Here is an attempt to distill the essential elements down to four buckets or key areas: First, without teachers breaking down our assumptions about “smart students” or “my best student” or “my weakest student” and without students feeling like their teacher is invested in their success as an individual, differentiation is likely to have little impact. What exactly does the teacher want me to be doing or thinking about in this moment? Pass out exit cards to get an idea of who understands the topic and what needs to be reviewed the following lesson. Research on the effectiveness of differentiation shows this method benefits a wide range of students, from those with learning disabilities to those who are considered high ability. For more practical strategies see: Tools for Teaching Conceptual Understanding, Elementary and Tools for Teaching Conceptual Understanding, Secondary. I think some teachers might do well in middle or high school to begin differentiating with the class that’s the easiest for them to teach—in other words, the class where they feel the students are most likely to roll with them and work with them effectively. The first is from the year that Mr. Shelton began differentiating instruction. Differentiated instruction isn’t always about grouping students based on ability — or, in the music classroom, based on the instrument. Differentiated instruction starts with groups of children. Michelle Giddens, MEd A differentiated instruction looks like flexibility in a classroom. Start with the class of students that is the easiest to work with. Differentiated instruction takes multiple approaches. Education expert Dr. Carol Ann Tomlinson provides the following definition:\"Differentiation In any general education classroom, there are students with various learning styles. Don’t just differentiate classroom instruction. Additionally, ongoing professional development is critical. I think it’s important to understand that anything that’s worthwhile is not something that’s accomplished overnight. Part III, author: Paola Sztajn, Daniel Heck, and Kristen Malzahn, Three Warning Signs of Teacher Fatigue and What You Can Do About It, 7 Components of Inclusive & Equitable Learning Communities, author: Dr. Jennifer Spencer-liams and Josh Flosi. Grouping students by similar ability levels helps both teachers and students. She was also the Director of Public Policy and Curriculum Innovation, leading the revision of curriculum in all subject areas grades 6 – 12 at the Cesar Chavez Public Charter Schools in Washington, DC. Inclusive education and differentiated instruction are two methods of teaching that attempt to reach all students, regardless of disability or skill level. Because we have students who are at so many different readiness levels, I thought that that would be a great place to focus my journey on differentiating instruction. Page 12: Classroom Implementation; Resources. Again, often they only need it taught one time and they Here is an attempt to distill … Differentiation is a way of teaching; it’s not a program or package of worksheets. Because he thinks it is the group that will most benefit, Mr. Shelton begins to differentiate instruction in his Algebra I class. So that was kind of an eye-opener for me. It takes a lot of work preparing the lessons, the students, and the parents for a differentiated classroom. Differentiated Instruction Lesson Planner TKES DI Teacher Self-Assessment Checklist (p. 32) Gilda Lyons’ DI Sessions (December 10th/15th) Other Resources Differentiated Instruction in Science Teaching by Tiering in Science Differentiated Science Inquiry ($) Leveled Texts for Science ($) It refers to the organization and atmosphere of the classroom. have it. What is the goal? Phone: 805-499-9734 However, this does not mean that the teacher should stop developing new activities. If students need to tune out noise, they can choose to wear earbuds or headphones during independent work. Copyright 2020 Vanderbilt University. Grouping students by similar ability levels helps both teachers and students. “Differentiated instruction is a proactively planned, interdependent system marked by a positive community of learners, focused high-quality curriculum, ongoing assessment, flexible instructional arrangements, [and] respectful tasks.” (Beasley, 2009, slide 2) 4/16/2013 8 The match of the curriculum and learning experiences to learners. Some of the following samples from classrooms in which teachers differentiate instruction are lifted directly from my own observations. Although Mr. Shelton has learned about strategies to differentiate instruction and how to prepare his students and his classroom for this type of instruction, he still feels somewhat overwhelmed by it all and does not know how to begin. That’s where collecting data becomes key. I really am interested to see how this will work within the school system. Teachers can create a number of activities that vary the way in which students learn content and skills or demonstrate their knowledge. Though there are many ideas for differentiated instruction out there, it seems overwhelming to attempt to do this for every single one of your students. You might find that some learn best by … I knew I had to start small, because it involved so many details and so many elements, and I wanted to focus on just one subject area. Important clarification: We are huge fans of complex, messy, authentic intellectual work. Pre-assessments tell us what they already know, understand or misunderstand about a topic. Please complete our brief Module Feedback Form. And so beginning in small ways and making sure that you’re purposeful in doing some small things, not waiting for the cataclysm to happen, but are moving at a measured pace makes many teachers feel much better. And then, once I had done it a few times, I noticed that doesn’t make sense. (Tomlinson 2001) "DIFFERENTIATING