Nita

Understanding By Design Respectful Tasks - Need to know and understand students very well to make sure tasks are respectful...There are some grey areas about what may be respectful to a student Continuous Assessment - Is a wonderful thing...pre-assessment is key to understanding where your students are. It is important to use a variety of assessments before, during, and after learning. It also authenticates and monitors student learning. Quality Curriculumn - It is nice to have flexiblity within curriculumn. Interpretations of essential skills may be different depending on the teacher. The new curriculumn Sask. Ed. is putting out may not be Quality but teachers must still use it as a base for instruction. New teachers may have trouble identifing essential skills Supportive Learning Environment - This is the most important thing...If our students do not have a comfortable, safe learning environment that meets there basic needs they can not learn, even from the best teacher
 * Flexible Grouping - easy to do, remember to use only for short periods

Differentated Instruction is a way of looking at students that allows you to focus on the student first. It allows you to address and instruct what the student needs at an individual level instead of being focused on content and standardized instruction.

Differented Instruction is respectful of all students. When done correctly it supports inclusion of all students in the classroom. It allows all students to get targeted individualized instruction in their weak areas and enrichment activities in their areas of strength.

The biggest thing DI encouraged me to think about was its impact on resourse support in the schools. Under DI the Student Services teacher will have an opportunity to work with all students in a variety of situations and activities through flexible grouping. This will help support inclusion and give all students what they need to be successful. It also allows the Student Services teacher an opprtunity to provide enrichment for gived ot talented students who are often not supported due to time and funding issues. DI Action Research **


 * Coming to the Question **


 * Reconnaissance **


 * __ Teacher Beliefs: __**
 * Welcoming Respectful of differences **
 * Safe Fair **
 * Success-oriented Collaborative **
 * Growth-oriented **
 * __Beliefs in Action__ **
 * Routines Physical Environment **
 * Choice Relationships **
 * Celebrations **


 * Action and Data Collection **


 * What do I experiment with? What action will I take? **


 * Macklin School is experimenting with resource programming. The school resource teacher was assigned ½ an hour each day to work with each grade level. During this time the classroom teachers were instructed not to teach new material to the students. The resource teacher works with small groups on basic skills during this time. **


 * How will I collect data? **


 * I will design a survey to give teachers, parents, and students. This survey will evaluate the success of this program and help me to improve resource support in the following year. **


 * ** Teacher Survey ** ||
 * ** How much resource teacher support does your class receive each day? (not including intensive needs students or Speech) ** || ** 1 hour **
 * ½ hour **
 * 1 1/2 hours ** ||
 * ** Do your students like being pulled out for resource support? ** || ** Yes **
 * No ** ||
 * ** Do you collaborate with the resource teacher to design instruction and determine skills needed to be instructed during this time? ** || ** Yes **
 * No ** ||
 * ** Do you send the same group of students with the resource teacher every day? ** || ** Yes **
 * No ** ||
 * ** How did you decide what students would receive resource support? ** || ** Assessment **
 * Past Groupings **
 * Behavior **
 * Interest **
 * Learning Style **
 * Behavior **
 * Parent Request **
 * Other: _ ** ||
 * ** Do you know what flexible grouping is? ** || ** Yes **
 * No ** ||
 * ** Do you feel student learning is improved under the new resource room format? (What we are doing this year) ** || ** Yes **
 * No ** ||
 * ** Do you ever team teach with the resource teacher? ** || ** Yes **
 * No ** ||
 * ** Does the resource teacher ever teach the entire class so you have time to work with individual students? ** || ** Yes **
 * No ** ||
 * ** Do you feel ERI would benefit students in grades 1-6? ** || ** Yes **
 * No ** ||
 * ** Do you like having the resource teacher at parent teacher interviews? ** || ** Yes **
 * No ** ||
 * ** Do you think the tutoring program should be continued in the future? ** || ** Yes **
 * No ** ||
 * ** Do you think the Summer School Program should be continued? ** || ** Yes **
 * No ** ||
 * ** Have you ever heard children teasing other children because they receive resource support? ** || ** Yes **
 * No ** ||

