DifferentiatedInstruction:TraintheTrainerManual

LuanneZ.Gambrel
CUR/518
May9,2016
Dr.Martin

DifferentiatedInstruction:TraintheTrainerManual

Trainer'sNotes
Purpose
This training manual on Fundamentals of Differentiated Instruction was designed to
assistLanguageInstructorstodeliverthetrainingmaterialonhowtoimplementdifferentiated
instructionintocourses toaddress theneedsofamulticulturaladultlearningaudience.The
manualwasdevelopedtoassisttheinstructorinconductingworkshopsonthefundamentalsof
DifferentiatedInstructionintheLanguageclassroom.Thismanualhasbeenwrittentoprovide
youwiththeideasandinformationonDifferentiatedInstructionimplementationtechniques.The
purposeofthemanualistoprovideyouwiththenecessaryinformationtoimproveyourtraining
skills.Thismanualwillassistyouamoreefficientandconfidenttrainerwhocandeliverand
adequatetrainingmaterial.
Thematerialforthemanualwasorganizedin4modulesthatwillprovideyouwithand
structure guide to developing the necessary key competencies in teaching and training
DifferentiatedInstruction.Thefollowingarethefourmodules thatcomprisethis manualon
DifferentiatedInstruction.

Backgroundinformationaboutwhatdifferentiatedinstructionis
Differentiatedstrategiesthatsupportdiverseandmulticulturaladultlearners
Examplesorscenariosofdifferentiatedinstruction
Activitiesthatshowtheuseofdifferentiatedinstruction

ParticipantSelection
This professional training manual is designed for experienced Foreign Language
Instructors currently working for the Department of Defense Special Operations Program
interestedinlearningabouttheimplementationofdifferentiatedinstructiontechniquesinthe
language classroom. This manual will provide the trainers with a series of strategies for

DifferentiatedInstruction:TraintheTrainerManual

developinginadditiontoimplementinganeffectiveDifferentiatedInstructioncurriculumtoa
culturallydiverseclass.Participantswilllearnhowtodesignactivitiesthattakeinconsideration
languageinculturalcontext,students'languageproficienciesandintegrateauthenticmaterials
intoinstruction.Eachparticipantwillbegivenatthebeginningofthetrainingsessionahandout
withinformationregardingthetrainingsessionagendaandattheendofthetrainingsession,the
participantswillfilloutandevaluationform.
DosandDon'tsofTraining
Youshouldalwaysconsiderthefollowingasthetrainerwhileconductingtraining.
Do's
Alwayskeepgoodeyecontactwiththeaudience.Preparethetraininginadvancerelyontheuse
ofvisualsifnecessary.

Speakloudandclear.
Allowtimeforquestionsandpromoteparticipation.
Writeclearanduseappropriatesequencingoftopics.
Takeinconsiderationoftimerestrains.
Developasimpletrainingsessionandprovideparticipantfeedback.
Avoidusingmannerismsthatcanbedistractingduringthetraining.
Provideclearinstructions,also,makesuretheinstructionsareunderstood.

Donts
Donotblockanyvisualaids.
Donotstayinoneplacetrytomovearoundtheroom.
Donotignoretheparticipants'feedback
Introduction

Itisnotasecretthattoday'slanguageinstructorsfacediversechallengesandpressures

when it comes to conducting an instruction. Not only we have to ensure high levels of

DifferentiatedInstruction:TraintheTrainerManual

performance, but also, we have to meet daily the varied needs and interests of the diverse
learners. Often as a Language Instructor, you are responsible for cover a good amount of
material in a specific way that can potentially guarantee the student understanding.
Consequently,languageinstructorsmustdeterminewhattypeofknowledgeandskillsarethe
mostimperativefortheirstudentstolearn.

Eachofthestudentsinalanguageclassroomshowsadifferentsetofneeds,readiness,

learningstyles,anddifferentmotivations.ThisInstructionalplaniscarefullydesignedtoassist
language instructors to face the challenge of responding to these differences. Differentiated
Instruction(DI)isnowadaysthenorminlanguageclassroomsinpartsofthecountry.Language
instructorsarestartingtonoticethedifferentwaysthatthetraditionalinstructionlimitstheir
abilitytoinstructculturalandlinguisticdiverselearners.

