Differentiated Instruction

An Exploration of Differentiated Instruction Ellen Brandt December 8, 2007

Differentiated Instruction What is it? Why is it Important? How is it Implemented? What is the Role of the School Library? Show me an Example!

What is Differentiated Instruction?
Gail Bush in School Library Media Monthly Nov. 2006:
“ Differentiated Instruction is a learner-centered instructional design model that acknowledges that students have individual learning styles, motivation, abilities and, therefore, readiness to learn…
[although content, process and product are differentiated], all students are held to standards that measure substantial growth and achievement.”
Karen Larsen in Library Media Connection Nov/Dec 2004:
“ The goal of differentiation is to bring the ideas and concepts of the curriculum to the learner at a pace and depth that is appropriate for the ability of each student.”

An Example: A Differentiated Lesson on the topic of DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION. The target audience for my example is students in higher education, but as Tomlinson and McTigue say, “ there is a kindergarten version and a Ph. D. version of the big ideas…”. (Tomlinson and McTigue, p. 41)

The Virtual Teachers Gladys: A Traditional Instructor Kathryn: Models Differentiated Instruction

Real World Teachers REAL teachers are likely to be somewhere in between Gladys and Kathryn. Almost all teachers respond in some manner to the needs and interests of the students in their classes. On the flip side, it’s not really feasible to practice all the principles of differentiated instruction, all the time.

The Virtual Students..
IT Specialist at a Suburban Middle School
English is not her native language
Hispanic
26 yr old
Maria
History Teacher at an Urban High School
15 yrs. In Education
African American
38 yr old
Joe
Undergraduate Student
Mild Learning Disability
20 yrs old
Sally
Graduate Student
School Library Teacher program
Background in Electrical Engineering
4 yrs Experience in Education
Rather old
Ellen

Real World Students Each of the four students in my example is a composite of many students. A real world K-12 classroom would likely have 20-30 students, all of whom are unique in important ways. Differentiated Instruction is NOT Individualized Instruction, but an acknowledgement that students learn in different ways.

The Goal of the Unit (T his should be communicated to the students) “ Students will learn about Differentiated Instruction” “ How can Differentiated Instruction make us more effective as teachers? What are the challenges? What are the benefits?”

Preassessment “ I do my assessments at the END of the Unit”

Preassessment
I assess the following BEFORE the Unit:
Knowledge - What does the student already know about this subject or about related subjects?
Skills -which skills has the student mastered? Which skills needed for this unit are lacking?
Interests -does the student have personal interests or experiences that might be relevant to the topic?
Learning Styles - how does this student learn best? Which of Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences are strengths? Which are weaknesses?
This helps me determine the students’
Readiness - or ‘entry point’ into the unit.

Ellen’s Readiness Assessment
Knowledge
“ DI is a student-centered alternative to the ‘one size fits all’ approach to teaching”
“ The library can support DI by providing access to curriculum related material in various mediums, covering a wide range of readability levels and with different perspectives and interest focuses.”
Skills
Knows how to find accurate and reliable information
Good at Evaluation and Synthesis
Has not written very many term papers
Could use help narrowing topics.

Ellen’s Interests and Learning Styles
Interests (related to topic)
School Library Media Center
Support for talented and gifted students
Learning Styles
Largely Visual learner
Needs help with organization

Sally’s Readiness Assessment
Knowledge
“ Never heard of “Differentiated Instruction.
I had some teachers who were really good at getting different types of students excited about learning. Was this DI?”
Skills
Mostly gets information from the internet
Has recently completed research projects for other classes
Competent at planning and organizing
Has used electronic databases in the past, but doesn’t really remember how.

Sally’s Interests and Learning Styles
Early Childhood Education
Support for students with learning disabilities
Learning Styles
Strong interpersonal Skills
Feeling overwhelmed by all the reading.

Joe’s Readiness Assessment
Knowledge
“ I have been responding to the various needs of individual students in my classroom for years!
I’m somewhat familiar with Differentiated Instruction.”
Skills
Keeps up with Professional Literature (prefers print form).
Avid Reader
Comfortable with technology (but doesn’t keep up with emerging technology)
Knows how to use electronic databases - but seldom does.