ü ** What ideas and comments do you have to improve resource support in Macklin School? **


 * Signature: (optional) **


 * ** Parent Survey ** ||
 * ** How much resource teacher support does your child receive each day? ** || ** 1 hour **
 * ½ hour **
 * 1 1/2 hours **
 * Other: ** ||
 * ** Does your child like being pulled out for resource support? ** || ** Yes **
 * No ** ||
 * ** Do you collaborate with the resource teacher about what your child is being taught during resource time? ** || ** Yes **
 * No ** ||
 * ** Do you feel your child misses important classroom instruction because they are being pulled for resource support? ** || ** Yes **
 * No ** ||
 * ** Do you receive adequate information about your child’s reading level? ** || ** Yes **
 * No ** ||
 * ** Do you like having your child with you at parent teacher interviews? ** || ** Yes **
 * No ** ||
 * ** Do you feel your son or daughters learning is improved under the new resource room format? ** || ** Yes **
 * No ** ||
 * ** Do you feel the summer school program should be continued? ** || ** Yes **
 * No ** ||
 * ** Do you feel the after school tutoring program should be continued? ** || ** Yes **
 * No ** ||
 * ** Do you feel Early Reading Intervention would benefit students in grades 1-6? ** || ** Yes **
 * No ** ||
 * ** Do you like having the resource teacher at parent teacher interviews? ** || ** Yes **
 * No ** ||
 * ** Do you like receiving standardized test results? ** || ** Yes **
 * No ** ||
 * ** Do you think the Summer School Program should be continued? ** || ** Yes **
 * No ** ||
 * ** Have you ever heard children teasing other children because they receive resource support? ** || ** Yes **
 * No ** ||


 * Reflection **

> > > > > > > > > ** What does it mean? (interpretation) ** > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ** AHA! ** > > ** What does this mean for my practice? ** > > Differentiation > > I feel differention is teaching to individual students needs. It is making sure every student has the opportunity to learn in an environment that is adapted to meet their needs and has a chance to be a successful learner. > > [|Children Learn What they Live] > [|How We Learn] > [|What is Differentiation?] > [|What's Your learning Style?] > [|Expert Carol Ann Tomlinson answers questions on differentiating instructio]n [|Differentiated Planning Guides]
 * What does my data say? (analysis) **
 * All teachers like the resource support would like more. They feel to support DI they may need more resource time to make sure no students fall between the cracks.
 * Through resource time changes more gifted students are being enriched. However, teachers feel this may be at the expense of the weaker students
 * Students and parents like the flexible groupings. Allowing different groups to be pulled out aliviates some of the teasing that the students who have went to resource in the past have experenced
 * Teachers need more time for colloboration and assessment
 * Teachers and parents still request formal assessment to show where their student is at compared to others
 * Many teachers did not understand what flexible grouping was and needed support from resource teacher to implement it. A few teachers felt the resource time should be used for only weak students

Assessment for learning takes place before instruction occurs. It tell you what the student already knows and identifies any areas of weakness for the student.

Assessment as learning involves the student. It allows the student to take an active part in learning and have input and ownership of it. They become part of the process and work as part of a team with teachers, community, and parents.

Assessment of learning evaluates the success of student and teacher learning. It gives the team an idea of what to learn next or what to reteach.

