Differentiated Instruction
in the Classroom

Effectively Meet the Needs of Diverse Students
A Graduate Course

 

 


Course Description

This course is designed to provide educators with the resources to create a learning environment that will maximize the potential for student success by using the strategies associated with differentiated instruction.  In this course the educator will gain knowledge of how to manage instructional time in a way that meets the standards and also provides motivating, challenging, and meaningful experiences for school age students by differentiating instruction. 

Participants will be presented with a variety of strategies for differentiating instruction by establishing a foundation in the principles of differentiated instruction.  They will understand what defines differentiation and recognize their role and responsibilities in a differentiated learning community.  Practical applications of how to differentiate with the content, process, and product will be explored while planning differentiated lessons.  They will establish quality criteria and assessments to clarify and evaluate assignments.  At the end of this course the educator will possess a repertoire of strategies for differentiating instruction that will allow them to respond to the diverse needs of the students in their classroom.

Objectives

  • Understand the rationale, goals, and principles of a differentiated classroom
  • Identify the role and responsibilities of the teacher in an effective differentiated learning community
  • Formulate essential and unit questions to focus instructional planning
  • Develop a Curriculum Map to support Curriculum Compacting techniques to determine the readiness of students
  • Analyze Bloom’s Levels of Thinking and Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences to develop varied instructional strategies and relevant learning activities 
  • Understand how to structure flexible grouping to support tiered assignments
  • Learn how to differentiate content, process, and products 
  • Identify special populations and examine the basics of differentiation for these students
  • Establish quality criteria for assessing differentiated instruction
  • Develop differentiated units of study

Curriculum Design

Students will be involved in a variety of tasks to complete course requirements. The following methodologies will be used during the course: lectures, reading, individual and group discussions, cooperative learning, applied practice assignments, development of lesson plans and unit, and reflective written responses. Modules 1 through 9 will be completed one per week. Module 10 will be completed over a two-week period so students will have time to revise and complete the final integration project. This is an online sixty-hour, three credit graduate level course that is completed over a thirteen-week period.

Course Materials

The required textbook is Differentiating Instruction in the Regular Classroom written by Diane Heacox, Ed.D.  A variety of readings and resources will be referenced throughout the course. Additional supplementary readings and resources will be provided.


Session Outline
Module 1: Understanding Differentiated Instruction
Contents:
  1. Introductions
  2. Establishing class/group expectations and norms
  3. Course overview
  4. Establishing individual course expectations and goals
  5. Course requirements
  6. Course registration
  7. What is differentiated instruction?
  8. You may be differentiating already
  9. The goals of differentiated instruction
  10. What do we differentiate?
  11. Six essential principles of differentiation
Module 2: The Role of the Teacher, Characteristics of a Differentiated Learning Environment, Managing a Differentiated Classroom, and Tools for Gathering Information about Students
Contents:
  1. The teacher as a facilitator and collaborator
  2. Qualities of a supportive classroom environment for differentiation
  3. The flexible learning environment
  4. Managing Differentiation
  5. The importance of knowing your students
  6. Academic history
  7. Student Learning Profile
  8. Student interest
  9. Interest Inventory
  10. Understanding multiple intelligences
  11. Multiple Intelligence Checklist

Module 3: Essential Questions
Contents:
  1. Identify the concepts or ideas that are most important to the understanding of the curriculum
  2. Writing essential questions
  3. Using the essential questions as a teaching tool
  4. Designing unit-level questions
  5. Writing unit questions
  6. Using unit questions as a teaching tool
  7. Using essential and unit questions to differentiate instruction
  8. Developing a unit with essential and unit questions


Module 4: Curriculum Compacting and Curriculum Mapping
Contents

  1. Understanding the purpose of Curriculum Mapping
  2. How to use and develop a Curriculum Map
  3. Developing a Curriculum Map
  4. Understanding the purposes of Curriculum Compacting
  5. The Curriculum Compacting process
  6. Develop a Curriculum Compact for a particular area of the curriculum


Module 5: The Challenge and Variety of Differentiated Instruction
Contents:
  1. Understanding Bloom’s Taxonomy
  2. Using Bloom’s Taxonomy to differentiate instruction
  3. Identifying Gardner’s eight ways of thinking and learning
  4. Integrating Bloom’s and Gardner’s multiple intelligences
  5. Developing an Integration Matrix
Module 6: Flexible Grouping and Tiered Assignments
  1. Compare and contrast three kinds of groups associated with differentiated instruction
  2. Personalizing learning with flexible grouping
  3. The when, where, and how of flexible grouping
  4. Managing flexible grouping
  5. Planning for flexible grouping
  6. The purpose of tiered assignments
  7. Six ways to structure tiered assignments
  8. Deciding when and how to tier assignments
  9. Guideline for tiered assignments
  10. How to organize groups and give directions using tiered assignments
  11. Develop a tiered assignment

Module 7: Differentiating Content, Process, and Products  
Contents:

  1. Differentiating content in response to a student’s readiness level, interest, or learning profile
  2. Strategies for differentiating content: Concept-based teaching, varied text and resource materials, learning contracts, mini lessons, and varied support systems
  3. Differentiating opportunities for students to process the ideas or concepts
  4. Flexible and responsive strategies which support differentiated instruction
  5. Assessing student knowledge by creating high-quality products
  6. Steps to developing a product assignment
  7. Guidelines for product assignments
  8. Differentiating products at various grade levels and ability levels
  9. Develop a differentiated lesson with content, process, and products

    10.  

Module 8: How to Differentiate for Special Populations
Contents:
  1. Differentiating Instruction for special needs students
  2. Learning Disabled
  3. Behavior Disorders
  4. Physical Disabilities
  5. Autism Spectrum Disorders
  6. Guidelines to create a differentiated profile for special needs students
  7. Differentiated strategies for special needs students
  8. Differentiated instruction for gifted and talented students
  9. Characteristics of gifted students
  10. High achievers vs. gifted learners
  11. Examine curriculum with SCAMPER
  12. Curriculum compacting for the gifted student
  13. Individual learning plan
  14. Mentors

Module 9: Assessment
Contents:

  1. Establishing quality criteria for differentiated instruction
  2. Grades
  3. Assessing their own work and peer evaluation
  4. Rigor
  5. Record keeping
  6. Developing rubrics
Module 10: Planning a Differentiated Unit of Study
Contents:
  1. Questions to guide the planning of a differentiated unit of study
  2. The CCPP Toolkit
  3. Developing a unit of study
  4. Final exam
  5. Lesson presentations
  6. Evaluations
Grading
    Assignment Points     Grading Scale      
    Forum Postings - 7 @ 2 points each 014        100 – 93 A    
    Differentiated Activities - 7 @ 5 points each 035         92 – 85 B    
Reflective Responses - 9 @ 3 points each 027     84 – 77 C
    Project: Differentiated Unit of Study 024            
                   
    Total Points 100            

Student Requirements
  1. Participation: actively participate in all forum activities
  2. Complete all reading and reflective responses
  3. Develop a differentiated lesson
  4. Complete a differentiated unit of study

Student Academic Integrity
Participants guarantee that all academic class work is original. Any academic dishonesty or plagiarism (to take ideas, writings, etc. from another and offer them as one's own), is a violation of student academic behavior standards as outlined by our partnering colleges and universities and is subject to academic disciplinary action.

Register
To register to take TEI's Differentiated Instruction graduate course, go to the Course Registration page.

  

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