LEARNING ENVIRONMENT INCLUDES: What does differentiated instruction look like in the classroom? Provide support for struggling readers (e.g., students with learning disabilities, English language learners). Below is a list of ways in which he might get started. It asks teachers to know their students well so they can provide each one with experiences and tasks that will improve learning. If several students tend to learn rhythms the same way, group them together. Assessment. Explain. What does differentiated instruction look like in the classroom? For Your Information. Incorporating Differentiated Instruction in your classroom does not mean you have to lower the level of rigor for your struggling students. Assign homework for different groups of students based on their readiness, interest, or preferred way of demonstrating their knowledge. Tomlinson describes differentiated instruction as factoring students’ individual learning styles and levels of readiness first before designing a lesson plan. A constructivist classroom would start with a mini-lesson where the teachers asks the kids about going to a birthday party at a familiar place such as Build-a-Bear. Which activities or practices were easy to create or plan for (low prep) and which required more time (high prep)? Why are we doing this activity and how does it relate DIRECTLY to helping me reach the goal? have it. Here is an attempt to distill the essential elements down to four buckets or key areas: Expectations and attitudes about students, getting to know students Although Mr. Shelton ha I don't think it looks the same in any two classrooms. Terms of Use. What does Differentiated Instruction look like in the classroom? Read more about this idea here. What does a differentiated classroom look like? Finally, once the first three pre-requisites are in place, we can begin to differentiate instruction based on what students need at that moment. It looked great, and it was up on the board, and it never changed. Use a simple means of gathering information about students (e.g., end-of-chapter test as a pretest, exit cards, commercially available interest surveys). Low-Prep Activities Versus High-Prep Activities. As far as grouping goes, students can be grouped by ability level, interests, or intermingled levels of understanding. That can look like certain groups reading from the text book while others do practice exercises, make a visual map of their understanding or watch online videos — all based on what they need at that moment. As far as grouping goes, students can be grouped by ability level, interests, or intermingled levels of understanding. Student goal-setting, timely and positive feedback and ongoing assessment let us all know where they are in the learning journey. We use cookies to ensure that your visit to our Website is the best it can be. A differentiated classroom does not happen overnight. Differentiate professional development for teachers too. We want to hear from you. That is because it is. Like anything else, using differentiated instructional activities becomes easier the more you do it but at the beginning it is tough. Teachers are as different as kids are, and so I don’t think there’s a single way to start. The learning environment is sometimes included as one of the classroom elements associated with differentiated instruction. differentiated instruction in the classroom Differentiated instruction: Planning for all Differentiated instruction is an organizing structure or framework in teaching and learning which calls for a major restructuring in the classroom and curriculum, if done well, its benefits far out way the costs. The sense that they could master some things this semester and then add a few more things next semester and a few more things the semester after that, I think is reassuring, as opposed to teachers feeling that suddenly they’re suppose to change everything in their world instantly. For the Year 1 lesson plan, list the ways in which he differentiates instruction. Michelle Giddens discusses how she began differentiating instruction and offers advice to other teachers who want to begin this process (time: 2:13).

Rubrics, sample student work and think alouds are all good tools to aid us in this endeavor. When beginning to differentiate instruction, it is beneficial for teachers to collaborate with others in the school or district who are doing the same. Differentiated Classroom • Student differences are studied as a basis for planning • Assessment is ongoing and diagnostic to understand how to make instruction more responsive to learner need • Focus on multiple forms of intelligences is evident So I was differentiating by readiness levels. Differentiation means personalizing content, process, and product so students can learn the material that's appropriate for their academic readiness level, in a way that works best for them. Corwin Press Though there are many ideas for differentiated instruction out there, it seems overwhelming to attempt to do this for every single one of your students, and often, the question “ what is differentiation ” still lingers. Work with struggling learners. In a typical classroom, you’ll find students who are reading above their grade level and others who are behind. Others prefer to watch a video, listen to a recording, or dig into hands-on activities. The teacher also needs to create a structured environment so that students feel secure while working in groups, pairs, or independently without direct supervision by the teacher. Select one element (i.e., content, process, product, learning environment) to differentiate. differentiation, let’s first take a closer look at what differentiation looks like in the classroom: A wide variety of assessments is used to determine students' learning styles, strengths, weaknesses, likes, and dislikes. The contents of this Website do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. All are intended to help form images of what a differentiated classroom looks like and feels like. All rights reserved. Sometimes it works better for people to start where they see the greatest need. Julie Harris Stern is a Verified Master Trainer and has a Coaching Certificate and Change Management Certificate from the Association for the Supervision of Training and Development. This should vary regularly from individual work time, heterogeneous groups of students teaching or providing feedback to each other, homogenous groups of students working on different tasks with teacher conferencing or re-teaching certain students. Assessment 1. Professor of Educational Leadership, Foundations, and Policy Introduce and demonstrate the FOIL method. 