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What is Differentiated Learning? (María de los Ángeles Páez Niño)

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What is Differentiated Learning? (María de los Ángeles Páez Niño)

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Dear everybody,

Find attached a short video I prepared for you to get a wide view of what is differentiation and the main principles of this approach. Furthermore, I share with you some ideas I got on how I think I could apply this to my teaching context.

Please, watch the lecture by Carol Tomlinson, in case you want to get deeper insights

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Basics of differentiation - Alejandra Rodríguez González

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Basics of differentiation - Alejandra Rodríguez González

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Dear classmates and professor,

In this post I want to share an infographic I made with some useful strategies and ideas I took from the blog post: Strategies for differentiating assessment in Response: 'Embracing Technology' as a Tool for Differentiation written by Larry Ferlazzo.
Dear Alejandra,
Thanks for this useful infographic. You managed to pinpoint the main aspects presented by Ferlazzo (n.d.).
There are two aspects I would like to highlight:
1. "personalizing videos, varying the levels of language complexity, and adjusting audio speed would definitely help them through their learning process".
Excellent! please bear this in mind as you create different activities for the centre.
2. There is a set of resources you suggest e.g. Socrative, Nearpod, and others.  Can you add those tools to our bank of resources in Teams-files?
Many thanks

Please, feel free to add your comments or ask any questions :)

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Basics of Differentiated Instruction - Laura Moreno

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Basics of Differentiated Instruction - Laura Moreno

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Hello dear colleagues, today I want to share a video in which I present all ideas I took from the reading about the Social Presence Model to improve online environments and give differentiated instruction:

Any doubt you have, don't hesitate to ask questions...

Hello Laura,
Thanks for your time and effort in the creation of the video. Social presence is a topic that really draws my attention and I am glad to see that you have taken the time to elaborate on it.
1. Good point on your reflection about  helping students to be successful in online learning environments and the ourcomes of the research -Please bear this in mind as you create your centre.
2- In regards to your elaboration on point 2, I am glad that you have boarded the topic from the point of view of teachers and students and established connections with universal design. -Please bear this in mind as you create your centre as well.
3- Your reference to soft and hard skills is quite pertinent. Remember to focus mostly on the so called (non-cognitive/ soft skills) for the purposes of your centre.
Best,
P.

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My readiness to differentiated learning - Alejandra Rodríguez 

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My readiness to differentiated learning - Alejandra Rodríguez 

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What were your results?

The results of my self-evaluation in terms of the instructional style I adopt in the classroom were quite varied. In some cases, I seem to adopt a differentiated style with me students when using different formats during my classes or taking my students' needs and interests when making groups. I also try to be flexible when reteaching and try to find as many possible ways for my students to understand the topic they have not understood and really value the importance of checking the process and keeping an ongoing assessment. However, I know I am still far from implementing differentiated learning in my classes because most of the time, I ask my students to complete the same activities, I sometimes give them options, but in the end, the product has to be the same for everybody; I also assume students have little knowledge about the curriculum content and have rarely asked them what they would like to do or learn in my classes. Furthermore, learning goals are the same for all the students because the school demands us to follow some specific parameters and accomplish certain goals at the end of the school year.

What factors do you consider have an influence on your use of the teaching strategies presented in the instrument?

I think that, to some extent, following the school curriculum and all the parameters the heads of department and coordinators ask me to keep in mind when planning or teaching has limited somehow my readiness to differentiated learning, plus my lack of knowledge on this approach. It is not easy to put the theory into practice and with little experience, it is sometimes difficult to differentiate learning in groups with more than 20 students.

I have tried to implement some practices to help low performers reach the class objectives such us pairing them with high achievers or placing them into small groups and providing them with extra explanations or activities, but those are just small actions I have taken into my teaching practice.

I think we as teachers still have a lot of work to do in terms of differentiated learning and this comic is a good evidence of that, what do you guys think?:

Excellent points Alejandra,
From your description I think you have made great advancement on the implementation of DI.  As you said, it is easier say than do but well you have started to be aware of this teaching methodology and I am sure you will continue to advance on its implementation.
I took the liberty to highlight a section of your very useful reflection (above) to comment on the importance of student choice.  That type of awarenes,  opens the floor to give students more agency and awareness of their learning process.
Take a look at these examples in which teachers have given students choice.
Patricia

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AMANDA AVENDAÑO- Basics of differentiation. 

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AMANDA AVENDAÑO- Basics of differentiation. 

