Differentiated Instruction: Problem & Proposal In discussions with my colleagues in our building, there is a significant amount of confusion pertaining

to what differentiated instruction is and what it should look like in the classroom. In an effort to improve my craft as a teacher and the craft of the teachers in my building, I propose that I be given the opportunity to lead and conduct a three-hour professional development session on the topic of differentiated instruction. I will use my experience with differentiated instruction and what I have done to make my class more responsive to students needs as well as present the work done by such authors as Carol Ann Tomlinson, David Sousa and Jay McTighe (in addition to other authors and works on the topic). The first hour of the professional development session will consist of a presentation by one of my colleagues and me discussing how we created differentiated materials for my U.S. History class. This will provide the teachers in our building with practical examples of what differentiated materials can look like and how they can be used in the classroom. The second hour of the professional development session will focus on the work done by Carol Ann Tomlinson, David Sousa and Jay McTighe. I will use Tomlinsons book entitled The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners (1999), the work co-authored by Tomlinson and McTighe entitled Integrating Differentiated Instruction & Understand by Design (2006), and another work co-authored by Tomlinson and Sousa entitled Differentiated and the Brain: How Neuroscience Supports the Learner-Friendly Classroom (2011) as models to further the understanding of the teachers in our building on the topic of differentiated instruction. These works offer educators more advanced ways differentiated instruction can be implemented within their classrooms. We will also workshop the curricular Understanding by Design model that is promoted by Jay McTighe. How to setup your classroom environment to make it more responsive to students learning needs and strategies teachers can use to integrate differentiated instruction will be the focus of this second hour as well. The third hour will be dedicated to viewing what a differentiated classroom can look like. I have videotaped several of my own classes and I will show clips to illustrate examples of what responsive teaching and differentiated instruction can look like. I will also provide teachers will examples of what has been done in their grade level and subject matter by distributing copies of the classroom snapshots that Carol Ann Tomlinson provides in her book The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners (1999) and in the book she coauthored with McTighe Integrating Differentiated Instruction & Understand by Design (2006) as well as the suggestions she and Sousa provide in Differentiated and the Brain: How Neuroscience Supports the LearnerFriendly Classroom (2011). My Experience: Grappling with Differentiated Instruction While I do not consider myself to be an expert on this topic, I have spent a considerable amount of time researching the topic and experimenting in my own classroom on how to implement effective differentiated strategies. The first hour of the professional development session will consist of my colleague and me sharing our experience with differentiation. We will explain why and where we saw a need for differentiation and what we did in response to the circumstances we were presented with. This portion of the professional development session will largely follow the narrative which has been provided in My Experience with Differentiated Instruction tab on this website which serves as a model for differentiated instruction. Understanding the Research on Differentiated Instruction In preparation for this professional development opportunity that I am proposing, I consulted and analyzed a multitude of works on differentiated instruction. I was first introduced to the topic of differentiated instruction when I read an article by Schumer (2003) entitled One Classroom, Many Minds; A paddle for the Mainstream. In this article Schumer (2003) introduced me to Carol Ann Tomlinson who is a well-known author who has done extensive work on the topic of differentiation. Schumer (2003) also provides us with a basic definition of what differentiated instruction is, when she says the basic concept to teach each child according to need is simple (Schumer, p. 2) but she also warns that implementation and proper application of the concept is the real challenge. It is this challenge that Schumer mentions and my own experience in the classroom as a general education teacher that served as the impetus for my research and work on differentiated instruction. The first text I analyzed by Carol Ann Tomlinson is called The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners (1999). This book by Tomlinson was one of the first to deal solely with the topic of

