Fullfilling the Promise of the Differentiated Classroom pp.120-162

I think this section of reading helped me open my eyes to all the ways and possibilities of how to present information and how to teach this information while differentiating and using tiering. I am so grateful for all the examples in this section because I work best with lots of examples and then I can generate my own ideas.
Soooo…to get it all straight in my mind I had to break them up and look at them individually and add pictures so I can remember them.

Graphic organizers-these organizers help students ORGANIZE information!! I think they are wonderful to use for students, and they make it very clear for students to see how ideas connect to one another.

Evaulation Checklists-these help because the teacher and the student have a way to communicate their opinions in a non threatening way.

Learning Menus-like in restaurant menus you can pick and choose what you want to eat, with learning menus students have their pick of the tasks they want to complete. What is excellent is that the learning menu can help students understand, know and learn skills that are important for their success.

Learning Goals-This is a fantastic way to let the students know what you expect of them, what a finished assignment looks like, that way they have a point of reference if they are lost in their assignment.

Think Tac Toe-I loved this because it is such a fun way to present students with choices and alternative ways for them to explore what they are learning.

Raft-which stands for role, audience, format, and topic. I really liked this idea as well because it allows students to develop as an author as well as to develop their voice, by writing from different point of views.

Tiering-we discovered in class that tiering is when the teacher assigns the tasks and is tiering to readiness. It is all the same assignment but it is slightly different for each student’s readiness level. So, like tiers of a cake, it’s all the same cake, but each tier is a different size and with a different amount of frosting.

Complex Instruction-I really liked the task card example of complex instruction. I think complex instruction requires many parts to be completed, however it is broken up into smaller tasks and helps to utilize the talents and abilities of everyone in the group.

Task-Specific and Generic Rubrics-I love having rubrics they are such a great guide as to what the teacher requires of the student, in every assignment. I once had a high school teacher who wasn’t very nice make a rubric to grade for oral presentations, and she was kind of rude in her comments, she would put for the “poor” performances-“scores poorly shows that the person clearly waited till the last minute to put together talk, is making the teacher and class fall asleep”….I think rubrics are great, but we should be tactful and careful not to make students feel bad about their score on the rubric.

Learning Contracts-also help students know what the teacher expects of them, the teacher can also practice tiering in these learning contracts, because she will be the one to assign the assignments. Each assignment could be different for each student’s readiness level. I liked the math ticket example, because this seems very straight forward and the student and teacher were able to conference about the student’s work.

Think Dots-are used to help review the information, or show their understanding of the information. I think it is a great and quick way for the teacher to assess if the students’ have learned the material.

Multiple Entry Journal-this seems very similar to dialectical notes, but are not the same because the teacher provides multiple questions for the student to focus on while they are reading, and the students are able to respond to the questions before, during, and after reading the material. What is nice is that the multiple journal entry can be used for several subjects such as math, science, and English.