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How can you use slow-motion videos to provide differentiated instruction in an online learning environment?

Slow-motion videos are a different way to challenge students. I was not aware of using slow motion videos in my classes, but it is an useful tool especially for lower achievers and young learners. Youtube offers the option of slow-motion videos, however this is a setting that is still unknow since it is not easy to find. This a good tool to provide lessons based on differentiated instruction.  Slow-motion videos let scaffold learners’ listening skills. You can start using videos that sometimes are too fast for young learners and support them by slowing down the speed mainly when students need to extract information from the videos. Slow-motion videos can help to avoid frustration when sometimes students are not able to understand what the video is saying.

Hello Amanda,
Using slow motion videos is as you mentioned, a good strategy to afford more inclusive learning opportunities to students. Please bear in mind that it can be used just by clicking the settings button located at the bottom menu of Youtube videos. Click here for more information
Best,
P.

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AMANDA AVENDAÑO- Readiness to differentiate. Self-evaluation instructional design. 

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AMANDA AVENDAÑO- Readiness to differentiate. Self-evaluation instructional design. 

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The results from my self-evaluation are quite interesting. In some items, I am able to addapt the lesssons and provide students with different options and opportunities for them to carry out activities. However, there are some other items in which all the students must carry out the same activity because of the school's policies. For instance, in the case of goals adjustment or assessment where students must complete the same surveys, questionnaires, or exams. I try to use a variety of strategies to encourage students to become more autonomous learners.

Moreover, I provide activities for the students to work collaboratively. I am aware of promoting autonomous learners,. Thus, when I am able to let the learners make their own decisions I do it. But, when I must follow school's rules is a different story.

Dear Amanda,
Thanks for sharing the outcome of your reflection.  Your students are really lucky to have a professional like you who enables them to have agency in their learning decisions.  That's great!.
I understand that formal evaluation and standardized tests are mandatory in most schools but we can start promoting differentiated learning practices in what has to do an ongoing assessment for example. The key, in my opinion, is to find out the ways to keep students morale and motivation towards learning as high as possible.  That's achieved when we take their needs and styles into consideration during the different moments of the learning process.

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1.       Once I finish the self-evaluation and I looked through the results I realized that in some items the results were situated quite close to the right side of the scale and some others were way far from this side. Additionally, I could see that for instance, only one of my answers was situated in the middle of the scale meaning that there is a balance between “I group students heterogeneously” and “ I group students according to their interests and needs. Finally, I came to conclude that I do need to implement more differentiating instructions so as for my students learning diversity to be taken into consideration.

2.       I am not such a risk-taker when it comes to articulate differentiated instructions since I use to think that the ones that do not need any assistance would be disengaged.  So, that called for me to reflect upon what is my instructional style. As such, I was able to get to understand that my students are different worlds that not only have a variety of needs and interests yet, they currently undergo any physicological treatment that hinders their learning success and, in this concern, differentiated instruction does help them address their learning and emotional difficulties.

Hello Daniel,
Thanks for sharing your creation.
Perhaps the name of this post should be related to your readiness to differentiate. I didn't check it before because I thought it actually corresponded to the basics of differentiation.
Anyway, I am glad to hear that your answers placed your instruction in the middle of the scale. This should be quite reassuring for you because that means that you are aware and active about the needs of the students and how you can offer them the best opportunities to learn. Actually, your current work environment should be quite enriching for you in these aspects not just because of the students' characteristics but because of the pool of professionals that work with you.
Daniel Bernal

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Basics of differentiated learning Geniffer Sanchez

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Basics of differentiated learning Geniffer Sanchez

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slides

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Basics of differentiated learning Geniffer Sanchez

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Basics of differentiated learning Geniffer Sanchez

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Dear Geniffer,
Thanks for this quite well achieved podcast.
Good job for your exploration of the characteristics of practitioners who have taken differentiation on board.
I can see that you are definitely into formative assessment so thanks a lof for suggesting ways to differentiate in this aspects as well.
Your elaboration of the ideas we can put into practice to differentiate content and process. As I have suggested to some of your classmates, please start thinking about how you could put these ideas into practice when you create your VRC.
Best,
P.