Flexible Grouping
 * levels
 * interests
 * multiple intelligences
 * learning style
 * random

Respectful Tasks
 * All students should be offered tasks that encourage them to think at high levels of thinking.
 * All students should work with a wide variety of peers over time.
 * All students should have consistent opportunities to be active learners.
 * All students should sometimes be teachers.
 * All students should be involved with learning that is new to them.
 * All students should be consistently pushed a bit beyond their individual comfort zones. ASCD

Differentiated Day


 * Middle Years / High School
 * 1 hour treat people with blue eyes poorly switch for the next hour. Watch Brown Eyed Blue Eyed video and discuss feelings.
 * Do lesson similar to Fats Video that target certain learning styles. Discuss and watch movie.
 * Talk about different learning styles and take online test. Break into groups and have each group teach a topic aimed at a specific learning style. Rotate until each student has designed a lesson for each intelligence.
 * Elementary
 * Set up stations so each student can experience different learning differences (hearing, sight, speech, mobility, attention, gross motor, fine motor) Reflect on feelings.
 * Read and Talk about
 * Cookies by Amy Rosenthal
 * Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes
 * Hug Me by Patti Stren
 * Tough Boris by Mem Fox
 * The Straighth Line Wonder by Mem Fox
 * Ziba Came on a Boat By Robert Ingpen
 * Sister Ann's Hands by

Learning Profile I think a learning profile is a great idea. Teachers will not be asked to do something new but rather record and share the great things they are already doing in the classroom. These profiles could include any information the teacher feels has a significant impact the the individual student. Some students with complex learning styles may need a detailed learning profile. While students with less complexed learning styles may just need a quick one page checklist. Learning profiles will help educator to be more accountible for student learning becuse they record the screening, interventions, and assessments the teacher has done to promote learning success for the student. It will also help teachers track what learning interventions did not work in the past. This will stop different teachers from tring interventions that have not worked with the student in the past again.

