Our topic for January was differentiation in the gifted classroom. We had a great featured guest: Laurie Westphal (@GTConsultant). If you haven't read any of her books, I would suggestion you do. They are very helpful, and full of great content ideas. I would also suggest you follow her on Twitter. We had a great discussion on some of the obsticles to differentiate, issues when differentiating, and some differentiation strategies teachers are using. I hope that you read the transcript for yourself, and glean some of the great advice that was givien out by Laurie.
After the converation was over, I recieved an email from Laurie with a list of resources. With her permission, I posted those links below. The resources below are awesome. I hope that you take advantage of them.
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“The ultimate aim of education is creation of the power of self-control.” John Dewey
“A key principle of differentiation is that all students are moving toward the same instructional objectives” (Moon, 2005, p. 231).
“Asking the right questions has an enormous impact on how we pursue equity and excellence in our classrooms.” Carol Ann Tomlinson
“What is fair isn't always equal.” Rick Wormeli
“Fun isn’t the objective. It’s the result of great teaching!” Bertie Kingore
“When all kids have the same answers, I have no clue what they really know.” Bertie Kingore
Differentiation and Learning Styles:
http://www.virtualeduc.com/newsletters/cwu/mar/images/Differentation_strategies.pdf
Popular Low-Prep v. High prep list:
http://farr-integratingit.net/Trainings/Differentiate/LoPrepHiPrep.htm
List of differentiation activities 4-12:
http://education.ky.gov/educational/diff/documents/strategiesthatdifferentiateinstruction4.12.pdf
List of differentiation activities K-4:
http://www.meade.k12.sd.us/PASS/Pass%20Adobe%20Files/March%202008/StrategiesThatDifferentiateInstructionK.4_001.pdf
Website of differentiation strategies:
http://farr-integratingit.net/Trainings/Differentiate/strategies.htm
Bloom’s Questions Starters: http://www.in2edu.com/resources/thinking_resources/blooms_taxonomy_chart.pdf
Differentiated School by Carol Ann Tomlinson, Kay Brimijoin and Lane Narvaez Chart for what is differentiation, what is it not?
http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/105005/chapters/Setting-the-Stage-for-Change-Toward-Differentiation.aspx
Busting Myths about Differentiated Instruction:
http://teachingss.pbworks.com/f/BustingMythsaboutDI.pdf
Ideas for managing DI classroom: obstacles for leading DI Classroom, Ways to assign groups, managing questions, handling paperwork, possible anchor activities (p. 8)
http://www.diffcentral.com/examples/Routines_2009.pdf
Differentiation: A Way of Thinking About the Classroom
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/sept00/vol58/num01/Reconcilable_Differences%C2%A2_Standards-Based_Teaching_and_Differentiation.aspx
“Deciding to Teach Them All” Tomlinson http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/oct03/vol61/num02/Deciding-to-Teach-Them-All.aspx
"What is the best advice you can give to a teacher about differentiating instruction?" (Tomlinson/Wormeli)
http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/classroom_qa_with_larry_ferlazzo/2012/01/response_ways_to_differentiate_instruction.html
bibliography of research differentiation instruction
http://www.diffcentral.com/examples/bibliography.pdf
Graphic of DI Model:
http://www.diffcentral.com/model.html
“11 Practical Ways to Guide Teachers toward Differentiation (and an Evaluation Tool)” http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ752246
Two sources I have found helpful while researching the impact assessment can have on DI:
Doubet, K. J. (2012). Formative assessment jump-starts a middle grades differentiation initiative. Middle School Journal(3), 32-38.
Moon, T. R. (2005). The role of assessment in differentiation. Theory Into Practice, 44(3), 226-233.