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Geniffer Sanchez My self-assessment results 

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Geniffer Sanchez My self-assessment results 

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What were your results?
The results of the self-evaluation instructional design form were close to the left side. Almost all of them are a score of 2, because It depends on the company I work for. Despite the fact I have tried to make it different, the methodology of the English institute limits my teaching practice as well as the lack of time. I have noticed that my teaching is not innovative; I don't carry out formative assessment and  I don't offer students with a lot of extra material they can use to support learning, enhance performance and support the comprehension of content.
I cannot offer students the possibility to work on projects and do different activities by using an online platform that requires students to work after class since they don't see each other in further lessons.
However, I try to adjust learning goals. I can identify what my students learning' needs are, and I always try to readjust some activities to support their learning process. I consider that the lack of knowledge and strategies to get closer differentiated learning for my teaching to be more successful is one of the drawbacks of my teaching practice.
What factors do you consider have influenced on your use of the teaching strategies presented in the instrument?
I consider that the main fact that influences my teaching strategies are the company teaching policies. I have to follow the company's rules and teaching model. On the other hand, I would say, that the lack of knowledge and the fair of trying new things as well as taking risks are other factors that affect my teaching excessively. I can make changes and use learning and teaching strategies but time is too short in such a way that is pretty hard to innovate in teaching.

Dear Geniffer,
Don't be so harsh on you.  You are already making great efforts to enable a group a teachers to implement formative assessment and you are a devoted educator.
This teaching methodology is aimed at enriching our own practice and the learning outcomes of students while enabling a more responsive learning atmosphere. You have taken your first steps already and this reflection is one of them.
Patricia

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My instructional style - Differentiated Learning / Laura Moreno 

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My instructional style - Differentiated Learning / Laura Moreno 

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According to the scale given by Heacox (2002) to reflect in my instructional style, I would like to present the ideas that I could get from it, and how some external factors can influence my actions:

First, the activities developed in my classes that are part of the summative assessment of my students’ process are chosen before starting each term. In this way, students cannot choose this type of tasks; however, the other complementary activities can be organized and chosen by students according to their interests and motivation (that's great. They are really lucky!). I also give them the opportunity to present a concept according to the best ability they have to represent it such as drawing, presenting, making videos and I allow them to do their activities with the available resources, adapting every methodology to each circumstance. Nevertheless, I consider that it would be better if students’ interests and ideas were taken into account since the beginning of the academic process to develop all the learning experience.(that's true! they can have a saying on the ongoing assessment activities for example and the teacher, you, can also have then room to differentiate)

Second, I like to use different several formats as a strategy to foster interpersonal relationships among my students and according to the activity I try that they work in pairs or groups of three people (agreed! group distribution and particularly triplets, can provide a  good atmosphere for even participation). I change groups each (every☺) two weeks, and I organize them in a way that they can complement each other; therefore, they not always share same needs and interests. When we are going to start and topic, I like to have access to the whole group, and that they can share their thoughts with all their classmates.  On the other hand, it is important to say that each student manages a different pace, and it is necessary to adapt their learning goals and strategies according to their needs and styles.

Finally, a process of pre-assessment is not done before a unit or course because according to the school and I, it is supposed that students follow a step-by-step process during each grade/term that they pass. However, an ongoing process is organized during each term to identify in the middle of it what student would need more support to identify and use some topics. During the reteaching process, the same methods taught in the class are given to avoid misunderstandings (I see, the point is that the DI approach promotes the use of different teaching methodologies to cater for varied learning styles so if the teacher finds that the students have difficulties understanding a topic, the teacher tries different methods to help the students come to the same desired outcome), but if a student uses a different method to solve a problem or situation, this strategy is worthy while the learner can use and interpret the new concepts in a critical way and give good reasons for their ideas. To conclude, I would like to say that all the strategies and actions that I can do to promote a differentiated learning will be applied, but it is necessary to continue reevaluating some of them to supply all my students’ needs and to take the student more into account in their own learning process.

Dear Laura,
Thanks for your reflection and I am glad to hear that you are already differentiating to a great extend.  I have included some comments above and I would like to leave you with a very recent video by Tomlinson (2020) about differentiation in the distance learning classroom https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdWLErtB2x8

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Basics of Differentiation / Grace Forero

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Basics of Differentiation / Grace Forero

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Dear Grace,
Thanks for sharing your creation.
In the second part of your video, you suggested that differentiated content and products can be feasible in online learning environments.  I certainly concord with you, we can offer those to students without investing large amounts of time and effort. Please start thinking about how you would materialize this idea as you design the activities for the VRC.
Also, you are developing good skills to create videos. This is a very nice aptitude you can explore further to give the students access to instructions for example, beyond written input.