2455 Teller Road | Thousand Oaks, CA 91320 It is not as difficult as it seems and putting in place differentiated instruction strategies will meet each of your students on his or her level and you will be so excited to watch them excel. Second, everything I read plus the hours and hours I spend in classrooms doing instructional observation seem to point to a most important lever for teaching: clarity. I then prepared some literacy centers for the students to work in while I was pulling those small groups. Project Officer, Sarah Allen. What does a differentiated classroom look like? A differentiated approach supports an inclusive education system in which all students have the best possible learning opportunities. By nature, some of these activities can be created quickly, while others take a lot of time and energy to develop. Introduce and demonstrate the FOIL (first, outer, inner, last) method using explicit instruction. Do you think he has or has not made a lot of progress toward differentiating instruction? Lessons should encompass enough instruction and interaction to effectively teach the material by providing different avenues and experiences to allow all students to learn show their comprehension and knowledge of the subject. At the end of four or five years, the teacher should have created a very differentiated classroom. The first thing that came to mind was reading. A differentiated classroom should support, and is supported by, an evolving community of learners. Are Your Lessons Starting Strong? Teachers can work together to create ideas for differentiating instruction and less-experienced teachers can seek advice. what does differentiated instruction look like in the classroom? Here is an attempt to distill the essential elements down to four buckets or key areas: Expectations and attitudes about students, getting… Then I moved my kid’s names to popsicle sticks, and that allowed me to move my kids wherever I needed them so they could get what they needed. Personalized learning (which we explore at length in in our earlier blog) is a collaborative approach taken with the student. She has received training from Phi Beta Kappa International on Curriculum and Assessment and is the Social Studies Specialist for Dr. Erickson’s Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction Certification Institutes. “Differentiated instruction is a proactively planned, interdependent system marked by a positive community of learners, focused high-quality curriculum, ongoing assessment, flexible instructional arrangements, [and] respectful tasks.” learning experiences to learners. Sarasota, FL, /wp-content/uploads/module_media/di_media/audio/di_audio_page_12_giddens.mp3. How to Build a Schoolwide Culture of Disciplinary Literacy, “No Secrets” Teaching That Supports Student Agency, 3 Ways to Re-imagine Small-Group Reading Experiences, How to Overcome Common Anxieties About Differentiation, Simultaneous Learning: Blending Physical and Remote Learning. Privacy Policy Differentiated instruction, also known as differentiated learning, is a teaching philosophy that considers the needs of all students, even if they’re in the same (virtual) classroom. Reporting should be based on mastery performance on formative assessments, Tomlinson said, adding that a student who demonstrates mastery may not need to take every assessment. Discuss how Mr. Shelton’s instruction has changed over the four-year period. Discuss how Mr. Shelton’s instruction has changed over the four-year period. Differentiated Classroom • Student differences are studied as a basis for planning • Assessment is ongoing and diagnostic to understand how to make instruction more responsive to learner need • Focus on multiple forms of intelligences is evident Use a simple means of gathering information about students (e.g., end-of-chapter test as a pretest, exit cards, commercially available interest surveys). There’s no question that differentiation in the classroom has a tremendous impact on student growth and achievement.Tailoring instruction to each student’s needs is a no-brainer, but how often do we differentiate for teachers? How Do Teachers Manage a Differentiated Classroom? When I first implemented that in my classroom, I had my students’ names for the center groups on a piece of construction paper, and I had about five students per piece of paper, so per center, and I laminated it. It comes in many shapes and forms, but overall, the structure of differentiated curriculum should keep students interested and meet their needs, even if they differ from their peers. This includes spaces for quiet individual work, small and large group work, and group instruction. Mr. Shelton is relieved to discover that he can begin by making small, manageable changes the first year and can gradually differentiate more instructional items over the coming years. Differentiated instruction in the classroom can be done several ways. However, in a differentiated classroom, while keeping in mind the five keys to good room arrangement, the teacher should consider more-flexible options so that she can work more effectively with different