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differentiation meme- Maddie Troline (SF)

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differentiation meme- Maddie Troline (SF)

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https://youtu.be/h7-D3gi2lL8

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Differentiating Instruction: It’s Not as Hard as You Think

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Differentiation can be overwhelming, especially when first introduced. It can be even more frustrating when you work so hard to meet the individual needs of students all year long and then have them all take the same standardized test! That's why part of differentiation is meeting needs of students and individually preparing them for this type of thing in the best, most efficient way we can.

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Emily Lomas (Lumpkin/NH)

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https://youtu.be/AGQ_7K35ysA

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What is Universal Design for Learning (UDL)?

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This is a video I found this summer and it is so funny! -Kamryn Cantrell

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I loved this meme and thought that it accurately described how I feel sometimes. Every student needs something different in order for them to learn best but sometimes that can look chaotic in the classroom!

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I remember seeing this picture back in high school, but not until I got into the education program did I connect it with differentiation. I feel like it shows exactly why we can't use a "one size fits all" instruction or assessment approach when it comes to teaching our students. Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses and have different methods they are more efficient at showing their abilities.

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I thought this meme was funny, 1) just because I personally think this man is hilarious, but 2) It is accurate. We need to meet the needs of all the learners in our classroom and differentiation is the way to do that.

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I think when we first learned about differentiation this is what it feels like we are supposed to do! But now, I know that differentiation is so much more than “individualized instruction.”

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I thought this meme was great in regards to differentiation because differentiation is a wonderful kind of chaos! To outsiders, teachers classrooms can look like a zoo, but in my opinion that is when the best learning takes place!

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I picked this meme because it just goes to show that one size doesn’t fit all as in the classroom. We need UDL incorporated for that reason.

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Theresa Colquitt: Gwinnett/SH2
Assistive Technology and Universal Design for Learning Toolbox has some great ideas!

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Assistive Technology and Universal Design for Learning Toolbox

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"Students with attentional, organizational, and learning disabilities have shown increased academic gain when exposed to technology-supported concept mapping strategies," (Rose et. al, 2005, p. 516).

FreeMind is a free mind-mapping tool that is available to be downloaded from http://freemind.en.softonic.com/. This tool is available for PCs and Macs and it is tested for viruses. This software claims to be virus free, safe software. It runs on java, so it is conducive to most platforms.

FreeMind can help students organize their thoughts and annotate them. A specific aspect of this program is the annotation bar that contains many different features to add to any map. According to some user reviews, not all of these annotation tools are useful and could be distracting; however, this software is intuitive to use and simplistic in nature for students who struggle.

By incorporating mind maps into instruction, students who have disorganized thoughts can write out their thoughts and help sequence their writing. FreeMind does not have a collaboration aspect, but can used effectively by individuals who need extra support in their writing and comprehension. Mind maps can be used to track conversations, for teachers and students to see their students' thought patterns, and can be very helpful when faced with any logic problem. Although this can be useful in English Language Art instruction, this tool can transcend content areas and be useful in mathematics, science,

If you are interested in FreeMind and want to download it on your computer for free link on the link below: http://freemind.en.softonic.com/

(12/8/11) Retrieved from: permaculturepower.wordpress.com

Bubbl.us is an online concept mapping tool that allows students to "web" their ideas together around a central topic, idea or question. This website features a simple, easy to manipulate format where text is entered into the "bubbl" boxes and then linked to the ideas that came before and after each idea. Students can use this website on their own or as a class. A "new child bubble" can be created after every bubble for each child working on the web with the simple click of a mouse.

This tool can help students brainstorm ideas and outline their writing: resulting in more organized thought processes in students' written work. Students who struggle with comprehension can see their thought processes. Students who struggle with organization can use this tool to see how ideas flow into one another and are connected. Students who are frequently absent can see a record of discussion, helping them to stay on top of the work they have missed as well as the overall classroom experience.

Teachers can use this tool to help with implementing literature circles by posing a question at the beginning of the web and watching as students answer. Teachers can also record discussions for their own records as well as for all students. Students can have a record of their learning and conversations, which would help students with speech processing disorders. Teachers can use bubbl.us to glean an understanding of students' comprehension before written assignments are due by checking on individual students' thoughts for relevancy, understanding, and thoughtfulness.

Remember the Milk

Remember the Milk is an online tool that allows users to manage their tasks from multiple mediums. These mediums include the computer, phone, Google Calendar, e-mails, text messages, Skype, and instant messaging. Not only can tasks be managed, but this tool sends reminders through all of the previously stated mediums as well. Remember the Milk helps users organize their tasks by providing various ways of setting up tasks. Tasks and lists can also be shared with others, which can help students remind one another of group project responsibilities or teachers can use this to remind their class of upcoming due dates.

