Meeting the needs of all Learners

1. Meeting the Needs of all Learners

2. “Diversity has become the norm among
the students in the classrooms of today”
(Johnson, 1990)
 Languages
 Families
 Cultural backgrounds
 Economics
 Experiential background

3. Student Diversity
 Aptitude
 Achievement
 Interest
 Motivation
 Needs
 Ability

4. Paradigm Shift in Education:
Curriculum
Traditional
 Major focus on content
 Content acquisition
 Lock step progress
Evolving
 Content & process
balance
 Learning to learn
 Continuous progress

5. Instruction
Traditional
 Teacher-centered
 Single textbook
 Single instructional
approach
 Passive learning
Evolving
 Child-centered
 Resource-based
learning
 Multiple approaches to
instruction
 Active learning

6. Environment
Traditional
 Competitive
 System level management
 Supervision of learners
 Hierarchical structures
Evolving
 Cooperative
 School-site
management
 Empowerment of
learners
 Professional/collegial
structures

7. Students need to become …
 Independent
 Active
 Self-organizing
 Responsible
 Empowered

8. Brain Research
Confirms what teachers have always known:
 No two children are alike.
 No two children learn in the identical way.
 An enriched environment for one student is
not necessarily enriched for another.
 In the classroom we should teach children
to think for themselves.
--Marian Diamond

9. Differentiation
is a philosophy
that enables teachers to plan
strategically in order to
reach the needs of diverse
learners in the classrooms.

10. Differentiation
IS NOT
 Tracking
 A New Strategy
 Static
 Teaching to the
Middle
 Synonymous
with
Individualization
IS
 Flexible Grouping
 Student Centered
 Based on Readiness
 For all Learners
 Changing all the Time
 Meeting Personal
Needs

11. Differentiate? What?
Content & Materials
Process & Strategies
Assessment & Assignments
Time
Based on readiness and interests

12. When considering differentiating, all of the ELEMENTS must be
considered and addressed.
Elements
of
Differentiated
Instruction
Climate
Knowing
the Learner
Assessing
the Learner
Adjustable
Assignments
Instructional
Strategies
Curriculum
Approaches

13. Climate
 Effective teachers believe that all
children can learn and be
successful.
 Effective teachers create a climate
where all students feel included.
 Effective teachers feel that there is
potential in each learner and
commit to finding the key that will
unlock that potential.

14. Knowing the Learner
 We need to know the learner so that
we can make sure that the curriculum
fits.
 We need to know how students
access, process, and express
information-
We need to know their learning
styles.
We need to know their thinking
styles.

15. Assessing the Learner
 Just as one size of learning doesn’t
fit all, one size of assessment
doesn’t suit either.
 We need to pre-assess the learner
so that we can find out what they
already know.
 We need to assess during the
learning- use ongoing assessments.
 We need to assess after the
learning.

16. Adjustable Assignments
 Allow teachers to help students focus
on essential skills and understanding
key concepts, recognizing that they
may be at different levels of
readiness.
 Students have the opportunity to
develop essential skills and
understanding at his or her
appropriate level of challenge.

17. Adjustable
Instructional
Strategies
Cooperative
Learning
Graphic
Organizers
Assignments
Content
Grouping Alone
Total Group
Partner
Small Group
Curriculum
Compacting

18. Instructional Strategies
 Teachers who use a variety of
instructional strategies add novelty,
choice, and individuality to learning.
 As teachers build their
repertoire of instructional
strategies, they will see how
they can adjust the learning for
a group of learners and how
different strategies appeal to
different learners.

19. Curriculum Approaches
 Curriculum can be delivered in
many ways so that it will appeal to
individual learners
 Centers or stations
 Projects
 Problem-based learning
 Inquiry
 Contracts

20. Adaptations in …
 Content
 Process
 Product

21. Content
 Multiple texts
 Varied time
 Contracts
 Compacting
 Group investigation

22. Process
 Learning centers
 Multiple intelligences
 Graphic organizers
 Simulations
 Learning logs

23. Product
 Independent study
 Community–based projects
 Multiple intelligence-based orientations
 Presentations
 Arts
 Multimedia

24. A New Direction
“Teachers guide
students down many
paths to a common
destination”
Mary Anne Hess

25. “If children can’t learn the way
we teach, we should teach them
the way they learn.”

26. “Differentiated 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

27. Differentiated
Classroom: What is it?
“Differentiated instruction is not a
strategy to be used from time to
time, not a bag of tricks approach.
It’s a way of thinking about
teaching and learning.”
~ Carol Ann
Tomlinson~

28. “Differentiated instruction is not a
strategy to be used from time to
time, not a bag of tricks approach.
It’s a way of thinking about
teaching and learning.”
~ Carol Ann
Tomlinson~