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Differentiated Instruction
General Topics for a 2 Day Training
Critical Issues
5 – 10 minute activity in which participants write down those “burning” questions about collaboration/inclusion/differentiation that they want answered. Questions are categorized by areas of concern or by issue. Trainer can immediately get a feel for where the group needs the most focus by the # of questions in each category. This activity usually dissuades the “It will NEVER work!” conversation that teachers often get lost in by recognizing that the questions are almost always part of the barriers – it’s a more directed way to get those barriers on the table.
Process for Differentiation
20 minute lecturette - Participants build a theoretical pyramid that focuses on instruction, content, student needs, and assessment. Brief examples of how we can meet unique student needs and still hit high standards are provided with teachers creating their own example/ideas for the pyramid.
Analyzing the Curriculum
1 hour - 2 days based upon training design. Participants use 14 Essential Curricular Questions to outline the content and methods used to typically teach a content area. These questions relate directly to the most common areas of struggle for at-risk, gifted and talented, and students with disabilities. This leads to decision for differentiation.
Analyzing Student Needs
1 hour – 2 days based on training design. Participants use 14 Essential Student Questions to outline the specific strengths and areas of need related to an individual student or group of students.
Gap Analysis and Differentiations
1 hour – 1 day based on training design. Participants compare Curricular and Student questions to determine where there are matches and gaps between what is typically taught and what the students need. This analysis helps teachers generate ideas for differentiating the instruction to meet the students’ needs.
Lesson Plan Design Part 1
1.5 hours minimal. First, participants become K12 students and actively engage in a differentiated lesson that offers national standard based curriculum with multiple layers of instruction and assessment using large group, small group and individual activities. Participants then deconstruct the lesson to identify (1) the content across grade levels (this lesson hits everything from K to high school level content!) using their own state standards, (2) the differentiations used that were evident and hidden, and (3) the assessments used to measure student performance.
1 – 2 hours. Participants review a lesson plan format designed to facilitate collaborative team teaching using the differentiated lesson and prepare to write their own lesson using the model.
Collaboration Models that Work
30 – 40 minutes. This is a Jigsaw activity where participants read descriptions of 5 models that have been both “research-proven” and “really used” by teachers. Along with the descriptions are examples at each grade level (elementary, middle, high) and there is video tape that can be shown at each level also to show teams in action. Participants discuss what models they have seen, wish they could implement, and what other issues have to be addressed to create such models in schools (e.g., scheduling, planning).
Management Styles
1 hour. Participants fill out a survey on their own way of planning, grading, teaching, assessing and organizing their classroom. This inventory is used to facilitate conversation between collaborative team members so they can identify their similarities and differences in styles, thus heading off potential problem areas (e.g., one teacher allowing students to call out answers while another makes them always raise their hands.) when they begin teaching together.
Lesson Plan Design Part 2
1 – 5 hours depending upon training design. Participants work in teams to design a specific differentiated lesson plan using their own content and students from their own classrooms. The lesson plan, when complete outlines the specific content to be taught, the areas of differentiation, and specific responsibilities of each collaborative team member during the lesson, thus eliminating the common problems when teachers try collaboration (e.g., misuse of one teacher as an “instructional aide”)
Other issues that usually come up that I have basic information and “big” training for:
Scheduling - I have a specific process that works, but it is very specific and usually takes an entire day at a minimum – usually has to be school specific
Common planning time – another piece that also takes a long time and needs to be school specific….
This outline can be rearranged into various configurations, but the following is what I usually use for a 2 day Jump Start type of training.
Day 1
- Introductions/Housekeeping
- Critical Issues
- Process for Differentiation
- Analyzing the Curriculum
- Analyzing Student Needs
- Gap Analysis and Differentiations
- “homework”
- Check Out – what did they learn, what do they still want to know
Day 2
- Check In
- Lesson Plan Design Part 1
- Collaboration Models that Work
- Management Styles
- Lesson Plan Design Part 2
- Action Plan for using training information
- Check Out – Evaluation of seminar
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