Putting it all TogetherApril 11, 2012Faciliated by: Ann Craig, Linda Mannhardt and Nicole Peterson

Engaging in the KUD

• Differentiation is a way of thinking about teaching and learning that requires adherence to a system of guiding principles.

• The differentiated classroom is a place where the teacher leads the students in developing the attitudes, beliefs, and practices that characterize a supportive learning environment.

Seasonal Partners

Leading and Managing aDifferentiated Classroom

The greatest sign of success for a teacher is to be able to say, “The children are now working as if I did not exist.”

Maria Montessori

To Think About…….

• Uncertainty about managing a differentiated classroom is one of the most common barriers to differentiation.

• Teachers often equate management with control and see themselves as control agents.

• Management style signals students about how we view them and the process of learning.

To Think About……

• When we try to control students, it not only creates tension, but also keeps students from learning to control their own success as learners.

• It is a common misconception that a differentiated classroom is disorderly, noisy, or even chaotic.

Talk about these ideas

• Have you ever accepted or enacted any of them?• Do you see evidence of them around you?• What benefits come to teachers when those

beliefs guide our work?• What benefits come to students whose teachers

work from those beliefs?• What problems do the beliefs cause teachers? …

cause students? • Why do we hold on to the beliefs?

A Different Approach……

• What if we understood classroom management to mean creating an environment that supports the success of a very broad range of learners?

• And what if our students were our partners in making that happen?

Approaches of Leaders and Managers

Leader Manager

Focuses on people Focuses on mechanics

Has a vision for something good Plans schedules

Has the capacity to share the vision and enlist others in it

Handles the details

Builds a team for achieving the vision

Prepares materials

Renews commitment to the vision Arranges furniture

Celebrates successes Orchestrates movement

Practices routines

TroubleshootsDifferentiation and the Brain, Tomlinson and Sousa, 2011

4 kinds of classroom environments

• Dysfunctional – Teacher and Students struggle for control. Feeling is uneasy, difficult to sustain academic work.

• Adequate – Basic level of order to accomplish some academic work. Still tension, interruptions common.

• Orderly-restrictive – Run smoothly, highly managed. Routines are tight. Limited range of instructional strategies.

• Orderly-flexible – Run smoothly, characterizes by looser (not loose) structures. Wide range of instructional strategies and classroom routines.

Relevant Research for School Decisions, Academic Challenge for the Children of Poverty

Orderly-Flexible• Focuses on meaning and understanding• Learner is relaxed and emotionally engaged• Encourages communication, questioning and

feedback• Improves problem-solving• Develops the brain’s executive functions

Only this kind of environment supports differentiation. It’s also the only environment that supports student development as thinkers and autonomous learners.

Teaching and Learning are Better when We….

Lead First Then manage

The goal in managing a differentiated classroom is to create order that supports flexibility, not order that supports rigidity.

Carol Tomlinson, 2011

Hotspots in Management

What are some Hot Spots for You?

• Take a moment to jot down the classroom management issues that are “sticky” for you.

hot

Some Hot Spots…..

• Starting/Ending day or class

• Helping students explore their differences

• Talking about differentiation

• Assigning students to groups

• Giving directions for multiple tasks

•Working in groups•Noise•Getting help•Transitions•Managing time•Keeping track•Calling on students

What are some Hot Spots for You?

• Take a moment to jot down the classroom management issues that are “sticky” for you.

• Brainstorm with your summer partner ways to address your “sticky” hotspot.

hot

3 Square Reflection

• Use your 3-Square to make connections to today’s understandings.

CHANGING A CULTURE…Working with Parents

What about the Parents

Three key points:1. Parents can play an important role in

helping a teacher know the student better.

2. Critical for teachers to understand the role culture plays in shaping a parental response to school.

3. Few parents argue with the intent of differentiation if it is articulated clearly.

Responding to Parent Questionsthrough Thinking Caps

• 30 minutes to respond to your parent question

• Work through the task with your “Thinking Cap”

Tables and Caps

Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5Jeff Sara Joe Kathy AnnStephanie Tonia Laura W. Carla TamiKris Staci Molly Cody JimPat Randy Megan Cindi KellyNicole Eric Laura H. Katie Julie

Think About It….

• What do parents need to hear and see from you to believe that you are working with their child’s interest at the heart of your instructional decision making?

• In what ways do your responses relate to a philosophy of differentiation?

• Jot down ideas for how you can start off the year with your students’ parents.

Reflecting on Thinking Caps

• How was this differentiated?• How do you prepare for this activity?• What was this role like for you? Were you

in the right “cap?”

3 Square Reflection

• Use your 3-Square to make connections to today’s understandings.

• Presentations on your Cadre experience and work.• Must include:

• All components of the unit planning cycle• Student work examples• Your reflection of YOUR journey- showing how your

planning of these units evolved over the course of the semester

• Ma y include:• Pictures/videos of your students in action• Summative assessment data• Reflection on student behavior- from you or them

Information about May 10

Your Time• Coaching conversations (by May 10)• Planning conversation (optional) • FA follow-up• Observe the lesson

• Would like to see utilization of students to seek, understand and communicate the curriculum through:• the KUD,• Respectful Tasks, and• A formative assessment check