Differentiation

Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment

Diverse Learners / SPED / ELL

Leadership

Heartland Information

Differentiation

Differentiation is a process teachers use to enhance student learning by improving the match between a learner's unique characteristics and various components of the curriculum, instruction and assessment.

Summer 2005 ASCD Differentiation Conference

January 7, 2010

Crafting the Art of Differentiation with Rick Wormeli

Differentiation: From Planning to Practice

DATE: January 7, 2010
TIME: 8:30 am – 4:00 pm
LOCATION: Airport Holiday Inn
COST: $60.00 (lunch will be provided)
Activity Number: AS004899991001

Rick Wormeli is a National Board Certified Teacher and a columnist for Middle Ground magazine. For more than twenty years he has taught science, math, English and history. He was the winner of Disney’s American Teacher Award for English in 1996. Rick is an internationally known speaker. In 2008, Rick shared with Heartland that “Fair Isn’t Always Equal”. We anticipate Rick’s motivational presentation and the vast knowledge and skills that he will share on differentiation.

Workhsop Decription

We're supposed to teach all students, not just the easy ones. Some students are ready for the first steps of a topic and others are ready for advanced assignments in that topic, and some learn with quiet reflection while others need much more interaction and movement. How do we tier instruction to maximize learning in multiple ways, all within one class period?

Join us for a, “how-to” and “why-we-do-it” workshop for those just getting their feet wet with differentiated instruction or for those already swimming who want more ideas.

Today’s teachers have to be up to speed on successful differentiation practices, so grab your imagination and professional experience and attend this seminar that busts differentiation myths and provides dozens of practical, use-the-next-day tips for making differentiation work. We’ll provide sound instructional ideas on tiering, anchor activities, scaffolding, flexible grouping, attention moves, respectful tasks, compacting curriculum, practical cognitive science applications, classroom management, as well as suggestions for meeting the needs of sub-groups such as students identified as gifted and English Language Learners.

“Show me see what it looks like!” is the most common plea from teachers and administrators.

During the afternoon portion of the seminar, we’ll post a blank computer screen and carefully move through each step in the process of creating a differentiated lesson from scratch. While we provide an initial template, we explore ways to move beyond the template in order to meet the needs of teachers’ specific realities. There’s nothing “canned” here: Warts and all, we plow through each step of a differentiated lesson with behind-the-scenes commentary for a successful lesson designed by audience suggestions. Everything is on the table for discussion, so bring your "What do we do if....?" questions. For teachers of any subject, this "para-diggum"-shifting seminar includes provocative perspectives, humor, video, real applications, and innovative practice for both heterogeneous and homogeneous classrooms. Don't miss it!