Differentiation instructions

Opuwo – Kunene region

September
 Please finish this sentence with the best answer.
Differentiation _____.
• i) means that there is never any whole-class instruction
• ii) means that some students will never have to do things
they do not want to do, like write an essay
• iii) means that teachers teach in the ways that students in
the class learn best
• iv) means that the students run the classroom
 Which one of the following is NOT a way in which instruction can be differentiated to
meet the needs of all learners?

• i) Modifying how content is presented by the teacher

• ii) Discarding the curriculum and teaching only to student
interests
• iii) Offering product choices
• iv) Allowing students to process information in different
ways
 Which of the following is NOT an example of differentiated instruction?

• i) Allowing students to answer test questions in essay form or

to choose to use a graphic organizer
• ii) Giving students the opportunity to solve a fraction sum
using area models
• iii) Having all students read a mathematics chapter and answer
the questions at the end to teach new content
• iv) Providing students with prepared teacher notes to
accompany a lecture mini-lesson
 Tiered instruction is...
• i) A means of assigning different tasks within the same
lesson or unit.
• ii) A way to alphabetize the students in the class.
• iii) A way to assess student work.
• iv) The same thing as scaffolding
 What can be tiered?
• i) Products, Special Areas & Research
• ii) Content, Process & Product
• iii) Collaboration, Homework & Data
• iv) Curriculum, Prompts & Protocols
 Check
• iii
• ii
• iii
• I
• ii
A wise man once said; there is no greater inequality than the equal
treatment of unequal!!
• The Namibian government emphasizes on educational equity.
• This refers to a measure of achievement, fairness, and equal
opportunity in education.
• It dependent on two main factors: fairness, one's personal
conditions should not interfere with the potential of academic
success.
• And is inclusion, which refers to a comprehensive standard
that applies to everyone in a certain education system.
• Teaching for equity requires providing learners with equal
opportunity to learn mathematics.
• It attempts to attain equal outcomes for all students yet being
sensitive to individual differences.
• Teachers need to change their attitude that some learners
cannot ‘do’ as this show that those learners don’t have
opportunities to prove otherwise.
• In past years; some groups of learners were not expected to do
as well in mathematics than others;
• Including learners with special needs, learners of colour,
female and learners from low-socioeconomic status.
• Teaching for equity is more than providing learners with equal
opportunity to learn mathematics
• It is not enough to require the same mathematics courses, give
the same assignments, and use identical assignment criteria
• Teaching for equity attempts to attain equal outcomes for all
learners by being sensitive to their differences.
 Differentiation instructions
• is defined as ‘the process by which differences between
learners are accommodated so that all students in a group
have the best possible chance of learning’.
• In recent decades it has come to be considered a key skill for
any teacher, especially those of mixed-ability classes.
 Differentiating instruction
• When a teacher reaches out to an individual or small group to
vary his or her teaching in order to create the best learning
experience possible, that teacher is differentiating instruction.
• At its most basic level, differentiation consists of the efforts of
teachers to respond to different learners in the classroom.
 Differentiating instruction
• Means the lesson includes strategies to support the range of
different academic background found in the classroom.
• Differentiation means modifying instruction to meet individual
needs.
• When considering what to differentiate consider the profile of
each child and what can be differentiated.
• Teachers can differentiate at least four classroom elements
based on student readiness, interest, or learning profile:
• Whether teachers differentiate content, process, products, or
the learning environment, the use of ongoing assessment and
flexible grouping makes this a successful approach to
instruction.
• Content – what the learner needs to learn or how the learners
will get access to the information;
• Process – activities in which the learner engages in order to
make sense of or master the content;
• Products – ending projects that ask the learner to rehearse,
apply, and extend what he or she has learned in a unit; and
• Learning environment – the way the classroom works and feels.
 Content
Examples of differentiating content at the elementary level
include the following:
• Using reading materials at varying readability levels;
• Putting text materials on tape;
• Using vocabulary lists at readiness levels of learners;
• Create a power point presentation summarizing the lesson
• Presenting ideas through both auditory and visual means;
• Using reading buddies; and
• Meeting with small groups to re-teach an idea or skill for
struggling learners, or to extend the thinking or skills of
advanced learners.
 Process
Examples of differentiating process or activities at the
elementary level include the following:
• Using tiered activities
• a differentiated instructional strategy in which all students
work toward the same goal, but activities are geared toward
each students level of understanding.
• assignments are designed for different abilities and learning
styles.
• students work at varied degrees of difficulty on their tasks,
they work on the same "big ideas" but at different levels of
thought.
• tiered instruction is a means of teaching one concept and
meeting the different learning needs in a group.