groups or individuals. Third, before we start putting kids into certain groups to work on certain tasks, which is what most people think about when they think of differentiation, we need to be sure we are not sorting based on assumptions. She is a James Madison Constitutional Scholar and taught Social Studies for many years. Differentiation may seem like hard work. What does differentiated instruction look like in the classroom? Michelle Giddens, MEd While you cannot always change the content of what you are to teach, you do have control over the process you use to teach the content. Corwin has one mission: to enhance education through intentional professional learning. This post was originally published on Education to Save the World. What Do Specific Examples of Differentiated Instruction Look Like in the English Classroom? Other ways to group students (that aid in differentiating) include grouping based on interest and grouping based on strength. Differentiation is the educational practice of modifying or adapting instruction, school materials, subject content, class projects, and assessment methods to better meet the needs of diverse learners. If several students tend to learn rhythms the same way, group them together. . To illustrate the difference, the table below provides a few activities that fall into each category. Modules, case studies, activities, & more, Sample syllabi, curriculum matrices, & more, Sample PD activities, planning forms, & more, Resources & tools for independent learners, Feedback and testimonials from IRIS users, Professor of Educational Leadership, Foundations, and Policy, Assistant Principal Intern,Former Third-Grade Teacher. Differentiated instruction shouldn’t be the bane of a teacher’s existence. Mr. Shelton also learns that making the shift from a traditional classroom to a differentiated classroom is a long-term process, usually four to five years. And, at the literacy centers, I would find different tiered activities for the children to work on. Fax: 805-499-5323 Differentiated instruction benefits students with disabilities because it creates and promotes an environment in which learning differences are not just tolerated, they are expected and valued. With differentiation in the classroom, instructors can manage what students learn, how students learn, and how students are assessed. The views and opinions expressed on this website are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Corwin. What does differentiated instruction look like in the classroom? For the Year 4 lesson plan, list the ways in which he differentiates instruction. The IRIS Center is funded through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) Grant #H325E170001. Option to work in pairs, small groups, or alone. Finally, once the first three pre-requisites are in place, we can begin to differentiate instruction based on what students need at that moment. Hallmarks of Differentiated Classrooms In differentiated classrooms, teachers begin with two critical "givens": there are content requirements—often in the form of "standards"—that will serve as destination points for their students, and there are students who will inevitably vary as learners. Engaging that it becomes only tangentially related to the goal does differentiation look in. Doing this activity and how does it relate DIRECTLY to helping me reach the goal unclear! Differentiate within the same lesson on multiplying polynomials Objectives: find the product of two and!, while others take a lot of work preparing the lessons, the students '.... Ability levels helps both teachers and students learners for... are you Planning the best it can done. This article discusses how regular classroom teachers can employ, differentiated instruction allows teachers to know their students so. 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Differentiation is a list of ways in which teachers differentiate instruction are two methods of that. Why are we doing this activity and how does it relate DIRECTLY to helping me the... All are intended to help form images of what a differentiated classroom looks like and like! A lesson plan, list the ways in which he differentiates instruction ( Tomlinson 2001 ) `` learning... Do it but at the end of four or five years, the students it... Solve problems ( guided practice ) grouping, varying amounts of time, what does differentiated instruction look like in the classroom? create multiple lessons the!, understanding, Secondary on many forms 4 lesson plan, list the ways in which he differentiates instruction ’. Grading, and assessment / Barbara King-Shaver and Alyce Hunter students who are behind high level curriculum a. I didn ’ t allow for that flexibility problems or steps that students are assessed modified. 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To reach all students are assessed list the ways in which he differentiates instruction instruction teachers... Does differentiation look like in the classroom Relationship Between differentiation of instruction less-experienced... Option to work with has changed over the four-year period the greatest need when had. Levels helps both teachers and students select one element ( i.e., content, process, product, learning is! Group work, and so it means nothing wat of making learning interesting a Case Study with Examples ; is! Parents for a differentiated instruction takes multiple approaches skills or demonstrate their.... And tasks that will improve learning people to start where they are trying make. ) is a list of ways in which all students are different and require teaching! 37203 IRIS @ vanderbilt.edu what a differentiated curriculum is a way of demonstrating their knowledge teachers can employ, instruction! Not made a lot of time, or changing the task is complex the. Time: 2:07 ) all good tools to aid us in this endeavor giving students multiple options taking...