Differentiated Learning: An Inclusive Approach for All Learners

The best approach to improving Special Education is to remove the traditional structure of labelling, segregation, and discrimination that currently exists in schools today. The Special Education system should be changed to one that is more responsive to the individual students learning styles and needs. Differentiation is a philosophy that will help the education system to reach the needs of all learners. Differentiation does not focus on labelling, diagnoses or segregation. It is conducive to inclusion, adaptation, and success for all learners. No two people learn the same way, therefore why do teachers teach in classrooms with the same methods of instruction, and segregate the students that do not fit in with a certain teaching style? Differentiated instruction is a way for all of Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences to be accommodated in the least restrictive environment for the individual student. It is time for school systems to stop discrimination based on learning differences and realize that all students in the system have a right to individualized instruction and programming. As a special education teacher I see the benefits of the Individualized Programming Plans (I.P.P) I collaboratively create for high needs students. These plans are created in cooperation with classroom teachers, educational assistances, parents, administrators, educational psychologists, speech and language specialists, counsellors, occupational therapists, and many other outside agencies. The School Plus (2002) model of collaboration between government agencies and the school system is clearly being utilized. A collaboratively written I.P.P. is clearly the best educational programming for the individual student. The I.P.P. challenges the school to change to meet the needs of the student for best learning. It does not make the learner change or exclude the learner because they do not fit the traditional school system. The current school system expects most students to adjust to the school when the school should really be adjusting to the students learning style. For years teachers have created lessons and taught them to students knowing that they are boring some students and teaching above the ability of others. Most teachers currently design lessons for the students in their classroom with average abilities and make some accommodations for individual learning levels through the use of the adaptive dimension. "Certain motivational states interfere with learning. Two adverse conditions especially dangerous: anxiety and boredom. Anxiety occurs primarily when teachers expect too much from students; boredom occurs when teachers expect too little. When curricular expectations are out of sync with students' abilities, not only does motivation decrease, but also achievement." (Csikszentmihalyi, Rathunde, //1994. p.56).// Thus the students with higher and lower academic ability gain very little from a lesson designed for students with average abilities. The idea of an individualized program for all students in the system would allow teachers to create individualized programming for all the students in their classrooms. This individualized planning will take the adaptive dimension strategies used by teachers into a higher level of accommodation called Differentiated Learning. Differentiated instruction allows the teacher to create programs, materials, and resources to meet the needs of the individual. It is guided by curriculum and programming that can be modified to meet the needs of the learner. Our goal in schools and classrooms everywhere is to create success for students in their lives through becoming self-directed, productive problem solvers and thinkers. "Differentiation is a philosophy that enables educators to plan strategically in order to reach the needs of the diverse learners in classrooms to achieve targeted standards. Differentiation is not a set of tools, but a belief system educators embrace to meet the unique needs of every learner." (Gregory, Gayle H.,Carolyn, Chapman, 2002. p. 2.). Supporters of differentiation as a philosophy believe all students have areas of strength and all students have areas that need to be strengthened. This belief encourages the inclusion of all students in the regular classroom. Documents such as the //Saskatchewan Education Act// (1995) suggest that schools are responsible to all children, not only those with exceptional needs, when providing an appropriate education. //The Education Act// (1995) Section 231 states that "a teacher shall: plan and organize the learning activities of the class with due regard for the individual difference and needs of the pupil." The act clearly outlines the role of a classroom teacher in the educational planning of all students. The past practice of excluding certain low incidence disabilities such as students with Autism Spectrum Disorder, visual disabilities, cognitive disabilities, hearing disabilities, learning disabilities, and complex medical needs from the classroom inappropriate. Programming for low incidence disabilities has generally been the responsibility of Special Education teachers. Differentiated instruction places the the responsibility of programming on the classroom teacher in cooperation with other team members. By making the classroom teacher responsible for high needs students they are more likely to take ownership of that student's learning and provide more opportunity for meaningful inclusion. The belief that all students have strength and all students have areas that need to be strengthen effects the programming for every student in the school. It becomes the teachers responsibility to make sure every student has a individualized program that is tailored to their own personal strength and addresses their need for improvement in certain areas. The first step to differentiated learning is creating a climate for learning. This climate should be the least restrictive environment and be one in which students feel safe and have a sense of belong. This environment should fulfill all of Abraham Maslow's (1968) hierarchy of needs. This makes physiological needs such as food, water, air and shelter the responsibility of schools. Schools may also find a need to teach basic social skills and values education. This teaching will help to create a safe climate for all learners. The school should also provide an opportunity for students to develop self-esteem and self-respect. It must give all students a sense of self-actualization and allow the individual to reach their full potential in a safe, secure environment. Differentiation is also based on the fact that all learners learn differently. When teachers vary instructional