Joe’s Interests and Learning Styles
Educating adolescents
Support for minority students
Learning Styles
A Kinetic Learner
Needs to try out ideas in real world

Maria’s Readiness Assessment
Knowledge
“ I help teachers use assistive technologies for students with special needs
I find online resources for ELL students
I figure this is all related to “differentiated instruction”
Skills
Tries to keep up with professional literature via listservs and online journals.
Has some trouble understanding English.
Comfortable with emerging technology.

Maria’s Interests and Learning Styles
New and emerging technology
Support for English Language Learners
Learning Styles
English is not her native language
Nervous about Oral Presentations
Introvert

Preassessment in the Real World
Preassessment does not need to be a formal process.
A K-2 teacher might use discussions, observations and
one-on-one assessments (already a common practice)
Gr. 3-12 teachers might use online surveys, quizzes, pre-tests
and games as well as discussions,observations, student records and formal assessment
Don’t need to assess all aspects before each Unit.
The key is getting to know your students well!

CONTENT:
The skills and concepts the students will learn during the unit.
State or District Standards are usually the core of content for K-12 students.
Although the goal of a Unit should be the same for all students, the Content CAN be differentiated!

CONTENT (the traditional approach)
At the end of this unit, students will be able to:
Define “Differentiated Instruction”.
Explain its role in education.
Describe how it is Implemented.

CONTENT (the differentiated approach) Goal (the essential question or underlying concept) is the same for all, but CONTENT can be differentiated. Kathryn lets her students choose to focus on a specific area or a specific perspective, as long as they are working toward the goal.

Differentiated CONTENT for Kathryn’s virtual class
Ellen: How can the school library support (and benefit from) differentiated instruction?
Sally: How could DI help engage the interests of all students in a first grade classroom?
Joe: How can differentiated instruction help me motivate and challenge all my students?
Maria : How can DI help me reach a greater number of teachers and students? How can technology support differentiated instruction?

PROCESS: How the students will learn the material.

PROCESS (traditional)
Take notes while professor lectures on topic.
Read a chapter in the textbook
Read articles from online pathfinder

PROCESS (Differentiated)
Kathryn:
Encourages the students to develop their own methods for further exploration.
Creates a pathfinder of recommended resources
Offers suggestions, advice and clarification.
Frequently checks in with the students to make sure they are ‘on track’ and are ‘suitably challenged’ but are not ‘frustrated or overwhelmed”

Differentiated PROCESS for Kathryn’s virtual class.
Ellen: Uses a combination of print books, eBooks, professional journals, library literature, internet discussions and online databases.
Sally: Observes two first grade classrooms and interviews the teachers. Both teachers are experienced. One follows a traditional approach while the other uses the differentiated classroom approach.
Joe: Reads some of the recommended resources to get an overview of Differentiated Instruction. Then searches for professional literature on the topic of engaging the minds and imaginations of adolescents.
Maria : Uses teacher suggested resources to get an overview of DI. Looks through vendor catalogs and online resource for technology that might support the concepts of DI. Contacts vendors for more information and gets trial versions of applications

PRODUCT: How students demonstrate mastery of the concepts and skills.

PRODUCT (traditional)
Students write a 3 page paper on Differentiated Instruction. Rubrics include “definition, how to implement and role in education.”
Students take a test on the subject of “Differentiated Instruction” so that Gladys can verify that they ‘learned’ the key points

PRODUCT (Differentiated)
Kathryn:
Coaches students to develop creative means to communicate their understanding.
Reminds students that although the content and product vary, they must address the question “How could Differentiated Instruction make us more effective teachers?”
Offers suggestions, advice and clarification.

Differentiated PRODUCT for Kathryn’s virtual class.
Ellen: Creates a PowerPoint presentation.
Sally: Makes charts comparing a traditional classroom with a differentiated one. Shows challenges and benefits associated with each method. Includes examples and handouts from her observations.
Joe: Develops a Differentiated Unit for his current students and tries it out in his classroom. Hands in his lesson plans, and a discussion of his observations and experience.
Maria : Creates an online pathfinder of curriculum related resources suitable for ELL students. Sets up a wiki for teachers to share ideas and concerns related to implementing differentiated instruction in their classrooms

Synthesis (traditional)
Grades the tests and papers and hands them back to the students
Reviews the questions that students got wrong.
Makes notes of trouble areas so that she can address these in more detail the next time she teaches the class.
Turns her attention to the next topic on the ‘curriculum’. There is SO much to cover, and so little time!