• Successful differentiation includes delivering the materials to
each learning style, e.g. visual, auditory, and kinesthetic.
• Provide textbooks for visual and word learners
• Allow auditory learners to listen to audio books
• Give kinesthetic learners the opportunity to complete an
interactive assignment online
• Offering manipulatives or other hands-on supports for learners
who need them; and
• Varying the length of time a learner may take to complete a
task in order to provide additional support for a struggling
learner or to encourage an advanced learner to pursue a topic
in greater depth.
 Product
Examples of differentiating products at the elementary level
include the following:
• Giving learners options of how to express required learning
(e.g., create a puppet show, write a letter, or develop a painting
with labels);
• Allowing learners to work alone or in small groups on their
products; and
• Encouraging students to create their own product assignments
as long as the assignments contain required elements.
• Read and write a book report
• Give oral report (auditory learners)
 Learning environment
Examples of differentiating learning environment at the
elementary level include:
• Making sure there are places in the room to work quietly and
without distraction, as well as places that invite student
collaboration;
• Providing materials that reflect a variety of cultures and home
settings;
• Setting out clear guidelines for independent work that matches
individual needs;
• Developing routines that allow students to get help when
teachers are busy with other students and cannot help them
immediately; and
• Helping students understand that some learners need to move
around to learn, while others do better sitting quietly
 Teachers who practice differentiation instruction
• Design lessons based on students’ learning style
• Group students by shared interest, topic, or ability for
assignments
• Use formative assessment to assess learners’ learning
• Manage the classroom to create a safe and supportive
environment
• Continually adjust lesson content to meet learners’ needs.
 Advantages of dif.
• Is effective for high-ability learners and learners with mild to
severe disability
• Learners are given more options on how they can learn the
materials
• Learners take on more responsibilities of their own learning
• Learners are more engaged in their learning
• Fewer disciplinary problems in differentiated classrooms
Methods of differentiation
• Task
• Grouping
• Resources
• Pace
• Outcome
• Dialogue and support
• Assessment
Task.
• differentiation by task, involves setting different tasks for students of
different abilities.
• One way to achieve this may be to produce different sets of
worksheets or exercises depending on students’ abilities.
• However, some teachers are loath to employ this method because of
both the social implications and the additional planning it entails.
Task…
• An alternative method is to use a single worksheet comprised of tasks
which get progressively harder.
• The more advanced students will quickly progress to the later
questions whilst the less able can concentrate on grasping the
essentials.
grouping
• Collaborative learning has many well-documented benefits such as
enabling shy students to participate more confidently in class,
• Small, mixed-ability groups allow lower achievers to take advantage of
peer support whilst higher achievers gain the opportunity to organise
and voice their thoughts for the benefit of the whole group (known as
peer modelling).
• Grouping also allows roles to be allocated within the team which
cater for each member’s skill set and learning needs.
resources
• In this method it’s important to recognise that some students can
work with more advanced resources than others,
• it is possible to use multiple materials in order to approach a topic
from different angles.
• This means that while some may require quite basic texts with
illustrations, others are capable of working with more advanced
vocabulary and complex ideas.
resources
• Differentiation of this kind allows a wide spectrum of materials to be
used to attain a single learning outcome.
• It’s a method that is greatly assisted by advances in technology, and
the use of educational video in the classroom, which is why it is
becoming more prevalent.
pace
• In the traditional classroom, activities are completed within a single
time frame, irrespective of the level of difficulty for some students.
• The result is that more advanced learners can be held back to the
speed of the less able ones, and at the other end of the scale,
• some may simply find it impossible to keep up.
• When differentiation is used in lesson planning, the available time is
used flexibly in order to meet all students’ needs.
Pace
• Students who quickly grasp core activities need not be held back
because their classmates need to spend more time on the
fundamentals of a topic.
• They can instead be allocated more challenging extension tasks in
order to develop a more rounded understanding of the subject matter
or
• even to progress through the set course more quickly.
Outcome
• Differentiation by outcome is a technique whereby all students
undertake the same task but a variety of results is expected and
acceptable.
• E.g., the teacher sets a task but instead of working towards a single
‘right’ answer, the students arrive at a personalised outcome
depending on their level of ability.
Outcome
• It’s a method about which some teachers have reservations as there
is a risk that the less able students will fall below an acceptable level
of understanding,
• however that risk can be mitigated somewhat by establishing a clear
set of guidelines that apply to all students,
• it does offer one clear advantage in that no prior grouping is
necessary.
Dialogue and support

