DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION (DI) PRACTICUM
The following is a summary of key components and resources that will be explored in the DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION (DI) sessions at York. Please feel free to use the suggestions and resources to support your role as a Mentor Teacher.
1. DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION
Talk with your Teacher Candidate (TC) about how “one size fits all” instruction does not address the needs of many students. Help your TC understand the students in your classroom. Do you have students working at different levels of ability within a grade level? Do you have anyone working at a grade below/above? Do you have children identified with special needs, on an IEP or with other learning challenges? Do you have English language learners?
Review the different needs in today’s classrooms:
- Academic levels (reading levels, mathematical understanding…)
- Learning Styles/ Multiple Intelligences (Linguistic, kinesthetic, spatial, musical, logical-mathematical, intrapersonal, interpersonal, naturalist)
- ELL (English Language Learner) level
- Learning Disabilities
- Cultural background
- Gender differences
- Prior experiences
Remind your TC that teachers need to differentiate instruction in order to meet the needs of all students. Differentiation involves getting to the core of teaching and learning.
2. DIFFERENTIATION PRINCIPLES
Talk with your candidate about the following principles of differentiation:
- Designing respectful tasks that challenge, engage interest and extend all learners.
- Setting clear learning goals that focus on big ideas and are supported by clear standards.
- Utilizing flexible groups
- Supporting collaboration in a diverse community of learners
- Maintaining ongoing assessment and evaluation
The DI flow chart provides a visual summary of the differentiation of instruction.
3. DIFFERENTIATING THE ENVIRONMENT
Talk to your candidate about how you differentiate the environment. Environmental differentiation includes attention to the following:
- Time: How is teaching and learning time maximized in each school day? How is the school day structured to provide large, uninterrupted blocks of time for learning activities?
- Space: How does the physical layout of your classroom support learning?
- Resources: How do you set up the classroom to accommodate different groupings of students? How do you integrate a broad range of learning materials in the room?
- Routines: How do you establish routines to make both teaching and learning easier?
- Displays: How do your wall displays affect the environment in the classroom? Are students clear about what is important? How do your displays of material promote inclusiveness?
4. DIFFERENTIATING THE PROCESS
Remind your TC that teachers maintain the expectation that all students will process the content/acquire understanding. Explain that we can change how they process the content by:
- Providing opportunities to work individually, or in a group
- Providing multiple ways to conduct research
- Designing tiered questions/activities
- Varying the pacing and time required
- Addressing the preferred intelligence or learning style
5. DIFFERENTIATING THE PRODUCT
Remind your TC that teachers maintain the expectation that all students will demonstrate understanding of the same overall expectations and big ideas. Explain how we can changehow they demonstrate understanding by:
- Providing opportunities to work individually or in a group
- Varying the text form for written responses
- Providing opportunities to demonstrate the complexity/simplicity of the understanding
- Providing a range of means of presentation
- Addressing various forms of intelligence used to demonstrate the learning
6. DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGIES
Review the following general strategies with your candidate:
- Identify the resources necessary to support all student needs
- Provide choice
- Vary materials
- Group and regroup for different purposes
- Build in movement (e.g., transitions, drama responses).
- Provide visual cues (e.g., anchor charts, use of colour and font to highlight information).
- Provide auditory cues (e.g., routine instructions, transition music).
- Provide extra time to complete tasks.
- Build in extra practice.
- Adjust the pacing of instruction.
More information about differentiation strategies is available in the Overview of DI Strategies.
For students in a second placement, you can talk about how you incorporate Marzano’s high yield strategies in your classroom.
7. STRUCTURES FOR DIFFERENTIATION
Explain how you use the following structures:
- Choice Boards
- Cubing
- Learning Stations
- Learning Contracts
- R.A.F.T.s (Role, Audience, Format, Topic)
- Tiering
- Compacting