Remember the Milk is a free tool where users can sign up online; after signing up, users can set up their preferences to use the tool offline as well. The website contains an "Overview" page, which shows tasks due today, tomorrow, and tasks that are overdue. There is also a task page, which has tabs including: Inbox, Personal, Study, Work, Sent, and All Tasks with options of viewing the tasks due today, tomorrow, or those that are overdue. There are "Complete" and "Postpone" buttons to choose from to help with organization. Remember the Milk also contains a "Key" on each page which informs the user of how their page is organized; priorities are various numbers and color, due dates are bolded, and overdue tasks are underlined. Here is a link that shows the new app for the Android phone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fm06fmhQbvQ. This is only one of the other mediums that Remember the Milk can be used on. Having this tool on an instructor's phone can be beneficial for classrooms without a computer.

Teachers can use Remember the Milk with clubs, homework, tests, quizzes, dates, and meetings. Some teachers have created interesting ways to implement this technology. One of the ways to use this software is to make a time-line. Students can make a time line based on literature they have read in class or on current events, they are learning about. Another implementation for this program is to have the students organize due dates for their writing projects. By using Remember the Milk students will be able to turn their lessons in on time. This is a link to the organize due date lesson to provide further instructions on how to implement this technology: https://wiki.itap.purdue.edu/download/attachments/4293031/RTMElementary1.pdf?version=1&modificationDate=1257108144000

Kidspiration

Kidspiration is a way for students to visually learn and build their ideas, words, concepts with association to images. The connection of ideas to images allows students to better organize and analyze information and think critically through graphic organizers, outlines, and diagrams. Graphic organizers are a visual way to demonstrate relationships between facts, concepts, and ideas for students who have trouble with comprehension; this in turn will help them organize ideas for writing projects. Kidspiration is a beneficial tool for teachers to show cause and effect, note taking, organization, themes and ideas, vocabulary, and sequencing. The homepage allows students to choose to create their new document in a picture view, writing view, or math view. There are also a variety of activities the student can choose from including reading and writing, math, science, and social studies. Not only are there images to go along with the text on the homepage, but it is also read aloud. Once a new document is opened, the student can access various features such as a symbol maker and pre-made symbols to give their text imagery. A word guide allows the user to type in a word which will provide a definition and synonyms and antonyms. Users have the option of changing the way the concept maps are portrayed, by altering the box size and shape as well as the text size and font. Recordings are also available to include in a concept map. All of these features help promote Cast's UDL key components of having alternate means of presentation and representation to accommodate all learners in the classroom.

The following link goes through a step by step process in how Kidspiration can be used to create a concept map to help students organize ideas. A 30-day free trial can be downloaded or the product can be bought from anywhere between $69 (single use) to $895 (20-computer license). http://www.inspiration.com/Curriculum-Integration/Kidspiration

Kidspiration can help teachers to create a number lessons. This website walks teachers through the various activities they can include in their classroom in order to help students achieve knowledge and understanding: http://www.coweta.k12.ga.us/cweb/Kidspiration/KidActivities.htm. The website provides teachers with lesson ideas such as a lesson on seasons. The students are able to match images of objects to either summer or winter in order to learn about seasons. The website provides a huge list of activities that can be used in the classroom through Kidspiration.

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"Students with attentional, organizational, and learning disabilities have shown increased academic gain when exposed to technology-supported concept mapping strategies," (Rose et. al, 2005, p. 516). FreeMind is a free mind-mapping tool that is available to be downloaded from http://freemind.en.softonic.com/. This tool is available for PCs and Macs and it is tested for viruses.

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UDL Meme

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https://www.schoology.com/blog/differentiated-instruction-definition-examples-and-strategies

Here is a website I found that has some examples of ways to differentiate!

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Imagine a teacher walking around the room as students work on an assignment at their seats. One student is speedily writing down the answers, which are correct upon observation. Another student two seats away stares hard at the question trying to figure out the answer or maybe figure out the question itself. Yet another student twirls the pencil around on her finger between scribbling answers down that are incorrect as she bobs her head to the music playing in her headphones. Each student learns differently, but they all need to learn something. Differentiating instruction can help students achieve no matter how they learn and what they know.

What is differentiating?

Each student works at a different pace for different reasons. This is why differentiated instruction is important. Differentiating instruction meets each individual student's needs. The first part of differentiating instruction is figuring out what students know so teachers can help them learn. There are a variety of ways to do that through a pre-assessment of some sort. Great pre-assessment tools include Quizizz, Pear Deck, and Google Forms.