strategies and activities, more students develop the skills that will enable them to be successful in life. By targeting diverse intelligences and learning styles, teachers can design learning activities that help students to work with their areas of strength and also work on areas that still need strengthening. Using research-based best practices will ensure that more students develop the concepts and skills targeted. Howard Gardner's (1983) theory of multiple intelligences provides us with a guideline for differentiation. "It is of the utmost importance that we recognize and nurture all the varied human intelligences, and all of the combinations of intelligences. We are all so different largely because we all have different combinations of intelligences. If we recognize this, I think we will have at least a better chance of dealing appropriately with the many problems we face in the world." (Gregory, Chapman, __2002__. p.33). Gardner's eight multiple intelligences are verbal/linguistic, logical/mathematical, visual/spatial, musical/rhythmic, bodily/kinaesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist. These intelligences provide the framework for successful differentiated instruction. When planning for differentiation it is important to develop a learning profile for each student. This profile refers to a student's preferred mode of learning. A student's gender, culture, learning style, medical diagnoses, family situation, interests, and intelligence should be included in this profile. This profile should follow the student as they pass through the school system. The information that it contains will be useful to all teachers when planning for differentiated instruction. It can also be used to track and assess individual learning goals. This profile will also record teacher's attempts to provide ways of learning that make the learning journey of each student more efficient and effective. It may also track strategies that have failed to create learning opportunities for the student. A pre-assessment is necessary to determine what the student already knows. This pre-assessment can be formal or informal. It is essential to select assessment tools to suit the individual students. When developing a learning profile the skills of certain professionals and outside agencies may be utilized to gain a deeper understanding of how the specific individual learns best. A Learning and Interest Inventory may also be completed for the student. This is a questionnaire that asks students about their interests and the type of learning environment they learn best in. Questions are designed to establish whether students are auditory, visual, tactile, kinaesthetic, or tactile/kinaesthetic learners. They may also address learning preference for sound level, light level, cooperative vs. individual learning, design structure, motivation and persistence, responsibility, structure, and the best time of day for learning. Establishing what the essential skills are that the student needs to be successful is a key part of the learning profile. This can be done by collaborative meetings between teachers and different agencies who have knowledge of the child. It is important to include parents in this process. The process should make it clear what the student should know, be able to do, or exhibit after the learning experience. It should also outline a way for student learning to be measured and state clear expectation for student learning. Designing and developing a plan outlining how a student will acquire the new information and skills needed for the development of the essential skill is the next step in the process. Determining how the essential skill will be best taught and finding the resources and strategies best suited to the student's individual learning profile are all components to a successful program. The profile should also give students an opportunity to practice and become actively engaged with new learning in order to retain it. The profile must outline a way to asses student learning. A good profile clearly outlines what the student already knows, what the student needs to learn, and what the teacher will do if the student has trouble learning or quickly acquires the essential skill. Differentiating instruction requires a more conscious effort to analyze available data and make decisions about what is working and what needs to be adjusted. Teachers need to keep what works and discard practices that don't work. They need to have the authority to make changes to programs and curriculum in the best interest of the individual student. More responsibility, involvement, and a greater repertoire of strategies will help educators with differentiated instruction. The current education system is influenced by standard-based assessment and standardized provincial curriculum. Differentiated instruction represents a promising teaching method that may facilitate both high levels of student engagement and curricular achievement. Carol Ann Tomlinson, a leading proponent of differentiated instruction, states: "There is no contradiction between effective standards-based instruction and differentiation. Curriculum tells us what to teach: Differentiation tells us how. Thus, if we elect to teach a standards-based curriculum, differentiation simply suggests ways in which we can make that curriculum work best for varied learners. In other words, differentiation can show us how to teach the same standard to a range of learners by employing a variety of teaching and learning models. Differentiated instruction is based on the idea that because students differ significantly in their interests, learning styles, and readiness, teaching strategies and decisions involving issues of content, process, and product should vary accordingly." (Tomlinson, Carol Ann, 2001. p.8). A differentiated classroom is one in which the teacher responds to the unique needs of students. Teachers can strategically and effectively differentiate content, assessment tools, performance tasks, and instructional strategies. Teachers can achieve content differentiation by using different genres, levelling materials, using a variety of instructional materials and strategies, providing choice, and using selective abandonment. Most teachers are already effectively using differentiating assessment during and after learning. However, it is equally important to assess knowledge and interests prior to learning. Understanding what students already know about the upcoming topic is essential to planning quality learning experiences. Teachers must always remember to use a mixture of formal and informal tools for ongoing assessment. It is also important to provide students with differentiating performance tasks. Students can demonstrate learning in