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Differentiation in the Art Classroom. Cathy Lee Frock Lead Art Teacher Mechanicsville Elementary School e-mail: clfrock@carrollk12.org. What is Differentiation in the Classroom and What does it Look Like?. Is a means of teaching instruction in the best interests of all learners.
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Differentiation in the Art Classroom • Cathy Lee Frock • Lead Art Teacher • Mechanicsville Elementary School • e-mail: clfrock@carrollk12.org
What is Differentiation in the Classroom and What does it Look Like? • Is a means of teaching instruction in the best interests of all learners. • Activities and lessons are planned so that every student will have the chance to expand what they already know. • Students get to work with peers that have differences in interests, similar skills, or they can work alone.
Differentiated Instruction Also Means.. • As a teacher, being able to recognize the diversity of learners in the classroom. • Realizing that students have different learning needs, strengths, styles, interests, and preferences. • Keeping up with change in curriculum standards and learning goals for all students. • Create a wide variety in teaching, learning, and assessing in order to reach every child as well as responding tho his or her preferences, interests, styles, and strengths.
In Addition, Differentiation Means... • Incorporating high levels of challenge and ensuring active engagement in rigorous, relevant, and significant learning. • Assessing what students already know and can do. • Being able to recognize that all students are unique and will not do the same work, the same way. • Looking at student’s needs and providing tasks that better match the learning need, style, and preferences. • Giving praise and nurturing each students’ ability to good choices about how to learn and to best present what they have learned. • Providing tiered assignments to better respond to students’ specific learning needs.
Morevover, Differentiation Means.... • To use flexible instructional grouping in order to provide opportunities for students to learn with others who have similar needs, styles, or preferences. • Understanding the importance and value of all students’ work. • Creating fair processes for evaluating student learning and assigning grades.
How to Access Differentiation • Teachers look for students’ interests both in and out of school and how they see themselves as learners (p. 22, 2002). • One way to accomplish this is by creating an interest inventory of the student. With your child, complete the interest inventory survey at Survey Monkey; website http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/H5WFMFM. The information you provide will be confidential. • Differentiation tiers grouping of students also by looking closely through two educational models - Howard Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences (p. 22, 2002) and Bloom’s Taxonomy. • In Gardner’s theory, teachers look for eight different ways students learn and think, and that each student has strengths and weaknesses among these. They are: Verbal/linguistic, logical/mathematical, visual/spatial, bodily/kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist.
Differentiation Continued • Bloom’s Taxonomy looks into the level of challenge for every child. This means that one must consider rigor, relevance, and complexity of what is being taught to the children. • Learning that is challenging demands: higher-level thinking that will motivate all children to succeed. • Instruction with substance that is relative to the essential curriculum. • content has both breadth and depth. • These challenge levels include from the bottom up; knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, evaluation, and synthesis. • Using an integrated matrix that incorporates both Gardner’s and Bloom’s theories is a useful tool for successful learning in all students, whether they are in flexible groups, partners, or by themselves (see sample integrated matrix, It’s a Bug’s Life, on this page.
Flexible Grouping • Question - What is flexible grouping, and how does it work in the art classroom? • Answer - “Flexible grouping is a means of creating instructional groups and prescribe specific activities that respond to a student’s needs” (Heacox, 2002). • Flexible groups work well especially after whole class instruction. • Is determined by teacher perceptions or evidence of learning needs. • The group is fluid. • Groups work on different activities based on needs, strengths, and preferences. • Students are grouped and regrouped as appropriate for particular activities. • Occurs as needed. • Is based on individual students’ skill proficiency, content, and mastery, learning preferences or interests.
What About Grading? S+ O+ Way to go! • Expectations will be clear and concise, yet specific. • Will be in “kid jargon”. • Grading is a reflection of high-level expectations. • Always written in positive statements and compassion. • Phrased to describe the floor, not the ceiling - meaning to state the minimum criteria. Use words such as, “at least” so as to not setting limits, but encouraging effort.
Works Cited • Heacox, D. (2002). Differentiating instruction in the regular classroom: how to reach and teach all learners, grades 3-12. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing Inc. • Survey Monkey Interest Inventory. Retrieved from website http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/H5WFMFM.