After figuring out what each student knows, the challenging part begins. Creating different lessons and activities to meet each student's level and interests can be daunting, but it is necessary to help students learn. For instance, one student may struggle to identify what a noun is while another student has no problem identifying them. They are each ready for a different lesson. The first student needs an activity to help them identify nouns, and the latter might be ready to write sentences with different types of nouns. Both can achieve success on their own terms and based on their own goals.

The last part of differentiating is to assess each student's growth. Assessments can be created to see if the first student is now able to identify nouns. Can the other student write sentences with different types of nouns? If they've found success with that goal, then, consequently, they've learned something. This allows students and teachers to be able to celebrate success no matter their academic level or individual strengths.

Differentiation in the Classroom

Differentiated instruction in the classroom can be done several ways. Grouping, varying amounts of time, or changing the task are the most common types of differentiation. As far as grouping goes, students can be grouped by ability level, interests, or intermingled levels of understanding. Grouping students by similar ability levels helps both teachers and students. When students work in groups, teachers can work 1-on-1 with each group and give very direct instruction to each group based on their needs. Intermingled groups allows for more collaboration between students. Students with better understanding of the content can help their peers who need it. These types of groups can function a little more independently.

Varying the amount of time or changing the task are great alternatives to grouping. Some students can breeze right through an assignment while others need more time. Giving students a task list allows them to move at their own pace. Changing the task might look more like allowing students to choose the type of final outcome, like a project. Options are always a great way to keep students engaged and inspire creativity.

Differentiated Instruction Examples

One way to help differentiate the classroom is to have students work in groups to move through several stations around the room. With 3-5 stations, students can work together on skills that everyone needs to know on their own. The teacher can work with individual groups at one of those stations, so students get individualized lessons designed for what they need to learn in the unit.

Another example of differentiating instruction is creating literature circles. While this sounds like an English concept, it can be applied in any class where you can group students with leveled texts. Students could all be reading about the Civil War, but they could be reading a text that is at their reading level.

Grouping students by their learning styles is another way to differentiate instruction within the classroom. Students who are auditory learners will work better together because they probably have similar styles of communication.

A final way to differentiate the classroom is with leveled graphic organizers and worksheets. An LMS is very beneficial for differentiating instruction this way. If students are learning about problem and solution in an English class. Teachers can assign struggling students a task where they have to identify the problem and solution of a text. The middle group of students would not only have to identify the problem and solution within the story, but also create a different solution of their own. The group of students who are ready for extensions would identify the problem and solution as well as create two different solutions and explain why they might not work in solving the problem. The teacher can assign each of these individually so that students may not even know that they are learning different aspects of the same skill.

Differentiated Instruction Strategies

Teachers can differentiate their classrooms by altering the content, process, product, or learning environment for students. Changing these different aspects of a classroom can help students feel more comfortable and experience more success.

Changing the content of a lesson involves how students gain access to the information. Teachers can modify content by using the different learning styles and different senses to teach a lesson. Give a mini lesson where you show students how to accomplish the task followed by hands-on activities. Use videos to introduce or reinforce the day's topic.

Altering the process to include differentiated instruction might look like a flipped classroom. This is where students watch a video about the next day's topic at home, then when they arrive in class, the teacher adds a little more depth to the material. Class then is spent working on the assignment or classwork. This offers the teacher an opportunity to walk around the room and see what students need help with and how they are doing with the material. Students also have an opportunity to seek help from the teacher instead of waiting to get their questions answered upon return to school. Immediate feedback builds confidence in students and guides teachers in future instruction.

To change the product using differentiated instruction, giving choices for final products other than assessments would be a good option. Teachers could create projects for the same unit that pique the interest of different learning styles. Students can then choose which project to complete while still demonstrating mastery of the content.

Lastly, modifying the learning environment for differentiated instruction can be as simple as allowing a student to work in a quieter environment in the hallway or even sitting on the floor. These might sound simple, but they can help students feel more at ease which will help them complete the task more efficiently and accurately.

Differentiated Assessment

Differentiating assessments is just as effective as differentiating instruction. It involves more formative assessments than summative assessments. These should be small checkpoints throughout a unit to see how well students are learning material. These assessments provide a peek into what each student knows. These formative assessments can be exit tickets, Google Forms, Socrative, or myriad other strategies and tools.

Differentiated assessment might also include a take home test. This only works for complicated assessments where students have to do more than remember an answer. A take home test gives students time to complete the task.

Students could also create the test. Once everyone has learned the material, a committee could be created that would create test questions and the answer key. They would have to work together to check each other's work. Those students then would not have to take the test later since they have already proven that they know the material.