many different ways. Provide various opportunities and choices for learners to show what they know. When teachers vary instructional strategies and activities, more students learn content and information and develop the essential skills needed to be successful in life. By targeting diverse intelligences and learning styles, teachers can adapt curriculum to allow all students to be successful learners. This differentiation allows learners with different cognitive abilities to experience success in the same classroom. Differentiation faces many challenges. Standardized curriculum, high expectations for all students, multicultural diversity, rapid societal and technological change, and political and economic factors all influence the school system. In the past all students were not expected to succeed in the school system. Students that did not fit simply did not take part. Differentiated learning expects that all students will learn to their full potential and that all teachers will find a way to enable each individual to be successful. This puts a huge amount of pressure on the school system. Schools must now take responsibility for the learning of all students. Problem in society are now problems school systems are forced to address. Issues of nutrition, social skills, values education, safety, computer safety, abuse and inclusions are now included in the mandate of public education. We live in a global society of high accountability. This puts added pressure on school divisions to be accountable to the public about policies and procedures. School Divisions need to find a way to meaningfully assess the success of student learning. Tools and strategies for designing inclusive differentiated classrooms for diverse learners include creating a positive school climate, knowing the learner, assessing the learner, adjusting assignments, using a variety of instructional strategies, and different curriculum approaches. This approach is very similar to the I.P.P. process already used in Special Education in Saskatchewan. I think that expanding this process to include the development of programming for all students is the best way to achieve differentiated education. This process should be used by all educators when planning for all students. It will allow teachers to teach to the individual student instead of forcing the student to learn in a system that does not meet their learning needs. The system will be changed to meet the diverse learning needs of all student. Changing the current education system in Saskatchewan will not be easy. Teachers, parents, administrators, universities, and the general public will all need to be educated about changes in policy if differentiation is to be successful. The Pre-K-12 Continuous Improvement Framework: A Guide for School Division Strategic Planning is being implemented in Saskatchewan. This framework reflects a commitment to strategic planning as part of a government-wide accountability framework. The Continuous Improvement Framework (CIF) builds on the momentum of school divisions that have shifted their strategic planning efforts to include a results/outcomes orientation. The Impact Assessment Identification of Students Requiring Intensive Supports is part of this framework. This document includes references to differentiated instruction as a school-wide intervention. The government also includes references to differentiated instruction in all new curriculum. These references are to replace the Adaptive Dimension Document currently being used. Saskatchewan Learning has made differentiation a priority. In-services and professional development opportunities must be provided to teachers and administrators regarding the philosophy of differentiation. This training will explain why and how it can be achieved in a classroom environment. It is also necessary for universities to teach differentiated instruction to their students. Universities should also require new graduates to take more special education class. These classes will help new teachers plan for all students. If differentiation is successful we will no longer have special education teachers. We will only have teachers of differentiated students. These teachers will be able to provide all students with the learning environment that is best suited to their learning style. "Equality in education does not require that all students have exactly the same experiences. Rather, education in a democracy promises that everyone will have an equal opportunity to actualize their potential, to learn as much as they can." (Fiedler, 2002, p.111). "At the most basic level, differentiating instruction means changing what goes on in the classroom so that students have multiple options for taking information, making sense of ideas, and expressing what they learn. Teachers in differentiated classrooms begin with a clear and solid sense of what constitutes powerful curriculum and engaging instruction. Then they ask what it will take to modify that instruction so that each learner comes away with understandings and skills. Essentially, teachers in differentiated classrooms accept, embrace, and plan for the fact that learners bring many commonalities to school, but they also bring the essential differences that make them individuals." (Tomlinson, 1999, p.93). Using the philosophy of Differentiation as a foundation for instructional practices will lead to increased learning success and meaningful inclusion for all students in the education system.

__ References __ Fiedler, E.D., R.E. Lange. (2002). //In search of Reality: Unravelling the// Myths //about Tracking, Ability Grouping, and the Gifted.// Roper Review, United States of America. Gardner, H. (1993). //Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences//. (10th ed.) Basic Books, New York. Government of Saskatchewan. (1995). //The Education Act. R//etrieved September 17, 2008 from Government of Saskatchewan Web site: http://www.qp.gov.sk.ca/index.cfr Government of Saskatchewan. (2008). //Pre-K-12 Continuous Improvement Framework//. //R//etrieved October 2, 2008 from Government of Saskatchewan Web site: [|http://www.qp.gov.sk.ca] Gregory, Gayle H.,Carolyn, Chapman. (2007). //Differentiated Instructional Strategies//: Crowlan Press, California, United States of America. Spillman, Janet. (1991). //Differentiation - An Approach to Teaching and Learning//: Pearson Publishing, Chesterton Mill, Cambridge. Tomlinson, Carol Ann. (2001). //How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms//: Association for Supervision and Curriculum, Virginia, United States of America. Tomlinson, Carol Ann. (1999). //The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners//. //As//sociation for Supervision and Curriculum, Virginia, United States of America.