students?
• If everyone is doing something different, how do I
keep track of students’ work and progress?
• So now I have to discard everything I’ve been doing
for years and start something new?
Quick answers
• It’s too much work! – When done right,
differentiation actually decreases the amount of
work done by the instructor.
• What am I, psychic? How I am supposed to know
about the needs of my students?
• If everyone is doing something different, how do I
keep track of students’ work and progress?
• So now I have to discard everything I’ve been doing
for years and start something new?
Quick answers
• It’s too much work! –
• What am I, psychic? How I am supposed to know
about the needs of my students? Use ongoing
assessment (formative assessment).
• If everyone is doing something different, how do I
keep track of students’ work and progress?
• So now I have to discard everything I’ve been doing
for years and start something new?
Quick answers
• It’s too much work! –
• What am I, psychic? How I am supposed to know
about the needs of my students?
• If everyone is doing something different, how do I
keep track of students’ work and progress? Hold the
students accountable for keeping track of their own
learning.
• So now I have to discard everything I’ve been doing
for years and start something new?
Quick answers
• It’s too much work! –
• What am I, psychic? How I am supposed to know
about the needs of my students?
• If everyone is doing something different, how do I
keep track of students’ work and progress?
• So now I have to discard everything I’ve been doing
for years and start something new? No, many of the
strategies of DT are familiar to teachers and are part
of the best practices of language teaching.
Activities
Don’t have to be teacher-centered
Don’t have to be
Teacher-graded
Don’t have to be teacher-crushing
Key to dealing with concerns:
• Teaching the routine
• Knowing what to differentiate
• Knowing when to differentiate
• Knowing how to differentiate
Key to dealing with concerns:
• Teaching the routine
• Knowing what to differentiate
• Knowing when to differentiate
• Knowing how to differentiate
Dealing with concerns
• Teaching
the routine
• Knowing what to differentiate
• Knowing when to differentiate
• Knowing how to differentiate
• Think of travelers at an
airport;
• Insist on shared
responsibility and
preparedness;
• Pre-teach the routine
• Discuss potential problems
(use scenarios);
Dealing with concerns
• Don’t differentiate all the
time – only when needed:
• Teaching the routine
• Knowing what to differentiate
• Knowing
when to
differentiate
• Knowing how to differentiate
What happens if you
differentiate all the time?
Dealing with concerns
• Teaching the routine
• Knowing what to differentiate
• Knowing when to differentiate
• Knowing
how to
differentiate
Master a small number of
instructional tools
•
•
•
•
Templates
Centers
Agendas
Flexible grouping
The tools of differentiation
• Templates:
The dialectal journal,
The text-to-X connection,
The Sum it up card,
The exit card
• Centers
• Agendas
• Flexible grouping
The Dialectal Journal
(Dodge 2006: 67)
In this column, record
• a passage
• a main idea
• an important event
In this column
• write a reaction
• discuss its significance
• make an inference
Text-to-self connections
(Harvey and Goudvis 2000:266)
Passage from the text
This reminds me of…
Passage from the text
I agree or disagree because…
Expression from the text
I find this interesting because…
Text-to-world connections
(Harvey and Goudvis 2000:267)
Passage from the text
This reminds me of…
Character from the text
This character reminds me of…
A theme of the text
This reminds me of…
Text-to-text connections
(Harvey and Goudvis 2000:267)
Passage from the text
This reminds me of…
Character from the text
This character reminds me of…
Vocabulary/grammatical forms from the texts
This reminds me of…
• How do the Dialectal Journal and the Text-to-x
connection fit into a differentiated
framework?
What can you differentiate?
• Content
• Process (how you gain mastery of the material)
• Product (how you demonstrate mastery of the
material)
• Pacing
According to students’
• Readiness, strengths/weaknesses
• Interests, affective needs, goals
• Learning profile
The tools of differentiation
• Templates:
The dialectal journal,
The text-to-X connection,
The Sum it up card,
The Exit card
• Centers
• Agendas
• Flexible grouping
Sum it up! (Dodge 2006)
Topic/question/sentence
Date:
What I already knew.
What I could already do.
What I learned.
What I can do now.
What I still need to figure What I would like to be
out.
able to do.
The exit card (Dodge 2006)
Describe an “aha!” moment
Formulate a question about a point that remains
unclear. Describe one or two strategies that you
will use to answer this question.
Compare and contrast ____________
• How do exit cards and sum it up cards fit into
a differentiated framework?
Templates/activities to review the material
• The exit card
• Sum-it-up!