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My readiness to differentiated Learning / Grace Forero

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My readiness to differentiated Learning / Grace Forero

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What were your results?
The results of my self-evaluation instructional design form were not that close to the right side of the scale. Four of my responses were just right in the middle (3), two of them were quite close to the right-hand side and, four more were opposite in scales 1 and 2. Bearing this in mind, it seems I am still quite far from the differentiated instruction.

What factors do you consider have an influence on your use of the teaching strategies presented in the instrument?
It seems some of the factors were my lack of knowledge about differentiated instruction, also, I consider the school principles and guidelines requires from teachers to assess standardised activities and sometimes flexibility is not that visible. However, some changes can be done as Ferlazzo (2018) stated.

Dear Grace,
Thanks for your very honest reflection. Acknowledging your strengths and the aspects to improve in our teaching practice is a very important step towards becoming better teachers. I understand the limitations imposed by the number of responsibilities we have to deal with.  However, I think you have already started by acknowledging the importance of providing students with the possibility to reach your class objectives through different paths, what Ferlazzo (2018), the author you cited, calls keeping an eye on the prize.  Please, spare some minutes to watch this video for some additional ideas.
Patricia

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My readiness to differentiated Learning (María de los Ángeles Páez Niño)

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My readiness to differentiated Learning (María de los Ángeles Páez Niño)

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After accessing the course resources and doing the assessment on my readiness to differentiated learning in the classroom, I would like to share with you my results and the factors I consider influenced them.

Regarding the learning goals, the type of assignments and assessment tasks I design for my learners, I create the same for all of them. On this matter, and according to what I consulted, I am not a differentiated teacher :( Through this, I am assuming that all my kids are able to display what they have learnt on the same way, and I am leaving aside their diversity in terms of linguistic capabilities, cultural background and learning styles. I realized that it is not going to be more work for me, however, I don't think I am allowed to do that at school, and if I propose it, maybe that is going to be something that I have to strive for with arguments, kindness and evidences :D It is not an impossible task, but it might very challenging. In the end, it might become something that engages all my colleagues. (Thanks for this sincere reflection Maria, it is really not uncommon that we teachers do not put DI  into practice.  The rationale is quite similar to the reasons you have presented. We all lack time and have to comply with curricular and school demands. However, most of us ( you included of course) are already doing things like trying out different methodologies, attending to the particular needs of some students and figuring out ways to promote more effective learning and those are certainly huge steps towards a DI practice.
On the other hand, while revising the rest of my results I noticed that I consider that learners potential can be a very powerful tool in the classroom. I know that before starting a new unit, they already know something about it, therefore, I ask them first what they already know, and we can start from it (great! that's the spirt). Moreover, I also believe that peers can be sometimes better teachers than I am, so I enjoy creating group tasks. Due to the virtual environment, we are in now, my tasks have become shorter when working collaboratively, but I have seen that some kids dare to take leadership roles, and encourage their classmates to complete the task ( in a role-play, a presentation or a forum post, e.g.). Furthermore, if something is not working in the classroom, and kids do not understand, I see it both as an opportunity to change my technique and as the first results of an ongoing assessment process (excellent, this is what I meant in my comment above ☺). Then, I try to make my best and take a different approach to the situation.

Finally, regarding the results on the self-assessment form, I think I need to start giving more learning choices to my learners and take into account how they can show me their learning progress, as well as their interests in different ways, considering their own learning styles and capabilities. Then, bearing in mind this, I would like to share with you this quote by Carol Tomlinson, that I thing summarizes very well what I learned:

"Differentiation doesn't suggest changing the outcome for students but rather different avenues to success with those outcomes" (Tomlinson in Bell, 2017)
Great job Maria. Consider taking a look at this  very recent video by her https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdWLErtB2x8

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1. Use this and any other post-its to share your findings on the exploration of  Basics of differentiated learning. You can share them in note form,  screencasts or videos.

2. Don't forget to pay a visit to your classmates' products.

3. Ask them any questions (or comments)   using the space in this wall. Don't forget to reply to their questions.
(this activity is due Tuesday 25 of August, 8:00 AM)

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                                                                              Basics of differentiated instruction 

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                                                                              Basics of differentiated instruction 

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1. Please share in this space  the results of the self-evaluation instructional design form 🙀
(you can express your results in terms of how close your responses were to the right side of the scale)

2. What factors do you consider have an influence on your use of the teaching strategies presented in the instrument?
(this activity is due Tuesday 18 of August, 8:00 a.m.)