Differentiated Instruction
Success for ALL
“Student
differences
matter and
effective
teachers attend
to those
differences
thoughtfully and
proactively.”
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
“… 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_____________.
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
Challenges to Conquer
1. CHALLENGES
2. WAYS TO CONQUER
Let’s work smarter, not harder!
How do we DO 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
#1
Misunderstanding : 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.
#2
Misunderstanding : It’s adequate for a district or
school leader (or professional developers) 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.
#3
Misunderstanding : 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.
#4
Misunderstanding : 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
INSIDE DI - Getting to HOW 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
Profiles
• A preference for taking in, exploring, or
expressing content.
Tomlinson, C.A. (2000) Differentiating in the Elementary Grades
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
The knowledge,
understanding, and
skills we want
students to learn
How students’
emotions and
feelings impact their
learning
Content
Affect
Process
Product
How students come
to understand or
make sense of the
content.
How students
demonstrate what
they have come to
know, understand,
and re able to do after
an extended period of
learning
Figure 1.1
Examples of Differentiation Based on Student Need
Readiness
Interest
Content
Process
Product
Tomlinson & Imbeau (2010)- Leading and Managing A
Differentiated Classroom
Learning
Profile
Evidence of Learning
Content Standards and
Objectives
Directions:
•Pick a 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