what a differentiated classroom look likes and details how teachers can implement effective differentiated instructional strategies and techniques in their classrooms. Carol Ann Tomlinson co-authored another work I analyzed with Jay McTighe, their collaboration is called Integrating Differentiated Instruction & Understand by Design (2006). This second book combines the best of both worlds in that it emphasizes the importance of giving students access to both high-quality and meaningful curriculum as well as high-quality and meaningful instruction. Both authors stress the need for effective educators to develop both meaningful curriculum and meaningful instruction, to be effective, teachers must continually attend to the quality of both curriculum and instruction (Tomlinson & McTighe, p. 39). McTighe presents his Understanding by Design (a.k.a. backward design) curriculum design model and Tomlinson outlines her differentiated instructional design model in this book as well. I also analyzed a book Tomlinson put together with David Sousa who is an international consultant in educational neuroscience and their collaboration yielded a work entitled Differentiated and the Brain: How Neuroscience Supports the Learner-Friendly Classroom (2011). Sousa and Tomlinsons (2011) book provides us with the latest encapsulation of differentiated instruction as it is the more recent publication and in it we see Tomlinsons refined perspective on the topic. It is the aforementioned texts that have been used to guide the majority of the discussion during the second hour of the professional development session where I will present the authors main points and practical applications. Many teachers have never been in a classroom that had the type of flexibility and the responsive teaching techniques that are characteristic of an effective differentiation classroom. Many of us have not had the experience of a differentiated classroom as a student and we have not received the proper training on how to effectively implement differentiated strategies as teachers, therefore, we lack the visual models of how such classrooms function (Tomlinson & McTighe, p. 106). In an effort to remedy this problem we can start by understanding the work done Carol Ann Tomlinson in The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners (1999). First and foremost, Tomlinson (1999) stresses that there is no one right way to create an effectively differentiated classroom; teachers craft responsive learning places in ways that are a good match for their teaching styles, as well as for learners needs (Tomlinson, p. 3). Every teacher is unique and brings with them a unique set of skills into the classroom. Similarly, every child (student) is unique and brings with them a unique set of skills and circumstances. It follows then that every classroom is also unique and this is why there is no one formula or secret sauce that can be used to effectively differentiate every classroom. Tomlinson (1999) describes how differentiated instruction is not new, rather it is a natural outgrowth of a burgeoning understanding of the ways children learn (Tomlinson, p. 17). Tomlinson (1999) also explains that differentiated instruction is first and foremost good instruction (Tomlinson, p. 18). Many effective teachers already differentiate aspects of their teaching without knowing it. Creating tasks that consider multiple intelligences is an example of differentiation, implementing an array of effective and engaging teaching strategies is an example of differentiation as well. It has to be noted, as Tomlinson does, that the teacher does not [and should not] try to differentiate everything for everyone every day (Tomlinson, p. 14). Differentiated everything for every student is not practical and it is not necessary, rather the teacher can selectively apply their energies on accommodating curricular element[s] only when (1) you see a student need and (2) you are convinced that[an accommodation]increases the likelihood that the learner will understand important ideas and use important skills more thoroughly as a result (Tomlinson, p. 11). The examples I would have previously presented to our staff in the first session of the professional development program illustrate how curricular elements can be accommodated. Sousa and Tomlinson (2011) also stress that differentiated instruction is a way to work differently and smarter, not harder (Sousa, p. 3). Tomlinson (1999) emphasized that the teacher in a differentiated classroom understands that she does not show respect for students by ignoring their learning differences (Tomlinson, p. 12). Creating a classroom environment that is responsive to learners needs is essential in creating a differentiated classroom. Additionally, there are other important classroom management strategies teachers can implement. Devising a flexible classroom environment is something Tomlinson stresses and she describes it as a classroom where sometimes the entire class works together, but sometimes small groups are more effective. Sometimes everyone uses the same materials, but it is often effective to have many materials available (Tomlinson, p. 13). The additional or many materials Tomlinson speaks of in the previous quote is illustrated by the examples we discuss and display in the first session of the professional development.

