View the Syllabus
Overarching Understanding Goals for the Course* The core questions we will investigate during this course are: - What is differentiated instruction?
- What are effective differentiation strategies?
- How do I manage a differentiated classroom?
- How can I begin or expand differentiation efforts in my classroom?
* This course may be taken as part of a 2-course Program of Study. The second course is Differentiating Instruction: Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners. ***********************************************Course Structure The course is comprised of an Orientation Week, followed by six required Sessions. In each session you will: - read new material posted by the instructor on the course website
- complete the assigned readings and assignments
- post your assignments on the course website and receive feedback from coaches & colleagues
- participate in online discussions with members of your online study group
Goals for Each Session 0. Orientation Week Through this Orientation session you will begin to: - ...get to know your fellow participants, coaches and instructor,
- ...feel comfortable using this online course environment.
Orientation Week gives participants an opportunity to become familiar with the online course environment and to meet the instructional staff and fellow course members. Logging in and reviewing the Orientation session is highly recommended so that participants can feel comfortable on the site and feel ready to begin Session 1. Session 1: Why Differentiated Instruction?
Understanding Goals: - What is differentiated instruction?
- What are the "differences" among students that count in a differentiated environment?
- How and where can I begin to work on differentiation in my own setting?
Session 1 introduces participants to the field of Differentiated Instruction. During this first session, participants explore their own perceptions about differentiation and ways they may already differentiate in their own classrooms. We will also look at the nature of the "differences" that students bring to bear in the classroom, and how those differences can be identified and used to good effect for each student. Participants will explore group-level differences and individual student differences. Each participant will identify an area of study that:
can be used as a Differentiating Instruction Project (DI Project-- i.e., a small unit of curriculum or lesson plan); has relevance for a particular student, set of students, or population with which he or she works (i.e., a 'hard-to-reach' child; a group of English Language Learners; etc.); and can be used as a basis to focus the participant's DI efforts throughout the six-session course. Session 2: Differentiating Content, Process, and Product
Understanding Goals: - What does it mean to differentiate content, process, and products?
- How can the Teaching for Understanding Framework help me identify essential areas of the curriculum to be differentiated?
- How do I begin to differentiate these elements in my setting?
- How can I expand my understanding of MI theory and Learning Styles?
There are three "places" where we can differentiate our curriculum and assessment to help us determine the "essentials" we want our students to understand, how we will get students to understand them, and how we will learn whether and to what degree students have truly understood: content, process, and products. This session focuses on Teaching for Understanding as a framework that can help us identify and align the essential elements of the curriculum: - Goals (What do I want students to learn and understand?);
- Performances of Understanding (What will I have students do?);
- Ongoing Assessment (How do I know what the students understand?).
Participants will use the framework to organize their DI Project, focus in on the essentials of the curriculum, and develop the unit more fully in terms of where and how they will differentiate. Session 3: Specific Strategies for Differentiating Content
Understanding Goals: - In what ways can I effectively differentiate the content of my courses?
- How do I manage differentiation, in terms of curriculum?
- How can I continue to build my understanding of the TFU framework?
Participants will explore and evaluate strategies for differentiating content including: compacting the curriculum, acceleration/deceleration, anchoring activities, and independent study projects. We will also investigate teaching strategies that activate students' various intelligences and speak to different types of learners. Participants will closely examine and revise the goals they have chosen as part of their DI Project.Session 4: Specific Strategies for Differentiating Assessment
Understanding Goals - How do I differentiate assessment of students' understanding and learning?
- How could I manage ongoing assessment in my setting?
- How can I expand my understanding of differentiating content for my diverse learners?
Ongoing assessment is an essential component of a differentiated classroom. In session 4 participants will focus on bringing differentiation to the classroom through various assessment strategies such as instructional rubrics, student reflections and portfolios. Participants will continue to work on their DI Projects, integrating assessment strategies and ideas. Session 5: Specific Strategies for Differentiating Process
Understanding Goals: - What are different grouping strategies?
- What are other effective strategies for differentiating process?
- How can I use these strategies to differentiate content, products and process effectively?
In this session, we will explore a range of grouping strategies, and the variables that come into play when choosing one strategy over another (i.e., grouping by interest vs. readiness; grouping by whole group vs. small groups vs. pairs; grouping by self-selected groups vs. assigned groups; and so on). Participants will also evaluate other strategies for differentiating process such as tiered assignments, interest centers, and contracts. They will discuss ways to manage these strategies in the classroom and try their hand at integrating grouping/process strategies into their DI Projects. Session 6: Looking Back, then Moving Forward with Differentiation
Understanding Goals: - What is my understanding of differentiated instruction and its place in my setting?
- How can I make the best use of all these strategies to differentiate content, process and products?
- Where will I find support as I expand my practice and continue building my understanding of differentiating instruction?
During this final course session, participants will take another look at specific differentiation strategies and reassess the usefulness of those strategies according to their teaching situation. We will discuss ways to manage choice in the differentiated classroom (i.e., giving students options in the content, processes, and/or products they undertake). Participants will share a "final" version of their DI Project for final feedback. They will reflect on how their ideas about differentiation have deepened and progressed over the course, seek support for any remaining questions they have, and discuss the implementation outcomes and management challenges they anticipate as they continue to carry out these ideas in their own classrooms. Professional Development Credit For those interested in earning professional development points/units/credits, a certificate for up to 42 hours will be issued upon completion of the course, if all the assignments have been completed-- approximately 7 hours per session.
Three additional hours may be earned by completing one or more of the following assessments, for a total of 45 participation hours: - midterm course evaluation (1 hour)
- final course evaluation (2 hours)
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