• Differentiation by dialogue is the most regularly used type of

differentiation in the classroom.
• the emphasis is on the role of the teacher, who must facilitate
problem solving by identifying:
which students need detailed explanations in simple language and,
which students can engage in dialogue at a more sophisticated level.
Dialogue and support
• The teacher may also employ targeted questioning to produce a range
of responses and to challenge the more able students.
• Verbal support and encouragement also plays a crucial part in this
technique.
Assessment
• In the differentiated classroom, rather than assessment taking place
at the end of learning, students are assessed on an on-going basis so
that teaching, and
• indeed the other methods of differentiation, can be continuously
adjusted according to the learners’ needs.
• Differentiation in the classroom is all about understanding that we
are dealing with a group of diverse individuals and
• adapting our teaching to ensure that all learners have access to learn
Assessment
• It should be an on-going and flexible process which not only profiles
students initially but
• also recognises progress and areas for improvement and adjusts
accordingly to ensure learning needs continue to be met.
• In short, it shifts the focus from teaching a subject to teaching the
students.
 Differentiation is a means to make inclusion
a reality
• Inclusion in education implies that all learners are taught in the
general or mainstream and not separated or excluded based on the
need for additional support or enrichment.
• Differentiation welcome all learners to participate and learn together
in a classroom.
• Differentiation is a fundamentally more inclusive of much more
human diversity as content, processes and products are changed to
meet individual needs.
Differentiation enables learners to experience
success
• Differentiations offers option, enable learners to experience and show
what they can do, rather that what they cannot do.
• Learners who experience success are more likely to be motivated to
learn as it is discouraging and frustrating when the pace of work is too
fast or the work is too difficult.
Differentiation prevents learning gaps from
occurring
• If teachers in the subsequent grade do not find a way to ensure that
the knowledge and skills of the previous year are acquired, learning
gaps can occur.
• The gaps widen year after year if foundational concepts are not fully
mastered.
• Differentiation ensures that as learners progress, they are given
opportunity if necessary to consolidate the learning of previous
grades.
Differentiation reduces challenging behavior
in the classrooms
• When learners are engaged in interesting and relevant learning
activities, there is little time, opportunity or incentive for disruptive
behavior.
• If learners are bored because they finished and activity before their
peer will start to disrupt others
• If learners are given difficult tasks, they become frustrated and give
up and also become disruptive.
• Activities need to be relevant and meaningful to the life world of the
learners and at appropriate level to prevent unacceptable classroom
behaviours.
You Don't Need to Re-invent the Wheel
• Differentiation is not easy, but the reality is our classrooms are
becoming more diverse and it has been proven that without
differentiation we are failing our gifted and high-achieving students.
• Targeting individual student intelligences with consideration of gender
differences, preferred learning styles and cultural differences
becomes an even greater challenge for teachers.