Another option is exemption from tests. Students who can show they have mastered the material through homework assignments and grades as well as any formative assessments could be exempt from taking the test.

Differentiated instruction can seem like a daunting task trying to meet the needs of each individual student each and every day. Use this guide for a few tips and strategies for incorporating new differentiating ideas into the classroom.

Do you have any tips to share about differentiated instruction? Tell us on Twitter @Schoology

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Imagine a teacher walking around the room as students work on an assignment at their seats. One student is speedily writing down the answers, which are correct upon observation. Another student two seats away stares hard at the question trying to figure out the answer or maybe figure out the question itself.

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https://www.edutopia.org/blog/differentiated-instruction-student-success

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Making Decisions

Which students miss out most? It is the student in the middle who doesn't cause problems, who obeys, conforms, and never demands attention. We rarely give her the time of day in our race to take care of the extremes.

I had one of those students in my classroom. He was in my intermediate Spanish class and always sat in the middle. He never said a lot, and he did his work quietly. He wasn't the best in the classroom, and he wasn't the worst. I remember that he did struggle with rolling his rs. One day, he didn't come to class, and we got word that he had committed suicide. Not that I could have done anything to prevent this, but you always have the nagging doubt that perhaps you could have made a difference. In that moment, I vowed to never assume the quiet ones were OK.

Yet even with that, we are pressured to give the students with more needs more attention than those students who have less needs. The largest conflict about differentiated instruction boils up inside of us when we try to assign a grade to that differentiated instruction.

How can we justifiably give the students the same grade when the quality, quantity, or content of the performance is different? I have yet to read a truly compelling argument to answer that question. Most people mumble something about grades being a relative measure of student performance and designed for communication of progress only.

So, this is my attempt to make sense of this dilemma and perhaps calm a few nervous hearts in the process. In my prior post, I discussed the idea of intrinsic differentiation and the role of active learning and active teaching. Now, I want to discuss designed differentiation a bit.

Meeting Students Where They Are

Designed differentiation is the deliberate act of modifying instruction or an assignment in order to customize the effect to match the particular developmental level and skills of a student or group of students. The ideal is to provide equivalent learning activities that cater to the students' strengths but bring all of the students to the same learning objective. On one end of the spectrum is the one-size-fits-all learning activity, while on the other end is the completely individualized learning plan for each student. Although I believe it is time for the latter, realism demands that teachers deal with something that hovers around the middle of the continuum.

The best teachers throughout time have always found ways to reach individual students. Teachers today are no different. We have all sorts of designed differentiation strategies that help teachers offer variety and choice to students of different skills and needs. We can

vary the length or quantity of the assignment.

extend or curtail the duration of the assignment.

change the language of the assignment.

scaffold the learning activity from hard to medium to easy.

compact the activity and teach only what they don't know.

give them learning activities that let them perform the same learning objective with multiple mediums like summarizing a story they have read through narrative, drama, song, poetry, art, or design.

Allow for Do-Overs

There is also a strong movement of simply allowing students to work at their own pace through computer-aided instruction, or SRA-type curriculum. There is one more type of designed differentiation method I believe is underutilized -- the rough draft.

When a student is given a learning assignment to turn in, is it really a learning assignment if they have only one chance at meeting the mastery-level standard? Clearly identified standards of performance are necessary to make this work, but when a student submits a substandard piece of work, rather than assign a grade immediately, we can provide personalized, individual feedback to that student, which includes providing suggestions for improvement and giving it back to the student for revision.

Is there a limit to the number of times this can be done to help a student overcome a particular learning obstacle? Some students might be able to do it right the first time, while others need several revisions. This strategy is the ultimate in designed differentiation.

Typically, we see this kind of opportunity only in English and social studies classes. Why not math and science? After all, if the student eventually gets the concept, isn't that what counts? The thing I like about this approach is that no student is left out -- not even the quiet, no-problem kids.

What are your successes with designed differentiation? What are your challenges? Please share your thoughts.

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Differentiated Instruction Allows Students to Succeed

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Which students miss out most? It is the student in the middle who doesn't cause problems, who obeys, conforms, and never demands attention. We rarely give her the time of day in our race to take care of the extremes. I had one of those students in my classroom.

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Using Differentiated Instruction to Support All Learners

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I felt this went really well with our near pod! - Taylor Hammond 

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Differentiating Instruction: A Guide for Teaching English-Language Learners

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One of my favorite TikTok Teachers!
-Emily Harris

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Tori Taylor

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Caity Fitzgerald

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Victoria Keaton

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Differentiating Instruction: It’s Not as Hard as You Think

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Haley Davis

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Hannah Triche