Background
Differentiatedinstructionisknownasaninstructionalapproachthatallowseducatorsto
develop and strategically instruction to fulfill the educational needs of the students. This
instructional approach consists of the development and delivery of instruction, classroom
managementtechniques,thattakeinto considerationthe culturaldiversityin addition tothe
varietyofthelevelsofinterests,andtheirlearningprofiles.
However,thistypeofinstructionalapproachisoftendescribedalsoastheeducator's
answer to the differences in each learner in which they will adapt the curriculum and the
instruction on sixdifferent dimensions, the dimensions are the following: (1)content is the
informationthatmakesthelesson(2)processishowtheywilllearnit(3)productisthelearner

DifferentiatedInstruction:TraintheTrainerManual

result of the lessons. These dimensions take into consideration the student's (4) profile (5)
interestand(6)readiness.Thesedimensionscanhappenatthesametime,oneafteranother.
Teachinginsmallgroupsandplacingthelearnersbasedontheirlearningprofileisthebasefor
differentiatedinstruction.

WhyDifferentiatedInstruction?
Differentiatinginstructionchallengeseducatorstoevaluateeducationalpracticesthatare
traditionalandweredevelopedwhenthestudentsweresimilarinreadinessandbackground.
Todayeducatorsneedtoembracedifferentiatedinstructionpracticesinthelanguageclassroom
for students and be confident that they can organize and manage this type of instruction.
DifferentiatedInstructionisaneffectiveapproachtousewhenreadinesslevelonthestudents
differonefromanotherwiththisparticularapproachtheinstructioniscustomizedtomatchthe
studentsreadinesslevelwiththepurposetopromotecontinuouslearningprocess.Theeducator
willfocusonimportantconceptsandskillsthatthelearnerisinneedby:Modifyingthespeed
andleveloftheinstruction,Addingflexiblegroupingtechniques,andreflectonthestudents'best
techniquestolearn.
Differentiatedinstructionincomparisonwithotherinstructionalapproachesrecognizes
therealitythatstudentsnomattertheagelearndifferently.WiththeDifferentiatedInstruction,
approachlearningwilltakeplacewhenthestudentsexperiencetheinstructionatapointthatis
challengingforthem.

HowDifferentiatedInstructionWorks

DifferentiatedInstruction:TraintheTrainerManual

Differentiated instruction can be implemented differently in each classroom and in

differenteducationalinstitutions.However,thekeyforaDifferentiatedInstructionapproachis:

Workingroups:Thestudentsineachgroupwillrotateinandout.Thiswillprovide

themwiththeopportunitytoparticipateinavarietyofgroups.Agroupcanbeconstitutedwith
justapairofstudentsorabiggernumberofstudents.Thisisanimportantopportunityforthe
studentstolearnfromeachother.

Reciprocallearning:Withthistypeofapproachthestudentwillbecometheinstructorin

whichtheywillsharewhattheyhavelearnedandaskquestionstotheirpeers.

Continual assessment: Instructor will regularly monitor the students' strengths and

weaknesses of their language understanding to make sure they're progressing well in their
knowledge.

ExamplesofDifferentiatedInstruction
AnexampleofDifferentiatedInstructioninLanguageTrainingiswhentheinstructoris
teaching an oral proficiency course the instructor needs to understand the diversity of the
learners'readinesstoworkeitherindependentlyorcollaboratively,alsobeawareofthesupport
thattheywillneedinordertoinvolvethelearnerinthelearningprocessbasedontheirinterests.
Thiscomprehensioncomesfromtheobservationofthelearners;informalassessments
assemblefromprevious assignments.When teachinganoral proficiencylanguageclass,the
instructor can start by researching various articles from the newspaper to develop a list of
vocabularywordstoincreasetheirvocabulary.Oncethestudentscompletedthelistanefficient
waytoverifytheunderstandingofthelanguageishavingthemreadthatpieceofanewsarticle

DifferentiatedInstruction:TraintheTrainerManual

text.Oncetheystartreading,makeapauseafteracoupleofsentences,askaquestionaboutthe
lecture and resume again. Depending their individual level of language understanding the
learnerscanbegroupedtodeveloppossibleargumentpoints.
Differentiatedstrategiesthatsupportdiverseandmulticulturaladultlearners
This training session will teach the language instructor to address each learner
characteristictobeusedindifferentiatedinstructionstrategies.Therearenumerousfactorslike
for example culture, ethnicity, and race that can be utilized to characterize the learner
differences.However,eachlearnerwillbringtotheclassroomadiversityofknowledge,and
strengths. As part of the curriculum for the training session will be offered differentiated
strategiesandactivitieslikeforexample:

FlexibleGroupingthisinstructionalstrategywillteachthelanguageinstructortopair

thestudentsaccordingtotheirlanguageproficiencytoencouragestudentinteraction.