Other uses
• For assigning an attendance/participation
grade
• For formative assessment
Assessment
• Diagnostic (pre-instruction)
• Formative (during instruction)
• Summative (post instruction)
Assessment
• Diagnostic (pre-instruction)
• Formative (during instruction)
• Summative (post instruction)
Formative assessment
Formative assessment
Summative assessment
Purpose
To improve instruction and provide feedback
to students
To measure student competency
When administered
Ongoing, throughout unit
End of unit or course
How students use results
To self-monitor understanding,
Identity gaps in understanding and strengths
To monitor grades and progress toward
benchmarks
How teachers use results
To check for understanding, modify their own
teaching to enhance learning
For grades, promotion
How programs use results
To modify the curriculum and program
To report to external entities
Adapted from Checking for Understanding. Formative Assessment Techniques for Your
Classroom by Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey, ASCD, 2007
Why do we need formative
assessment?
• For instructors: Provides the knowledge base
for good teaching, differentiation, curriculum
design, and school and program reform
• For students: Fosters learning by encouraging
metacognition and independence, offering
multiple representations of knowledge,
previewing summative assessment, lowering
the stakes of testing. Allows students to see
where they are relative to where they need to
be.
How to do formative assessment
Almost any pedagogical activity can function as formative
assessment…
Templates
• The “aha” moment, exit card
• The
visual check
• The group quiz/test
Formative assessment help
learners reach the endpoint
• Center work
• Homework
• Exit cards
Lowest stake
formative
Medium stakes
formative + summative
• Quizzes
• Practice
writing
• Tests
• Final writing
High stakes
summative
Back to the tools of differentiation
• Templates:
The dialectal journal,
The text-to-X connection,
The Sum it up card,
The exit card
• Centers
• Agendas
• Flexible grouping
Tools
• Templates
• Centers: A place where students find resources
that help them master the material. Centers
vary the process, increase access, and support
independent learning.
• Agendas
• Flexible grouping
What else can you put in a center?
How I use centers: Online exercises
•
•
•
•
•
•
Virtual spaces (Blackboard)
Computer graded
Can be repeated for a better grade
Is done outside of class, independently by students
Is self-paced
Previews, reviews and expands upon material from other
modules (homework, quizzes, tests)
(the workbook can also be a source of center activities)
Today
• Templates
• Centers
• Agendas: A list of activities students must
complete in a given time. Agendas, vary the
pace and product and support self-directed
learning and effective classroom management.
• Group work
• Contracts
Sample agenda from my class
Date due: (usually in 1-2 weeks)
Work to be completed:
• Workbook # 7, 8, 9, 10 (HOMEWORK)
• Textbook, read “xxxxx” and answer questions
1-7. Use a spell check. (HOMEWORK)
• Prepare a “Sum it up” card for this unit.
(HOMEWORK)
• Blackboard, #1, 2. Must be completed with a
grade of 90% or better. (ONLINE EXERCISES, CENTER)
• How do agendas cards fit into a differentiated
framework?
Basic tools
• Templates: Vary instruction according
students’ interests and affective needs. Hold
students accountable for their own learning
• Centers: Vary the process. Increase access.
Support independent learning.
• Agendas: A list of activities students must
complete in a given time. Vary the pace and
product. Support self-directed learning and
effective classroom management.
FLEXIBLE GROUPINGS
Types of groups
• Learning partners (1/1)
• Small groups (3-5)
• Half-class/half-class
Learning partners (1/)
•
•
•
•
For accuracy checks
For reading aloud
For peer editing
For peer teaching
Types of groups
• Learning partners (1/1)
• Small groups (3-5)
• Half-class/half-class
Use agendas to break up the class
into two groups…
Group 1 works with the instructor;
Group 2 works on their agenda (a list of activities
students must complete in a given time. Vary
the pace and product. Support self-directed
learning and effective classroom management)
Types of groups
• Learning partners (1/1)
• Small groups (3-5)
• Half-class/half-class
Grouping strategies
By ability
By interest
By learning style
Flexible
By student choice
By chance/proximity
Grouping strategies
By ability
By interest
By learning style
Flexible
By student choice
By chance/proximity
Forming small groups
The Jigsaw Sequence
(Dodge, 2006:118)
“Home base” group
1 2
3 4
1 2
3 4
1 2
3 4
1 2
3 4
“Expert” group
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
Activities for a jigsaw sequence
Post reading activities:
Answer comprehension questions
Reduce the text
Expand the text
Summarize the information
Represent the information
Answer inference and opinion questions
Re-write the text
Summary: Differentiation
Templates
Agendas
Formative
assessment
Centers
Flexible grouping
A final word on workload
• Don’t go cold turkey. Aim to introduce a
differentiated activity every week or two. Build up a
bank of activities over time;
• Work with colleagues to design differentiated
activities
• Take advantage of templates;
• Don’t try to differentiate every aspect of instruction.
Use differentiation only when needed;
• Press on. This will be difficult at first but the results
are well worth it.