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Differentiating for AIG Learners: The Basics Session #1

Learn the importance of differentiating for AIG learners to provide appropriate challenge, engage effectively, and maintain focus on their growth. Identify strategies, characteristics, and approaches for successful differentiation, including curriculum compacting, seminars, and concept-based teaching. Understand the significance of assessing and evaluating materials tailored for AIG students and explore ways to engage with students and colleagues to enhance differentiation practices. Develop actionable goals to elevate differentiation and create a learner-centered classroom environment.

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Differentiating for AIG Learners: The Basics Session #1

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  1. AIG Booster Shots Differentiating for AIG Learners: The BasicsSession #1

  2. Why differentiate for AIG learners? • To ensure appropriate challenge for AIG learners • To make effective use of class time to support growth in AIG learners • To maintain focus on AIG learners

  3. 2-Minute Reflection • What does differentiation mean to you? • What comes to mind when you hear the term differentiation? • How do you define differentiation?

  4. What is differentiation? • A proactive response • Focused on students’ needs • Provides an appropriate balance of challenge and success for all learners • Addresses abilities, interests, and learning profiles

  5. Let’s STOP relying on these approaches… • “Do 10 more” • “Read a book” • “Help a friend” Though many of us were taught to use these strategies with our fastest and most able learners, let’s consider why each of this is not effective with these learners.

  6. Steps for differentiating… Step #1: Be clear about the standards and objectives we’re teaching.

  7. 2-Minute Reflection • What’s makes something you teach truly meaningful and important for your students? • How do you know when something is critical for students to learn?

  8. Steps for differentiating… Step #2: Know our students AND the characteristics of gifted learners.

  9. 3-Minute Reflection • What are the characteristics of gifted learners? • Brainstorm these characteristics and think about students who you know who demonstrate them. • What behaviors do these students demonstrate?

  10. Some “classic” characteristics of AIG learners • Learn new information quickly • Make insightful connections • Interested in “adult” topics and sophisticated humor • Think creatively and abstractly • Display strong memories • Drawn to adults and older students • Possess a strong sense of right and wrong • Can be disorganized

  11. Steps for differentiating… Step #3: Make time to work with gifted learners in small groups and individually.

  12. Steps for differentiating… Step #4: Be FLEXIBLE!

  13. 3-Minute Reflection • What strategies do you know of that work well with gifted learners? • Which strategies seem most effective with them? • Consider strategies you currently use as well as ones that you’ve heard about and would like to learn more about.

  14. Some strategies that challenge gifted learners: • Curriculum Compacting • Seminars • Concept-based Teaching The ultimate goal, regardless of the strategy, is to move AIG students beyond the basics as quickly as possible.

  15. What can we differentiate to better challenge AIG learners? • Content: what students are learning and the resources they’re using • Process: the activities that students participate in to make sense of material and develop skills • Product: how students show us what they’ve learned

  16. A look at differentiating content, process, and product in spelling • Content: Students have different spelling lists. • Process: Students have the same list but complete different activities based on it. • Product: Students take different types of spelling assessments.

  17. Evaluating materials for AIG learners As we explore resources designed for gifted learners, we should ask ourselves several questions: • Does this lesson demand genuinely high-level thinking or does it rely on basic recall and restating of information? • Will the learners need support as they work with this lesson or does it draw only on what they already know and can do? • Does the lesson provide sufficient guidance and information so that learners can actually be successful with it?

  18. More ways to get started • Discuss your gifted learners with your team/PLC: Who are they? What do they need? • Design a lesson for gifted leaners and seek feedback on it from a colleague. • Teach a lesson to your gifted learners and get their feedback on it.

  19. The critical role of assessment • Good differentiation requires on-going and thoughtful assessment, starting with pre-assessment. • What we’re about to teach will be better if we find out ahead of time what students already know about it.

  20. 4-Minute Reflection • What are your next steps in terms of meeting your gifted learners’ needs? • Set 2-3 goals for yourself. Make your goals both doable and challenging, and give yourself a time limit on them. What do you want to accomplish and by when? • If working with a group, what plan can you put in place to move everyone forward with differentiation?

  21. Last (but important) thoughts! • In order to differentiate successfully, we must be willing to reflect on our roles in our classrooms…and shift from a “sage on the stage” to a “guide on the side” paradigm. • Everyone is a learner in a well differentiated classroom.

  22. Upcoming AIG Booster Shots • Effective Questioning • Curriculum Compacting • Tiered assignments • Seminars • Concept-based teaching • Concept Development • Projects, independent studies, small-group investigations

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