LOSING SIGHT OF THE SHORE DIFFERENTIATING CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION Heartland Curriculum Network...
-
Upload
haven-curvey -
Category
Documents
-
view
233 -
download
0
Transcript of LOSING SIGHT OF THE SHORE DIFFERENTIATING CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION Heartland Curriculum Network...
LOSING SIGHT OF THE SHORE
DIFFERENTIATING CURRICULUM AND
INSTRUCTIONHeartland Curriculum
NetworkMary Schmidt
School Improvement ConsultantHeartland AEA 11
You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the
courage to lose sight of the
shore.
G
You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage
to lose sight of the shore.
IMPORTANT QUESTIONS
What is differentiation? Why is it important? How is it accomplished? Where does collaboration fit in? How does one assess the success of
efforts to differentiate? What are the recommendations for
instructional leaders in schools ready to differentiate?
GUIDING ASSUMPTIONS1 A “teach to the middle” or “one size
fits all” classroom is less responsive to and less effective in meeting the needs of the diverse populations in our classrooms than a classroom which offers various learning opportunities designed to meet different learning needs.
2 A differentiated classroom offers different approaches to what students learn, how they learn it, and how they demonstrate what they’ve learned.
GUIDING ASSUMPTIONS
3 Flexible grouping enables teachers to match student with learning experience.
4 Developing a differentiated classroom takes time, support, and commitment.
DIFFERENTIATION ala...
WEBSTER“…to make unlike; to develop specialized differences in…”
TOMLINSON“…shaking up what goes on in the classroom so that the curriculum is a better fit for all.”
DIFFERENTIATION ala...
BORLAND“…a course of study that is in some manner different from the one to which students in the mainstream are exposed…Differentiation is not enough. To be appropriate, a curriculum for…students must be defensible as well…Defensibility in this context implies that the curriculum is not only different from the norm, but educationally right for…students.”
DIFFERENTIATION INVOLVES...
creating specialized differences in curricular experiences
creating multiple options for knowledge acquisition, sense-making, and product creation
providing different work, not more of the same building on the characteristics which create
differences providing what is educationally right for
learners
IT’S THE LAW!12.5(12)Provisions for gifted and talented students. Each school district shall incorporate
gifted and talented programming into its comprehensive school improvement plan as required by Iowa Code section 257.43. The comprehensive school improvement plan shall include the following gifted and talented program provisions:
valid and systematic procedures, including multiple selection criteria for identifying gifted and talented students from the total student population
goals and performance measures a qualitatively differentiated program to meet the students’ cognitive and
affective needs staffing provisions an in-service design a budget qualifications of personnel administering the program.
Each school district shall review and evaluate its gifted and talented programming. This subrule does not apply to accredited nonpublic schools.
REDUCE RISK OF UNDERACHIEVEMENT
“Smart children soon learn that what is important in school is one thing--and what is important in life is another, and they live in this schizophrenic existence satisfactorily. Many, however, do not. Everything we learn doesn't have to be relevant. But if some of our school learning isn’t meaningful, we may get turned off enough so that we don’t want to learn anything anywhere. We may simply drop out.”
William Glasser
Schools Without Failure
ALLEVIATE DISCIPLINE PROBLEMS
DISCIPLINE PROBLEMS REFLECT A COLLISION WITH
INAPPROPRIATE CURRICULUM.--Susan Winebrenner
INCREASE MOTIVATION
TWO MOTIVATIONAL STATES INTERFERE WITH LEARNING. ONE IS ANXIETY; THE OTHER IS BOREDOM. ANXIETY OCCURS WHEN TEACHERS
EXPECT TOO MUCH, BOREDOM WHEN THEY EXPECT TOO LITTLE.
Mihaly CsikezentmihalyiFlow: the Psychology of Optimal
Experience
ADDRESS LEARNER READINESS
WHEN WE TEACH THE SAME THING TO ALL KIDS AT THE SAME TIME,
1/3 ALREADY KNOW IT,1/3 GET IT, AND
1/3 NEVER WILL. SO 2/3 OF THE KIDS ARE WASTING
THEIR TIME.--Scott Willis
BUILD SELF ESTEEM
THE SUREST PATH TO POSITIVE SELF ESTEEM IS TO SUCCEED AT
SOMETHING WHICH ONE PERCEIVED WOULD BE DIFFICULT. EACH TIME WE STEAL A STUDENT’S STRUGGLE, WE STEAL THE OPPORTUNITY FOR THEM TO BUILD SELF-CONFIDENCE. THEY
MUST LEARN TO DO HARD THINGS TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT THEMSELVES.
--Sylvia Rimm
THAT STUDENTS DIFFER MAY BE INCONVENIENT, BUT IT IS
INESCAPABLE. ADAPTING TO THAT DIVERSITY IS THE INEVITABLE PRICE OF PRODUCTIVITY, HIGH
STANDARDS, AND FAIRNESS TO THE STUDENTS.
