DOING IT RESILIENTLY

MODULE 4: RESILIENT LEARNING ACTIVITIES

4.2 DIFFERENTIATING LEARNINGKEY LEARNINGS AITSL Standards 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.5, 1.6, 3.3 Understand the four key areas in which you can differentiate Outline some ways in which you can put differentiation into practice Determine ways differentiation can impact on classroom climate Develop

ENGAGING

What are the challenges and excitements experienced by the characters in these cartoons?

How do they link to your activity as a teacher of differentiating learning for your students?

EXPLORING: What is differentiation and how do I differentiate?Differentiation is: Catering to the different needs and capacities of all students

This involves responding to their: personal interests, passions and prior knowledge

current learning levels in a particular area learning dispositions or styles (e.g. VARK, Kolb’s learning styles, McCarthy’s 4MAT Learning Styles etc)

literacy and numeracy skills socio-cultural and emotional capacities and needs

What’s challenging here? How do experienced teachers differentiate successfully (and still have a life)

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Teachers Differentiate by modifying one or more of the following: Curriculum content and goals (the which . . . things will they learn) Learning product (the what . . . will they produce to support and

demonstrate learning) Learning tasks and teaching processes (the how . . . will I teach

and they learn) Learning environments (the where . . . physically and socially will

their learning occur)

THEORY IN OVERVIEW:

Input

differentiation

you create different things (in

content/process/product/environment) for different students

e.g. individual/group work; narrative/script;

explain/evaluate democracy;

Output

differentiation

you select one thing (in content etc) for all students, that all can

do (consider scaffolding choices here)

e.g. narrative writing, poster creation

Learning Frameworks and Theories : Many learning frameworks are formulated to integrate

differentiation for learning styles into their sequence. So if you follow the sequence you will accommodate all

learning styles and give students opportunities to develop their less preferred ways of learning.

1: McCarthy’s 4MAT framework (based on

Kolb’s learning styles) classifies 4 types of learners

(left) who are catered for in the learning

sequence (right)

Have you used a

version of this

sequence in your

teaching? Did you

notice anything

about how

different students

responded at different times?

2: Many teachers use a Gardner-Bloom

Matrix to differentiate for learning styles and cognitive levels.

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Just as routines work well for students, developing some ‘routine’ ways in which you differentiate will reduce

your workload and enable you to cope with the complexity of differentiation.

What differentiation routines do you think you might begin to put into place?

A CASE STORY

How does this story link to this session’s theme differentiating resiliently?

What expereinces of professional learning communities in schools have you had? And how have they contributed to your resilience?

How might you develop your resilience when addressing the differentiation needs of your students by finding or developing a professional learning community?

YOUR STORY: USING TEXT AND/OR ART

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Create two portraits of two very different students (either one’s you’ve encountered on placement or

composite-imagined portraits based on other experiences). You can do this using narrative character

description from your point of view, first person monologue from the students’ point of view, a stick

figure with thought and speech bubbles, found poetry or analogue drawing. Don’t think too much about

them as learners at this point, but as individuals in their own right.

Step back from your two portraits. What do you see? What do you notice about them as individuals and

as learners? What impact does this have on your thinking about catering to their needs?

THE BIG PICTURE: Differentiation and the Classroom ClimateAn emotionally safe classroom environment is necessary for students’ cognitive learning, growth, and creative expression. The following are considered to be means through which the teacher can create an emotionally safe classroom environment.

We looked at this in the Behaviour Management session. Let’s revisit and consider how your use of differentiated teaching can create an emotionally safe classroom.

Means for a Safe Classroom Type of differentation (prod, proc, cont, env)

Example of differentiation

Foster positive relationships with students

Provide targeted positive/constructive feedback to students

Acknowledge student capabilities

Have high expectations of students

Model appropriate expression of emotion

Focus on cooperation rather than competition in the classroom

Employ democratic processes in the classroom

Focus on developing student creative and critical thinking skills

Teach conflict resolution skills

Listen to the students

Be aware of student emotions

Use humour in the classroom

Other

STRATEGIES: how you can differentiate and how you can cope

Fill in the table (some or all) below. Pay equal attention to the ‘coping’ strategies as to the differentiation strategies

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Differentiating Content Differentiating Process

Diff strats/resources Coping strats/resources Diff strats/resources Coping strats/resources

Differentiating Product Differentiating Environment/groupings

Diff strats/resources Coping strats/resources Diff strats/resources Coping strats/resources

SCENARIO

You’re new to the class and to the school. It’s the beginning of the school year. You’re excited but very anxious about how on earth you’ll cope with pitching your lessons at the right level for the children in your class. You know from past experience in this town that your 27 students will be a rich mix of cultures, languages, interests, and that some will have literacy and numeracy issues, and that it is likely that they will be working across two or three year levels in terms of their current achievement levels.

What will you do? More specifically, what resilience resources will you draw on (personal and environmental) to help you both cope and

really enjoy working with your class?

TAKE HOME MESSAGE

Pick one thing you’ve discovered or seen in a new light from today’s session.

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What is it? Why did it strike you? What will you do with it?

Additional Resources and Websites

Creative Education. (n.d.). Happiest days? Four schools approaches to increasing pupils’ wellbeing. Retrieved from http://www.creativeeducation.co.uk/videos/watch-video.aspx?id=1353

Lovewell, K. (2012). Why teachers’ emotional resilience is crucial in schools. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwu_kraCa5U

New Teacher Centre. (2012). Social-emotional learning: Developing student and teacher resilience. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pC9njms2AnU

Teachers’ TV. (2005). Teaching with Cowley: Teacher tension. Retrieved from http://www.proteachersvideo.com/Programme/1415/teacher-tension

ACARA (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority). (2015). Personal and social capability: Organising elements. Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/generalcapabilities/personal-and-social-capability/introduction/key-ideas

Hartjes, E. (n.d.). Teachers at risk: A positive attitude is key to maintaining a positive classroom climate. Retrieved from http://www.teachersatrisk.com/2008/08/06/a-positive-attittude-is-key-to-maintaining-a-positive-classroom-climate/comment-page-1/

Price, M. (2013). 5 strategies for incorporating Social Emotional Learning into your classroom. Retrieved from http://www.teachthought.com/learning/5-strategies-for-incorporating-social-emotional-learning-into-your-classroom/

References

https://www.brite.edu.au/

http://www.redbubble.com/people/beanoutback/collections/234320-lego

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