Leading and Managing a Differentiated Classroom by Carol Ann Tomlinson & Marcia Imbeau

ASCD Professional Development Institute San Francisco, CA March 23-25, 2011
Pre Conference :

Day 1 : Goals for Class Management : Leading to Success.

1. Clarity about key elements of differentiation. Practice of differentiation is the  modification of four curricullum-related elements: content, process, product and affect. which are based on three categories of student needs and variance- readiness, interest and learning profile.
2. A framework for thinking about 'successful flexibility' in the classroom. T
   

   eaching "makes room" for student variance.
3. 
   
   Relationship between leadership and management in a differentiated  classroom.The teacher who lead  for differentiation have the opportinity to lead colleaques  including teachers and principals as well as students and parents,  opportunities for coplanning or coteaching, sharing pertinent insights.mute voices that say''not in this school' and correct misconceptions, 
4. The philosophy that guides teacher leadership in a differentiated classroom is when a student is known and valued as an individual  and where there is reliable support system  to build on the pupils's strengths, help shore up or circumvent weaknessses  and maximise academic growth for the time the student ia a member of the class.
5. Practical guidance related to managing a differentiated classroom. Contrary to common misconceptions, classroom management is not simply the process of arranging desks, rewarding good behaviour, and choosing consequences for misconduct. Classroom managmnent encompassess many practices  integral to teaching such as developing relationships;  structuring classroom communities where students can work productively; organising productive work around meaningful ciricullum ; teaching moral development and citizenship, making decisions about timings, and other aspets of instructional planning; successfully motivating students to learn  and encouraging parent. involvement
6. Classroom implementation of ideas and strategies. Learning occurs best in a positive enironment - one that contains positive interpersonal relationships and interactions that contains comfort and order, and in which the learner feels appreciated, acknowledged, respected and validated

Day 2:  Effectively Leading And Managing a Differentiated Classroom.

1. Growth mindset moves to student-teacher connections and the community. teachers with a growth mind-set work from the premise that virtually any student can learn anything if the student is willing to work hard and if he or she  has support in that effort. Teacher-student connections bridge the risk of learning.They regularly help students understand that they have control over their success, thus enabling students with fixed mind-sets begin to operate from a sense of personal agency
2. Building community in the classroom.
3. Creating a learning environment.
4. Getting to know students
5. Rules for DI Classrooms 

Day 3 : 3 routes to launching a Differentiated Classroom

1. Avoiding 'Hot Spots' in a flexibly Managed Classroom
2. Some practical considerations
3. Group work : Checklist for pre-assigned "standing" groups
4. Routines for handling paperwork and Time Management
5. Anchor Activities
6. Strength-based Assessments:

• Spelling Checklist
• Writing Assessment Rubrics
• Checklist for expressive skills
• Oral reading Assessment
• Role Cards

My Reflections

• I learnt that differentiation in the classroom is not just a set of instructional strategies, I need to adopt in my teaching practice but how I use a set of principles to guide me in the way I teach my students as I reflect on my teaching practices and make adjustments to pay attention to student variation and respond to it according to the students’ readiness, interest, and learning profile.
• I realize that to facilitate this, I need to create a positive learning environment where high-quality curriculum is taught through flexible classroom management skills and use ongoing assessment as a tool to enable me in my decision making how I need to progress as an effective teacher. Diagnostic assessments to determine individual students' entry points into a unit of study in terms of their readiness, interest, and learning profiles. Formative assessments to measure students' readiness, interest, and learning profiles. Summative assessments to offer varied modes of expression and scaffolding.

I asked myself why do I need to adopt differentiated instruction in my classroom when streaming and banding is already done in my school.

• Of course I know that as a teacher, I need to ensure that all of my students master important content. But what Carol Ann Tomlinson advocates is that I need to pay attention to the fact that students differ as learners because they have different background experience, culture, language, gender, interests, readiness to learn, modes of learning, speed of learning, support systems for learning, self-awareness as a learner, confidence as a learner and independence as a learner and they need help at various points in the learning process. She mentions that I need to continually ask, "What does this student need at this moment in order to be able to progress with this key content, and what do I need to do to make that happen?

•  What is mind boggling is that how am I going to adopt different methods such as independent reading, partner reading, text on tape, text with images, listening comprehension, online research, communication with experts, group demonstrations, small group instruction and also sometimes go back to prerequisite content in order to move some students while the advanced learners move ahead before their classmates.

What does Carol Ann Tomlinson say: 

•       Carol Ann Tomlinson mentions that the core of the classroom practice of differentiation is the modification of four curriculum-related elements—content, process, product, and affect—which are based on three categories of student need and variance—readiness, interest, and learning profile. She offers many solutions for  a teacher to be effective in a differentiated classroom.

1. Adapt the learning environment to cater for students' readiness levels, interests, and learning profiles and develop an instruction that maximizes each student's opportunity for academic growth. The appearance, organization, and structure of a classroom can invite learning with appealing colors, effective displays of student work, spaces for both solitary and collaborative work, easy access to materials and supplies, furniture arrangements that focus attention on peer input rather than largely or solely on the teacher, and visible cues to support quality work.
2. Cultivate the classroom's intangible emotional climate where students learn best when they feel safe, respected, involved, challenged, and supported. 
3. Design lessons with student differences in mind, including differences in learning, culture, language, and gender and be a metaphorical "bridge," to help students to connect the knowledge and skills to develop self-awareness, and independence. 
4.  Adopting flexiblity in terms of time, materials, support systems, student groupings, instructional modes, and teaching and learning strategies and  offer various routes to help students develop self-efficacy and independence as learners develop proficiency in collaborative learning.
5. Provide classroom routines that balance student needs for guidance and freedom.
6. Be aware how the classroom elements interact. If a student feels like an outsider in the classroom, he or she is unlikely to commit to class discussions, group work, or even individual tasks, and this unfavorable learning environment negatively impacts curriculum and instruction for that student. Likewise, if assigned work is beyond the abilities of certain students, they will feel unsafe in the classroom and regard the learning environment as negative. 

Carol Ann Tomlinson & Stella 

    Stella : Differentiating Instruction and 21st Century Skills : Preparing all learners for the WORLD AHEAD. 

By Stella Fernandez