Matthew Conrick and Olivia Sutton Oliver W. Winch Middle School South Glens Falls, NY

1. NYS Middle Level Liasons November 14, 2008 Matthew Conrick and Olivia SuttonOliver W. Winch Middle SchoolSouth Glens Falls, NY Achieving Academic Excellence through Differentiation

2. Essential Elements: Schools-to-Watch • Academic Excellence • Developmental Responsiveness • Social Equity • Organization Structure and Process

3. AcademicExcellence High performing schools with middle grades are academically excellent. They challenge all students to use their minds well.

4. AcademicExcellence • All students are expected to meet high academic standards. • Instructional strategies include a variety of challenging and engaging activities that are clearly related to the concepts and skills be taught. • The adults in the school have opportunities to plan, select, and engage in professional development aligned with the NYS learning standards.

5. Oliver W. Winch Middle School Improvement Plan • Focus on Differentiated Instruction (DI) in all classrooms • ~ Promote higher order thinking skills to better reach all students • ~District Staff Development • Focus on student literacy across the content areas ~Work with a consultant to promote literacy skill development across all curricula.

6. Differentiated Instruction: District-wide Initiative Co-teaching with D.I. Grouping Strategies Multiple Intelligences Cooperative Learning

7. DI Team Training Train the Trainer: April 2006 • 3 Day Training with Differentiated Instruction Trainer/Educator Gayle Gregory • The 4-member District DI Training Team is created May 2006-August 2006 • District supported research and program development

8. District Trainings Administration Training & New Teacher-Mentor Training Summer 2006

9. District Trainings • Superintendent’s Day October 2006 • Middle School Math December 2006 • SE and GE Co-Teachers August 2007 • Administrator’s Training July 2007 • Train the Trainers for the SGF District July 2007 • DI 201 July 2008 • NYSMSA Pre-Conference: 2007, 2008 • Annually: New Teacher’s Training

10. Find someone who…

11. “What true differentiation first requires…is the realization that all learners vary in their readiness, interests, and learning profiles. Jumping off from this point, teachers can set up classrooms where everybody works toward essential understandings and skills, but uses different content, processes, and products to get there. Differentiation is all about options, [ ] and not about being punitive by just piling on additional work for the more able.” Hess, Mary Anne. “Teaching in Mixed-Ability Classrooms.” March 26, 1999. June 27, 2006 <http://www.weac.org/kids/1998-99/march99/differ.htm>.

12. Multiple Intelligences

13. Utilization of MI • Knowing the Learner • Recognizing the teacher’s MI with the purpose of “flexing” out of that MI while teaching • Development of lessons • Reaching multiple students’ MI at the same time within a lesson/unit • Formative/Summative Assessment

14. Classroom Climate

15. Classroom Climate in a DI Setting

22. Graffiti Wall Brendon’s pics here

26. Instructional Strategies at the Middle Level

27. MI Self-Test

30. Pre-Assessment • Determine student readiness • Placement/Grouping • Plan instruction

33. Formative Assessment • Plan next step of instruction • Gain useful feedback

34. Agree-Disagree • you think DI has improved overall classroom instruction in your building. • you have seen evidence of DI utilized in the classroom more frequently within the past school year. • you think some colleagues still view DI as “fluff.” • you feel that there is a clear connection between varied classroom instruction & data. • you think DI is being used as not only an instructional tool but also as a tool for assessment.

35. Step to the line if… • It is possible to fully cover my classroom curriculum through the use of DI teaching strategies. • Differentiation includes assessments as well as content, skills and activities. • I know where to go to get ideas for DI strategies that can be used in the classroom.

38. Summative Assessment • Evaluate degree of learning • Determine effectiveness and evaluate instruction • Evaluate appropriateness of assessment

39. “I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom”

41. Integrating UBD + DI “Together, backward design and differentiation describe a comprehensive way of thinking about curriculum, assessment, and instruction, stemming from a shared understanding of what constitutes effective teaching and learning” (Tomlinson & McTighe, 2006)

42. The Future… Bridging DI with other instructional practices such as: DI Train-the-Trainer UBD (Understanding Backward Design) Curriculum Mapping Literacy Taskforce

43. The Reality of Today’s Classrooms… “A seventh grade boy spends his time in English class struggling to read at a beginner’s level. A girl at a nearby desk with her nose in the book could probably tackle a Harvard literature class. Seated in between is a youngster who’s a whiz at math but takes a whole period to write three English sentences because he’s much more comfortable in his native Spanish.” Hess, Mary Anne. “Teaching in Mixed-Ability Classrooms.” March 26, 1999. June 27, 2006 <http://www.weac.org/kids/1998-99/march99/differ.htm>.

44. Question & Answer Session