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Differentiated Instruction in the Classroom

This course is designed to provide educators with the necessary resources to create a learning environment that will maximize the potential for student success by using the strategies associated with differentiated instruction. Practical applications of how to differentiate with the content, process, and product will be explored while planning differentiated lessons.

Participants will understand what defines differentiation and recognize their role and responsibilities in a differentiated learning community. Participants will learn how to provide motivating, challenging, and meaningful experiences for students by differentiating instruction while managing instructional time in a way that meets the standards. Upon completion of this course, participants will possess a repertoire of strategies for differentiating instruction that will allow them to respond to the diverse needs of the students in their classroom.

Carlow University ED 639 • Madonna University EDU 5830.12 • Mercy University EDUT 517

This class is cross listed with Mercy University course EDUC 534 - Differ Inst Method & Materials.

The required text for this course is Leading and Managing a Differentiated Classroom, 2^nd Edition, written by Caol Ann Tomlinson and Marcia B. Imbeau. ISBN: 9781416631774

Graduate participants earn 3 semester hours of graduate credit and will receive a transcript from one of our partner institutions below. Professional development participants will receive a certificate of completion for 45 hours of professional developments credit for face-to-face classes and 60 hours of professional development credit for online classes.

Professional
Development

Course Schedule

1/14/25 - 4/8/25
3/11/25 - 6/10/25
5/13/25 - 8/12/25
7/8/25 - 10/14/25
9/9/25 - 12/9/25
11/11/25 - 2/10/26

Course Schedule

Zoom

1/3-5 & 1/17-19

Mike Foley

Textbook List FAQs

Outline
Objectives
Partner Universities
Important Information
Student Academic Integrity

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Outline

Session 1: Understanding Differentiated Instruction

Contents:

Introductions
Establishing class/group expectations and norms
Course overview
Establishing individual course expectations and goals
Course requirements
Course registration
What is differentiated instruction?
You may be differentiating already
The goals of differentiated instruction
What do we differentiate?
Six essential principles of differentiation

Session 2: The Role, Responsibility and Tasks of the Teacher in a Differentiated Classroom

Contents:

The teacher as a facilitator and collaborator
Qualities of a supportive classroom environment for differentiation
The flexible learning environment
Managing Differentiation
The importance of knowing your students
Academic history
Student Learning Profile
Student interest
Interest Inventory
Understanding multiple intelligences
Multiple Intelligence Checklist

Session 3: Essential Questions

Contents:

Identify the concepts or ideas that are most important to the understanding of the curriculum
Writing essential questions
Using the essential questions as a teaching tool
Designing unit-level questions
Writing unit questions
Using unit questions as a teaching tool
Using essential and unit questions to differentiate instruction
Developing a unit with essential and unit questions

Session 4: Curriculum Compacting and Curriculum Mapping

Contents:

Understanding the purpose of Curriculum Mapping
How to use and develop a Curriculum Map
Developing a Curriculum Map
Understanding the purposes of Curriculum Compacting
The Curriculum Compacting process
Develop a Curriculum Compact for a particular area of the curriculum

Session 5: The Challenge and Variety of Differentiated Instruction

Contents:

Understanding Bloom's Taxonomy
Using Bloom's Taxonomy to differentiate instruction
Identifying Gardner's eight ways of thinking and learning
Integrating Bloom's and Gardner's multiple intelligences
Developing an Integration Matrix

Session 6: Flexible Grouping and Tiered Assignments

Contents:

Compare and contrast three kinds of groups associated with differentiated instruction
Personalizing learning with flexible grouping
The when, where, and how of flexible grouping
Managing flexible grouping
Planning for flexible grouping
The purpose of tiered assignments
Six ways to structure tiered assignments
Deciding when and how to tier assignments
Guideline for tiered assignments
How to organize groups and give directions using tiered assignments
Develop a tiered assignment

Session 7: Differentiating Content, Process and Products

Contents:

Differentiating content in response to a student’s readiness level, interest, or learning profile
Strategies for differentiating content: Concept-based teaching, varied text and resource materials, learning contracts, mini lessons, and varied support systems
Differentiating opportunities for students to process the ideas or concepts
Flexible and responsive strategies which support differentiated instruction
Assessing student knowledge by creating high-quality products
Steps to developing a product assignment
Guidelines for product assignments
Differentiating products at various grade levels and ability levels
Develop a differentiated lesson with content, process, and products