CompactingCurriculumThis strategywillhelpthelanguageinstructorconductan

assessmentofthestudent'sattitudes,languageknowledge,andskills.Thisstrategywillprovide
themwithasetofactivitiestoprovethatthestudentalreadydominatesthecoursecontent.
AdjustingQuestionsDiscussionactivityinwhichthelanguageinstructorwillaska
diversityofquestionstothestudentstopromoteoralproficiencyexercises.Thequestionwillbe
adjusteddependingonthelanguageproficiencylevelofthestudent.

QuestionandAnswers/Discussions:Enoughtimewillbeprovidedattheendofthe

trainingsessionforadditionalquestions.However,questions andcommentswillbeallowed
throughoutthesession.Throughoutthetraining,certaintopicswillbebroughtupfordiscussion.

DifferentiatedInstruction:TraintheTrainerManual

Activitiesthatshowtheuseofdifferentiatedinstruction
A formative assessment will be available for the Instructor and students use. The
Instructorwillusethefollowingformativeassessmenttechniques:

Developing effective classroom discussion The key for effective instruction is

listeninginsteadofevaluating.Whenstudentsuseanincorrectconjugationorpronunciation,
thesearesignsoftheirgrowingunderstanding.Itisuptothelanguageinstructortousethis
evidencetoshapetheirinstruction.Toachievethisweusethefollowingassessment:

LevelsofquestioningBeginwithhighlevelquestionsand,ifstudentshavedifficulty,

bringtheleveldown;ifaquestionistoodifficult,giveoptions.
ActivatingparticipantsoftheirlearningTheFormativeassessmentwillbemoremanageable
when the participants take control of their learning through selfassessment a technique to
conducttheassessmentis:
StoplightsParticipant'swillhaveintheirpossessionduringthetrainingsessiongreen,
yellow, and red cards that they hold up to indicate that they understand the subject being
discussed.ActivatingparticipantsasinstructionalresourcestooneanotherInorderforthis
formative assessment to be efficient the participants need to have an understanding of the
learningobjectives,rubrics,andrulesforpeerinstructionandevaluation.Techniqueforthis
assessmentisthefollowing:

1,2,3questionsaskquestionsthatstudentsshouldanswerontheirownbylookingat

theirnotesorinabook;thesecondarequestionsthatstudentscanaskaclassmate;thethirdare
thingsthatonlytheteachercananswer.

DifferentiatedInstruction:TraintheTrainerManual

ObservationsObservingstudentscanprovidevaluableinformationabouthowstudents

areprogressingandwhatstrategiestheyareusingtolearn.Theinstructorcanusestickynotesto
writedowntheobservations.

OneMinuteFluencyBeingabletoreadfluentlyinanylanguageisanimportantskill.

Toassessthefluencyofthestudents,itisimportanttoprovidethemwithreadingpassagesona
regularbasistoensuretheyarereadingatanappropriateratelevel.

Conclusion:
This training manual was created for Foreign Language Instructors who want to
implementdifferentiatedinstructionlearningactivitiestargetingmulticulturallearnersthatwill
requiredifferentlevelsofapproachduetotheculturalandlinguisticdiversityintheirclassroom.
Thistrainingwillprovidethemwiththeappropriateopportunitytolearnhowtoindividualize
instructionwhenhavingalargeclassroom.

DifferentiatedInstruction:TraintheTrainerManual

10

References
Corley,M.(2005).Differentiatedinstruction:Adjustingtotheneedsofalllearners.
Focus
onthe Basics,Vol.7,IssueC:March.Availableat:
http://www.ncsall.net/?id=736
SilverPacuilla,H.(2007).Gettingstartedwithassistivetechnology.FocusontheBasics,
Vol.8,
IssueD:November.Availableat:
http://www.ncsall.net/fileadmin/resources/fob/2007/fob_8d.pdf
Tomlinson,C.(1999).Thedifferentiatedclassroom:Respondingtotheneedsofall
learners.
Alexandria,VA:AssociationforSupervisionandCurriculum
Development.