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Diana

Sanchez
Differentiating Classroom Instruction: Video Script
Slide 1
This video will give you a brief introduction to differentiated classroom instruction and
the strategies I have found to be effective in integrating this pedagogy in my class
Slide 2
I will first talk about what differentiation looks like in the classroom.
Secondly, how to follow a protocol for analysis of student work.
And lastly, how to make simple assignments designed for your students needs and
progress in a given area.
Slide 3
So what exactly is differentiated instruction?
Differentiation requires that teachers know their learners. What do they excel in? What
do they struggle with?
It also requires us to assess the learner in order to measure their progress.
Differentiation often involves having to make adjustable assignments that target specific
areas in which a student needs more practice or clarification.
As educators, we need to question our strategies for supporting students and what we
can do to improve in meeting the needs of our students.
Lastly, differentiation requires that we approach our individual subjects curriculum with
the mindset that everyone learns differently. Teaching only to our average students
limits both our own teaching and our students learning.
Slide 4
For teachers and administrators, a useful definition of differentiated instruction is
adapting content, process, or product according to a specific students readiness,
interest, and learning profile.
Slide 5
In the book The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners,
2nd Edition written by well known educator Carol Ann Tomlinson, she states
The goal of a differentiated classroom is maximum student growth and individual
success. As schools now exist, our goal is often to bring everyone to grade level or to

ensure that everyone masters a prescribed set of skills in a specified length of time. We
then measure everyones progress only against a predetermined standard. Such a goal is
sometimes appropriate, and understanding where a childs learning is relative to a
benchmark can be useful. However, when an entire class moves forward to study new
skills and concepts without any individual adjustments in time or support, some
students are doomed to fail. Similarly, classrooms typically contain some students who
can demonstrate mastery of grade-level skills and material to be understood before the
school year beginsor who could do so in a fraction of the time we would spend
teaching them. These learners often receive an A, but that mark is more an
acknowledgment of their advanced starting point relative to grade-level expectations
than a reflection of serious personal growth. In a differentiated classroom, the teacher
uses grade-level benchmarks as one tool for charting a childs learning path. However,
the teacher also carefully charts individual growth. Personal success is measured, at
least in part, on individual growth from the learners starting pointwhatever that
might be.
Slide 6
Now we will move onto Part 2.
Analyzing student work is the strategy I have found to be the most helpful in
transitioning into using differentiated instruction.
The protocol for analyzing student work has several steps.
First, collect a set of already assessed student work for a performance-based
assignment, for example, a written essay; lab report; problem-solving task; or
homework. Ideally, this assignment demonstrates the fullest range of performances
possible. Be sure to have the assignment guidelines and scoring rubric for this
assignment, and consider how this assignment addresses your instructional goals,
including relevant standards.
Slide 7
The next step is to separate the student work. Student work can be separated based on
a variety of rationales that correspond with what students are currently working on.
I am a Spanish teacher and my students have struggled with adjective agreement. I
separated my student work based on mastery of this skill and put my students into one
of three categories; below expectation, at expectation, and exceeding expectation
which I will also refer to as Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3.
If students were at expectation, it meant that they understood the rules of adjective
agreement, but forgot to make their adjectives agree 100% of the time. They might have
forgotten to make an adjective feminine or needed to change an adjective from singular
to plural.

If students were below expectation, it meant that they were more unfamiliar with the
rules behind adjective agreement and made mistakes more often than they should
have. These students might need more clarification and explicit instruction on this
particular grammar concept.
The last group of students exceeded the expectations by completing the assignment
with little to no errors and can be challenged by having to produce more on their own
rather than having all the work laid out for them.
Try to take about ten minutes or less on this step. You can always reassign a students
work to a different group if need be.
Slide 8
Now that the work has been divided, the third step is to reflect on the learning needs of
the students within the different groups.

Ask questions like;


How would you characterize what these students understand and are able to do?
Where is their work exemplary? Where are they struggling?
Does this set of work samples represent any common misunderstandings?
What growth would you expect to see in these students in coming weeks?