Session 8: How to Differentiate for Special Populations

Contents:

Differentiating Instruction for special needs students
Learning Disabled
Behavior Disorders
Physical Disabilities
Autism Spectrum Disorders
Guidelines to create a differentiated profile for special needs students
Differentiated strategies for special needs students
Differentiated instruction for gifted and talented students
Characteristics of gifted students
High achievers vs. gifted learners
Examine curriculum with SCAMPER
Curriculum compacting for the gifted student
Individual learning plan
Mentors

Session 9: Assessment

Contents:

Establishing quality criteria for differentiated instruction
Grades
Assessing their own work and peer evaluation
Rigor
Record keeping
Developing rubrics

Session 10: Planning a Differentiated Unit of Study

Contents:

Questions to guide the planning of a differentiated unit of study
The CCPP Toolkit
Developing a unit of study
Final exam
Lesson presentations
Evaluations

Objectives

Create a classroom climate where all learners succeed to support differentiated instruction.
Analyze the rationale, goals, and principles of a differentiated classroom.
Report the elements of a classroom that teachers need to modify to ensure maximum learning for all students.
Analyze current instructional strategies and classroom practices for principles of differentiation.
Illustrate the role and responsibilities of the teacher in an effective differentiated learning community.
Address the importance of student readiness, interest, preferences for learning, and emotions associated with effective and efficient learning in a differentiated classroom.
Select appropriate tools to gather information about students.
Examine and recognize student’s learning styles and multiple intelligences to determine how students access, process, and express information.
Analyze the purpose and types of assessments in the differentiated learning environment.
Determine the appropriate assessments to use with students as feedback before, during, and after learning.
Modify, adapt, and design new approaches to instruction in response to students’ needs, interests, and learning preferences.
Differentiate and develop activities for content, process, and products.

Develop instructional activities based on essential topics and concepts, significant processes and skills, and multiple ways to display learning.
Formulate essential and unit questions to focus instructional planning.
Examine the needs of your classroom by utilizing a Curriculum Map to identify content, skills, and products for units of study and address required curricular standards.
Justify the purpose of Curriculum Compacting and how to use it to determine the readiness of students.
Select, modify, and adjust, instructional strategies and resources to support a differentiated classroom to meet the diverse needs of the students.
Analyze Bloom’s Levels of Thinking and Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences to develop varied instructional strategies and relevant learning activities.
Design tiered assignments to meet students’ need based on challenge, complexity, resources, outcome, process, and product.
Structure flexible grouping to support tiered assignments.
Identify special populations and examine the basics of differentiation for these students.
Establish quality criteria for assessing differentiated instruction.
Effectively manage a differentiated classroom.
Develop a differentiated unit of study.

Partner Universities

Our Partners are well-established regionally and nationally accredited colleges and universities, recognized for academic excellence and their commitment to teachers.

Important Information

Online 3-graduate credit courses are 13 weeks in length.

On-site weekend courses are held Friday evening from 6:00pm-9:00pm and Saturday/Sunday, 8:30am-5:30pm.

Weekday courses are Monday-Friday from 8:00am- 6:00pm.

It is the responsibility of the student to check with their state, county, district, or school to ensure that all requirements are being met by the course you're taking.

Check the Partner Universities page for specific university information as well as course numbers which are specific to the university partner.

Students are required to purchase their own textbook, the information for which can be found here. If no book is required it will be specified on the list. We have copies of many of the textbooks should you wish to purchase directly from TEI.

Professional development (PD) participants receive a certificate of completion from TEI for 45 hours of PD credit for face to face classes and 60 hours of PD credit for online classes. These certificates are mailed within one week of the end of the class and reflect the course title, dates of attendance, and credit hour information.

Student Academic Integrity

Participants guarantee that all academic class work is original. Any academic dishonesty or plagiarism (to take ideas, writings, etc. from another and offer them as one's own), is a violation of student academic behavior standards as outlined by our partnering colleges and universities and is subject to academic disciplinary action.