Effective Differentiated Instruction
In Tracey Hall's summary of effective differentiated instruction, she identifies 3 key elements of a curriculum that can be differentiated. These are three things that I need to focus on differentiating if I am to become an effective teacher of this method. The three areas are content, process and product.
Content is the area that is concerned with concepts, attitudes, and skills. I need to be able to modify how different students of different abilities have access to content. Sometimes groups that are very able to understand the concept that is being taught can be left to research on their own in order to find information. It is important that I learn how to guide their research so that it is productive and fulfilling for them instead of "filler" that I use to get them out of the classroom so that the students that learn quickly don't disrupt the flow of the classroom. Other students need direct instruction to understand some things, and they would need help understanding and learning about new topics.
Another important aspect of content is the ability to align tasks and objectives to learning goals. If I learn to align my activities and assignments with GLO's or SLO's, then I will be better able to develop higher-order thinking activities that align with these objectives. They will accomplish the same goals but provide a challenge for those that learn quickly and could be bored with the instruction that the rest of the class would receive.
The next aspect is Process. Flexible grouping is an essential part of process. In the video we watched of differentiated instruction, the teacher was very effective at creating flexible groups that allowed students work at their own speed without giving the impression that there was a "smart" group and a "dumb" group. I was very impressed with this idea and wish that I could have experienced this while I was in school. Proper and constant assessment is vital to this approach, so I need to be able to have an observation checklist that I keep up to date on the progress of my students for formative assessment. Flexible groups allow the teacher to have two or more groups in the classroom that are working simultaneously and independently of one another that he or she can monitor and guide. I love the idea of doing this and am excited to continue learning more on how to effectively group my students.
The third aspect covered by the article is products. How students are assessed and evaluated can differ using this approach. It takes careful planning and organization to be able to have different expectations and assignments for different students in the classroom. Not only can assignments differ, but also the kind of assignments required can differ. It is important that each student be challenged and using flexible groups along with specialized assignments for each group can really allow the teacher to help his class progress.
Focusing on these three areas are important if I hope to be an effective user of differentiated instruction.
Content is the area that is concerned with concepts, attitudes, and skills. I need to be able to modify how different students of different abilities have access to content. Sometimes groups that are very able to understand the concept that is being taught can be left to research on their own in order to find information. It is important that I learn how to guide their research so that it is productive and fulfilling for them instead of "filler" that I use to get them out of the classroom so that the students that learn quickly don't disrupt the flow of the classroom. Other students need direct instruction to understand some things, and they would need help understanding and learning about new topics.
Another important aspect of content is the ability to align tasks and objectives to learning goals. If I learn to align my activities and assignments with GLO's or SLO's, then I will be better able to develop higher-order thinking activities that align with these objectives. They will accomplish the same goals but provide a challenge for those that learn quickly and could be bored with the instruction that the rest of the class would receive.
The next aspect is Process. Flexible grouping is an essential part of process. In the video we watched of differentiated instruction, the teacher was very effective at creating flexible groups that allowed students work at their own speed without giving the impression that there was a "smart" group and a "dumb" group. I was very impressed with this idea and wish that I could have experienced this while I was in school. Proper and constant assessment is vital to this approach, so I need to be able to have an observation checklist that I keep up to date on the progress of my students for formative assessment. Flexible groups allow the teacher to have two or more groups in the classroom that are working simultaneously and independently of one another that he or she can monitor and guide. I love the idea of doing this and am excited to continue learning more on how to effectively group my students.
The third aspect covered by the article is products. How students are assessed and evaluated can differ using this approach. It takes careful planning and organization to be able to have different expectations and assignments for different students in the classroom. Not only can assignments differ, but also the kind of assignments required can differ. It is important that each student be challenged and using flexible groups along with specialized assignments for each group can really allow the teacher to help his class progress.
Focusing on these three areas are important if I hope to be an effective user of differentiated instruction.