Synthesis (Differentiated)
Focus on ‘depth’ rather than ‘breadth’.
Students should be able to apply skills and concepts from this unit to related topics as well as to their own personal interests and avocations.
Sometimes need to make ‘tough’ decisions about what topics to skip, but true understanding will transfer to other areas, while memorization of facts will be of little use in the long run.

Synthesis (Differentiated)
After all the students have shared their final products, Kathryn asks each student to think about:
Which aspects of “differentiated instruction’ really ‘spoke to you’.
What important understandings will you take away from this unit?

Important Understandings (from the perspectives of the virtual students)

DI supports the new paradigm for education as expressed in the mission of the Partnership for 21 st Century Skills:…
Bring 21 st century skills to every child in America by serving as a catalyst for change in teaching, learning and assessment…
as much as students need to learn academic content, they also need to know how to keep learning- and make effective and innovative use of what they know – throughout their lives.
Ellen Differentiated Instruction’s Learner-Centered approach helps students become competent, motivated and independent learners.

All students work to the best of their abilities.
All students experience academic success.
Students develop a positive attitude toward learning.
Sally Differentiated Instruction ensures that every student is challenged at his or her own level.

Joe The principles of Differentiated Instruction remind us we need to ‘connect with our students’ before we can expect the students to connect with the ideas in the curriculum
“ When you teach to student strengths, students:
see themselves positively
see strengths in one another
see learning positively
overcome weaknesses”
(paraphrased from Tomlinson and Jarvis
in Sept 2006 issue of Educational Leadership)

Technology can facilitate Differentiated Instruction:
Online Information Sources provide a variety of
Readability levels
Media Types (videos, simulations, images, audio)
Interactive activities
Cultural Perspectives
Languages
Collaboration tools (blogs, shared documents, etc.)
Adaptive Technology (voice recognition, text-to-speech, etc)
Communication tools (websites, email, blogs etc.)
Assessment tools (online surveys, hand-held devices, etc)
Maria Differentiated Instruction requires teachers to move beyond books and worksheets

Ellen’s Research Topic How can the School Library support (and benefit from) Differentiated Instruction?

Collection Development
Provide material in:
Different formats (books (non-fiction, reference, biographies, fiction, special interest), periodicals, videos, audiobooks, electronic databases, resource lists)
Wide range of reading levels . (a SPED student or an English Language Learner in 5 th grade may be reading at a 2 nd grade level, while an advanced 2 nd grade student may be able to handle information written for Middle School students)
A broad range of perspectives
A variety of genres
Many different interests

Technology:
Online pathfinders or webpages so that students don’t have to rely on the textbook to work on project outside the library (at home or in the classroom)
Collaboration and Communication tools for students and staff
AV equipment for staff and student use
Adaptive Technology

Physical Space:
Areas for collaboration and
Areas for quiet study
Suitable for
small groups,
whole classes,
individuals
Display Space for Projects

Library Teacher can:
Help develop lesson plans that embed research
Provide instruction in Information Literacy Skills
Coach students during research phase
Demonstrate a variety of communication techniques (podcasts, wikis, blogs, slide shows, videos)
Coordinate cross-curricula/interdisciplinary projects
Work with small groups of students while classroom/subject teacher works with others

How does DI benefit library?
Differentiated Instruction:
Values information-rich atmosphere of library
Encourages collaboration between subject area teachers and library teacher
Promotes Independent Learning which (we hope) breeds enthusiastic library patrons.
Library Teacher can Use Differentiated Instruction when:
Teaching/coaching students
Training volunteers & library staff
Providing professional development for teachers and administrators

from professional reading by David Loertscher in Teacher Librarian, June 2006 A Few Parting Words

One is tempted to shout as the text is read: “Yes! Teacher-Librarians can help! TLs are natural partners! TLs have the tools, the rich information banks, the strategies, and the talent to make UbD and DI work!”
An important book to feature in professional learning communities… if the principal has not already started a study group, the teacher-librarian should.
TLs who take a leadership role in this exploration will be prepared to take a leadership role in any new model that is widely adopted.
An essential purchase; a required read; a must-do action item.
Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design, Connecting Content and Kids Carol Ann Tomlinson and Jay McTighe Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2006.

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Differentiated Instruction

by Ellen Brandt

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