Meeting the Needs of all Learners

1. Meeting the Needs of all Learners Dr. Elana Milstein

2. “Diversity has become the norm among the students in the classrooms of today”(Johnson, 1990) • Languages • Families • Cultural backgrounds • Economics • Experiential background

3. Student Diversity • Aptitude • Achievement • Interest • Motivation • Needs • Ability

4. Traditional Major focus on content Content acquisition Lock step progress Evolving Content & process balance Learning to learn Continuous progress Paradigm Shift in Education:Curriculum

5. Traditional Teacher-centered Single textbook Single instructional approach Passive learning Evolving Child-centered Resource-based learning Multiple approaches to instruction Active learning Instruction

6. Traditional Competitive System level management Supervision of learners Hierarchical structures Evolving Cooperative School-site management Empowerment of learners Professional/collegial structures Environment

7. Students need to become … • Independent • Active • Self-organizing • Responsible • Empowered

8. Brain Research Confirms what teachers have always known: • No two children are alike.  • No two children learn in the identical way.  • An enriched environment for one student is not necessarily enriched for another.  • In the classroom we should teach children to think for themselves.  --Marian Diamond

9. Differentiation is a philosophy that enables teachers to plan strategically in order to reach the needs of diverse learners in the classrooms.

10. Differentiation IS NOT • Tracking • A New Strategy • Static • Teaching to the Middle • Synonymous with Individualization

11. Differentiate? What? • Content & Materials • Process & Strategies • Assessment & Assignments • Time • Based on readiness and interests

13. Climate • Effective teachers believe that all children can learn and be successful. • Effective teachers create a climate where all students feel included. • Effective teachers feel that there is potential in each learner and commit to finding the key that will unlock that potential.

14. Knowing the Learner • We need to know the learner so that we can make sure that the curriculum fits. • We need to know how students access, process, and express information- • We need to know their learning styles. • We need to know their thinking styles.

15. Assessing the Learner • Just as one size of learning doesn’t fit all, one size of assessment doesn’t suit either. • We need to pre-assess the learner so that we can find out what they already know. • We need to assess during the learning- use ongoing assessments. • We need to assess after the learning.

16. Adjustable Assignments • Allow teachers to help students focus on essential skills and understanding key concepts, recognizing that they may be at different levels of readiness. • Students have the opportunity to develop essential skills and understanding at his or her appropriate level of challenge.

18. Instructional Strategies • Teachers who use a variety of instructional strategies add novelty, choice, and individuality to learning. • As teachers build their repertoire of instructional strategies, they will see how they can adjust the learning for a group of learners and how different strategies appeal to different learners.

19. Curriculum Approaches • Curriculum can be delivered in many ways so that it will appeal to individual learners • Centers or stations • Projects • Problem-based learning • Inquiry • Contracts

20. Adaptations in … • Content • Process • Product

21. Multiple texts Varied time Contracts Compacting Group investigation Content

22. Learning centers Multiple intelligences Graphic organizers Simulations Learning logs Process

23. Independent study Community–based projects Multiple intelligence-based orientations Presentations Arts Multimedia Product

24. A New Direction “Teachers guide students down many paths to a common destination” Mary Anne Hess

25. “If children can’t learn the way we teach, we should teach them the way they learn.”

26. “Differentiated instruction means shaking up what goes on in the classroom so that students have multiple options for taking in information, making sense of ideas, and expressing what they learn.” Carol Ann Tomlinson

27. Differentiated Classroom: What is it? “Differentiated instruction is not a strategy to be used from time to time, not a bag of tricks approach. It’s a way of thinking about teaching and learning.” ~ Carol Ann Tomlinson~

28. “Differentiated instruction is not a strategy to be used from time to time, not a bag of tricks approach. It’s a way of thinking about teaching and learning.” ~ Carol Ann Tomlinson~