--Theodore Sizer
WAYS IN WHICH INDIVIDUALS CAN DIFFER
Prior knowledge or skill expertise Learning rate Cognitive ability Learning style preference Motivation, attitude, and effort Interest, strength, or talent
THE GRADE LEVEL CURRICULUM:
exposes all students to the same skills and content
sets predetermined completion times stresses a single activity expects all students to achieve all objectives
•provides most instruction in large groups•bases instruction on the average student•uses limited single resources•provides few student decision making opportunities
CONTENTCONTENT--What students learnPROCESSPROCESS--How they learn itPRODUCTPRODUCT--How students show what they’ve learned
LEARNING ENVIRONMENTLEARNING ENVIRONMENT--The conditions under which learning takes shape
IN DIFFERENTIATED CLASSROOMS, TEACHERS...
begin where students are, not at the front of the curriculum guide.
build upon the premise that learners differ in important ways.
engage students through different learning modalities, by appealing to different interests, and by using varying rates of instruction and degrees of complexity.
ensures that students focus more on individual growth than on competition with other students.
recognize that each student’s roadmap to learning differs from that of others.
believe that students should be held to high standards.
IN DIFFERENTIATED CLASSROOMS, TEACHERS...
ensure that struggling, advanced, and in-between learners think and work harder than they meant to; achieve more than they thought they could; and come to believe that learning involves effort, risk, and personal triumph.
help students learn that success is achieved through hard work.
use time flexibly. employ a range of instructional strategies. become partners in learning with their students. accept, embrace, and plan for the commonalities
and differences learners bring to their classrooms.
INDICATORS OF DIFFERENTIATION
Consistent use of pretesting A decrease in the frequency of large
group activities An increase in:
– Small group teaching activities– Flexible small group learning
activities An increase in individual alternatives:
– Centers– Homework– Contracts
THE DIFFERENTIATION PROCESS
•Objective•Introduction•Initial instruction•Pretesting•Diagnosis
Breadth
Depth
Branching Out
Managing Flexible Small Groups
Alternative Activities
Adjusting the Breadth
Tiered AssignmentsAltering the
Depth
OFFERING ALTERNATIVE ACTIVITIES
To Increase the Breadth of a Lesson
MISSION CONTROL (The Teacher)
PROVIDES:Whole Group Introduction and Instruction and Launches Satellites (small groups) on Alternative Activities
Choice of Resources
Product Options
Alternative Activities
Varying Goals
TIERED ACTIVITIESTo Alter the Depth of a
Lesson
KEY FEATURES: INCREASE/DECREASE:•Abstraction
•Extent of Support•Sophisticatio
n•Complexity
ofGoals/Resources/Activities/
Products
• Whole Group Introduction
• Whole Group Initial Instruction
• Identification of Developmental Differences
List 5 synonyms for everlasting.
Make a list of 10 things that areeverlasting.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Put those 10 things on a continuum frommost everlasting to least everlasting.J ustify your ranking.
HOW DO I KNOW IT’S WORKING?
LISTEN TO AND OBSERVE THE KIDS MONITOR AND MEASURE
ATTAINMENT OF GOALS DEVELOP BEHAVIORIAL CHECKLISTS YOU SEE MOTIVATED, ENGAGED,
SELF-DIRECTED LEARNERS ABLE TO FUNCTION AND THRIVE WITHIN AN ENVIRONMENT WHICH CHALLENGES THEM.
WHERE DO WE BEGIN?THE BUILDING LEVEL
BEGIN SMALL. TRY A FEW PILOT TEACHERS AND CLASSROOMS.
BEGIN WITH TEACHERS WHO HAVE THE SKILL AND WILL TO CHANGE.
CREATE TEAMS OF TEACHERS. COLLEGIALTIY, NOT ISOLATION, NOURISHES NEW IDEAS.
GO FOR ACTION AND APPLICATION. ADJUST SCHOOL SCHEDULES TO
PROVIDE TEACHERS LARGER BLOCKS OF UNINTERRUPTED TIME.
WHERE DO WE BEGIN?THE BUILDING LEVEL
CONSIDER ADOPTING MULTIPLE TEXTS INSTEAD OF ONE FOR A GIVEN SUBJECT AND GRADE LEVEL.
CONSIDER MODIFIED REPORT CARDS TO PROVIDE A LOOK AT PERSONAL GROWTH INSTEAD OF, OR IN ADDITION TO, GROUP COMPARISONS.
CONSIDER NARROWING THE RANGE OF LEARNERS IN SOME CLASSROOMS.
DEVELOP COTEACHING AND COLLABORATIVE RELATIONSHIPS.
EFFECTIVE LEADERS WILL...
make time for teachers to plan differentiated lessons.
provide opportunities to visit differentiated classrooms.
give access to a wide range of learner materials.
create an environment where teachers feel safe trying a new approach w/o fear of judgement.
give meaningful, targeted feedback about teachers’ work with differentiation.
provide support networks.
REMEMBER THAT NOTHING THAT’S GOOD WORKS BY ITSELF JUST
TO PLEASE YOU. YOU’VE GOT TO MAKE
THE DAMN THING WORK.
--Thomas Edison
T.T.T.Put up in a place where
it’s easy to see,The cryptic
admonishment,T.T.T.
When you feel how depressingly slow you climb
It’s well to remember that THINGS TAKE TIME.