In her book Tomlinson (1999) quotes an elementary school teacher she worked with regarding why educators should differentiate; this teacher said Children already come to us differentiated. It just makes sense that we would differentiate our instruction in response to them (Tomlinson, p. 24).The previous quote illustrates everything we as teachers must embody if we are to effectively differentiate our instruction. How then should we then start the differentiation process within our school? Tomlinson (1999) emphasizes starting small and starting smart. Tomlinson advises that we educate the teachers first and I am heeding that advice as is evident with putting this professional development program together. You cannot ask teachers to do something or to change without first informing them of the issue and showing them how they can go about implementing those changes. Integrating Differentiated Instruction & Understand by Design (2006) takes a more holistic approach to the differentiation process in that it emphasizes the importance of both the planning stage and the implementation. Tomlinson and McTighe (2006) talk about how a teachers instruction in a differentiated classroom is both planned and improvisational (Tomlinson & McTighe, p. 89). They equate the act of teaching in a differentiated classroom and being a responsive teacher with that of a jazz musician. At any given moment in a differentiated classroom there may be six groups (mixed ability or tiered) working on six different tasks. There is a lot going on within a differentiated classroom, so teachers do need to develop some level of improvisation in order to be responsive to each students learning potential. Sousa and Tomlinson (2011) reinforce the idea that designing meaningful and quality curriculum is the first step to developing an effective differentiated classroom. The authors explain that the development of high quality effective curriculum is a prerequisite for an effectively differentiated classroom. They also explain that a quality curriculum is an engaging curriculum and engaging students is a hallmark of a differentiated classroom (Sousa, p. 56-57). Instructional strategies and techniques that can be used to engage your students can be found on the How to Differentiate Your Classroom section of this website. It is important for all effective educators to keep in mind that learning happens within students, not to them (Tomlinson & McTighe, p. 22) and that learning is a process by which the student has to make meaning of the topic the teacher is presenting them with. Devising rich curriculum and rich instruction is a good start in bringing about the meaning-making opportunities that we want to see our students experience. Incorporating an array of instructional strategies into their teaching is another way teachers can bring about this transformation we wish to see take place within students (again, see the How to Differentiate Your Classroom section which will help give you some ideas on how to make your classroom more engaging). Both authors warn against falling into the trap that differentiation means giving lower performing students less to do and higher performing students more to do, they write it is not helpful to struggling students to do less of what they do not grasp. Nor is it helpful to advanced students to do more of what they already understand (Tomlinson & McTighe, p. 41).The authors discuss measures that the classroom teacher can take to ensure that they do not fall into the aforementioned trap, the authors emphasize that the teachers clarity, when planning and teaching a lesson, ensures that struggling learners focus on essential understandings and skillsSimilarly, the teacher ensures that advanced learners spend their time grappling with important complexities rather than repeating work on what they already know (Tomlinson & McTighe, p. 10). Oakes (1985) shares the aforementioned concerns when she writes about her opposition to the practice of tracking. Oakes (1985) warns her readers about the pitfalls of tracking and highlights the fact that there may be some ways of conducting instruction that make working with heterogeneous groups [of students] manageable (Oakes, p. 14) and I would add meaningful to the manageable part of her sentiment. The instruction Oakes speaks of is differentiation instruction which also fosters an environment of inclusion as well and is more desirable to the tracking alternative. Schumer (2003) also cites studies that highlight the adverse effects of tracking when she says, studies show that struggling students fall farther behind when segregated: teachers lower their expectations (and water down curriculum), and the gulf separating the children from their peers widens (Schumer, p. 3). Willingham (2009) is yet another author who rejects the notion that tracking kids into lower classes is beneficial. Willingham (2009) also rejects the idea that some kids simply are not smart and that giving all of your students the same work is a teachers misguided attempt at fairness and equity. Willingham (2009) suggests teachers assign work to individuals or groups of students that is appropriate to their current level of competence (Willingham, p. 22).

Perhaps the most powerful sentiment that comes out of Tomlinsons and McTighes (2006) work is their insistence that teachers must accept responsibility for each students success. The authors write that a truly effective teacher who differentiates will not allow economics, gender, race, past achievement, lack of parental involvement or any other factor to become an excuse for shoddy work or outcomes that are less than a student is able to accomplish (Tomlinson & McTighe, p, 44). We have to assume that all students are capable of producing work and succeeding. If a student has failed to produce any work or achieve any level of success in my classroom the first thought that comes into my head is, what I am doing wrong, maybe there is something else I can do or try to get through to this particular student. Differentiating is a mindset as much as it is an instructional strategy. This sentiment is echoed in Tomlinsons collaboration with David Sousa (2011) when they write that differentiation is neither revolutionary nor something extra. It is simply teaching mindfully with the intent to support success for each human being for whom we accept professional responsibility (Sousa, p. 9). After presenting these authors main points and work-shopping McTighes Understanding by Design curriculum development model we will move into the third session of the professional development. The third session will consist of showing the teachers in my building what a differentiated classroom can look like here at Clawson High School (the school in which I work). I have recorded several of my own classes to prove that the concepts and strategies I presented to them can be effective. After viewing how I implemented differentiated instruction in my classroom the teachers will be given time to read the examples of the differentiated classroom snapshots in their grade level and subject matter. We will also have the teachers begin to devise some differentiated instructional plans of their own that they can use in their classrooms. I believe this professional development proposal is both practical and meaningful. I plan on presenting this website and the professional development (school improvement) plan to my building principal and district superintendant in hopes of receiving approval to implement this proposal.