Winston Castillo
November 24, 2017
Katerin Duran
Education for Diversity
Initial Thoughts
1. What is differentiated instruction?
Differentiated instruction is an approach in which teachers adjust their curriculum and
instruction to maximize the learning of all students. Differentiated instruction is not a single
strategy but rather a framework that teachers can use to implement a variety of strategies,
many of which are evidence-based.
2. How do teachers differentiate instruction?
First, teachers must consider three things when planning instruction by getting to know their
students in terms of Readiness, Interest and learning profile. Second, taking into
consideration the three main instructional elements that they can adjust to meet the needs of
their learners which are knowledge, process, and Product. Finally, Evaluating and grading
student performance.
3. How do teachers prepare their students and their classrooms for differentiated
instruction?
By having Students and parents learn about differentiated instruction, communicating with
Students and Parents, organizing the Classroom, employing Effective Behavior Management.
The more the parents and learners are informed about differentiated instruction, the more
involve and engage students and parents will be.
4. What does differentiated instruction look like in the classroom?
When differentiated instruction is implemented in the classroom, teachers will use a variety of
instructional approaches, Alter assignments to meet the needs of the students, assess students on
n ongoing basis to determine their readiness levels, use assessment results to adjust instruction as
needed, provide a variety of options for how students can learn and demonstrate their knowledge,
strive to make lessons engaging and meaningful, employ different grouping formats for
instruction (e.g., whole-class, small groups, independent instruction) and use flexible grouping.
Assessment
1. What is differentiated instruction?
Differentiated instruction is an approach in which teachers adjust their curriculum and
instruction to maximize the learning of all students.
2. Describe at least four significant ways in which differentiated instruction differs
from traditional classroom instruction.
Differentiated instruction differs from traditional classroom instruction in terms of the
approach and also the way it takes into consideration the needs of the students, the wide
variety of strategies implemented in class, the sitting arrangement, grouping and the way the
teaching-learning process is conducted.
3. How can teachers get to know their students? Make sure to include the three
characteristics of students that are important for differentiating instruction and give
at least two examples of how teachers can learn about each.
Teachers design lessons to address the needs of groups of students. Before teachers can do
this, they must first get to know their students in terms of: Readiness, Interest, and
Learning Profile.
Readiness refers to a students knowledge and skill level regarding given content. Two ways
a teacher can learn about this characteristic is examining the results of formal or informal
tests and Viewing a students academic record.
Interest refers to topics, skills, or activities that catch a students curiosity or inspire him or
her. Teachers can discover their students interests by determining what topics they enjoy and
writing a journal entry about themselves.
Learning profile refers to a students preferred method of learning new information or skills
and to environmental factors that influence a students learning. Teachers can assess a
students preferred method of learning by Administering an inventory or questionnaire and
observing the student during class
4. Ms. Hasbro has taught high-school Spanish for ten years. She would like to start
differentiating instruction and needs to make some changes.
a. Explain why each of Ms. Hasbros classroom practices listed below is not
a differentiated practice.
Lecture is a teacher centered approach in which there is little participation of the
students, in the same fashion, Grouping based on achievement test scores instead
of students strengths and weaknesses is not an effective way of grouping.
Rewarding for participation means that the class is not engaging. Teachers must
understand that giving a quiz every Friday is a partial assessment but it is not a
whole assessment.
b. Describe what Ms. Hasbro can do differently with each of them.
Delivers instruction primarily by lecturing: She should have class
discussions and more engaging activities.
Does not permit students to retake tests they have failed: Before
taking the exam, she could have them create their own exams and also
exams should be based on the questions students generated and
discussed in class. Teachers have to understand that there are poor
tester students and therefore should find a more adequate way to
evaluate those students.
Records zeros for missing assignments: Telling students a due date
for the assignments and deducting points as the due date passed will
always have them comply with assignments. Making assignments
meaningful also works.
Groups students at the beginning of the year based on the previous
years achievement test scores: Students should be group based on
strengths and weaknesses. And also taking into consideration the skills
and competences of your students. That is why teachers must know
their students learning profiles well.
Gives bonus points for classroom participation: Teachers have to be
very careful when they implement a rewarding system that does not
take into considerations the personality traits of the students. There are
different ways of participation. A Good job guys! Sometimes is the
best way to reward the whole class. Being fare is not an easy thing to
do.
Gives a test every Friday: Assessment is an ongoing process. Testing
is not the only way to assess students learning, competences or
knowledge. Project presentation, essays, role plays, the use of
technology and interactive assessment tools can also be incorporated.
5. Think back to a class you took in high school. Describe both the class and how the
teacher typically conducted it. Describe five elements that you would change to
make it more differentiated. (Make sure to include at least one each for content,
process, and product.)
My English class in high school. The teacher used to do all the talking and hardly ever gave us
the chance to show our prior knowledge. In the same way, if you were good at English or you
had prior knowledge, teacher would use that as an excuse to take points from you, because you
were supposed to know. He would humiliate you in front of the class. Or just ask you the most
difficult questions. Furthermore, you would never get a good grade because you knew English
already. Quizzes on Friday and monthly exams were the two ways of assessment used.
Contentthe knowledge and skills students need to master. The teacher only used one strategy
to deliver content, lecture. I would implement different teaching strategies to get to each one of
my students.
Processthe activities students use to master the content. The teacher only assigned the
workbook as class activities and the book activities. I would vary the activities students use to
master the concepts or skills.
Productthe method students use to demonstrate learning. The teacher only assessed with
weekly or monthly written papers. I would assess the same concept or skill for each student at
the end of a unit of study and offer my students a variety of ways to demonstrate their knowledge.
Questions and Answers from: [Link]