You will use these questions to help determine how you will implement a lesson or
activity that is differentiated.
Slide 9
This brings us to Step 4 which is the last part of this video. Identify at least one concrete
strategy for addressing the specific learning needs of students in each group. Aim for
strategies that can be implemented immediately in an upcoming lesson!
Referring back to my previous example, I decided to make a worksheet that helped my
students to practice the rules of adjective agreement regarding gender and number.
When creating any differentiated material, I always begin with my students that met the
expectations or my Tier 2 students because these are your average students. In this
particular example, these students understand adjective agreement, but need more
practice simply to master the concept.
The objective of all three worksheets was for students to take one adjective and
make changes to it in order to fit the gender and number of the subjects given and to
recognize the patterns in doing so.
The Tier 2 assignment gives students support, but also forces them to review the
concept and use background knowledge in order to complete the task. The Tier 2
students are given 4 subjects with names that represent the different subjects we

come across in the Spanish language; masculine singular, feminine singular,


masculine plural, and feminine plural which they are able to identify relatively
easily.
Their adjectives are given in English, so they have to look at their vocabulary words
to identify each word in Spanish before modifying the ending of the adjective.
Now, I have to consider what parts of the Tier 2 assignment are too difficult or
demanding for my Tier 1 students. How can I support them more without making it
too easy?
For my Tier 1 students, I go beyond giving each subject a name, but also identify the
gender and number so that when they get to the task, they are able to use this
knowledge to determine how the adjective should be modified.
In addition, their adjectives were already written in Spanish so they could focus on
the task at hand, rather than having to find all the adjectives on their vocabulary list.
Slide 10
Another factor that plays into differentiated instruction is timing. When categorizing
students as Tier 1, Tier 2 or Tier 3, I also consider how long students typically take
on an assignment and what prevents them from completing it effectively. By
eliminating a few steps for my Tier 1 students that were created for my Tier 2
students, they are able to concentrate on adjective agreement and complete the task
in the same amount of time as the Tier 2 and Tier 3 students.
Now that I have a Tier 1 and Tier 2 assignment, I can focus on what I can do for my
students that continuously exceed the expectations. What is exciting about the Tier
3 students is that you can put more of the work on them and it gives them freedom
to explore the topic in a more student-centered way.
For the Tier 3 assignment, I took away a lot of the support that I had for my Tier 1
and 2 students. Instead of giving them a subject name, these students were just
given a visual representation of who their subject was. This allowed me to observe
how intuitive my students were in using the directions to determine the objective of
the assignment.
The other element of Tier 3 that differs from the lower levels is that these students
were allowed to pick the adjectives they would be modifying based on specific
criteria rather than being given predetermined adjectives. This gives them the
opportunity to use what vocabulary they want because they have already mastered
the grammar concept. This freedom can become exceptionally motivating for these
students especially when it comes to more creative projects or assessments.
You can see the subtle differences between each Tier and how even little changes
can make a big difference for how well a student can achieve the objective!

Slide 11
I now have 3 tiered assignments to implement differentiated instruction!
Slide 12
Now that we have created our materials, here are a few things to keep in mind.
When implementing a differentiated activity, one concern might be that students
will notice they have a different worksheet than someone else and question why. To
prevent this, I write my students names on the sheets ahead of time so that I dont
waste time figuring out who gets which worksheet.
If necessary, have a conversation with your students about your efforts to meet their
individual needs and how this might positively influence their experience in your
class.
Label the worksheets so that only you know which level it corresponds with. I use
asterisks as a simple way of keeping track of which assignment belongs to a specific
tier.
You dont always have to start from scratch! Simply take a worksheet or activity
youve done before and make adjustments accordingly. Creating differentiating
material takes time; so take advantage of what you already have!
Keep an ongoing record of the students categorized in each tier. As time goes on,
students may need to be moved up or down a level depending on their work. Feel
free to even ask for their feedback!
Most importantly, see how your students progress. Are they improving? How else
can you support them? We should always be analyzing and evaluating our work
within the classroom.

Thank you for watching my video. These strategies have been extremely helpful to
me and I hope youll find them useful. Feel free to contact me with any questions or
concerns.

**References listed on Video

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