Patricia Lewis

02/06/2016
EDU225
Mr. Martin

Part 1: Differentiated Instruction Definition

Differentiated Instruction is when teachers collaborate on how to
teach the material, to slightly change the material, to model the
material and the process of how the students comprehended the
material that was being taught. Differentiated Instruction is also finding out
what works with your diverse and maybe challenging students. It is
not an easy concept but it is one that works very well in your
classroom. You have to assess your students to see where they are
and you have to have a great collaboration with the other teachers
as well. Everyone should be on the same page and want almost the same
thing for the students involved. If any of the students are special Ed
then the planning for the student becomes a little different. Those
student/students are then being guided by his Induvial Education
Plan and for these students their learning will be guided by their
goals on their plan. If they are resource students then they
depending on their levels can be included with the differentiation of
the lesson as well. The program that I would use for my students for
differentiation is The Read 180 program and The Reading Horizons
program there are also numerous phonics programs out there as
well but these two are the ones that I am most familiar with and the
ones that work really well with my students now. The read at their
pace on the computer and take their tests and then we have lessons
that we do as a whole group. I can progress monitor their work and
help them if we need to redo another lesson.
Part 2: Differentiated Instruction Lesson Evaluation
The lesson I reviewed was written by Ms. Sarmiento of SPED 695 QA-Lesson
Plan. Her lesson was in reading and it was for 1st grade reading class. The
name of the story was Franklin Goes to School. A favorite of everyone Im
sure and one that we have all read. Her lesson was targeting compression
and they were using a Vinn diagram to compare and contrast what they had
read and how they felt themselves on the first day of their school. It was a
good lesson. She would read the story 2 pages and then she would stop and
they would talk about what she had read. She used the smart board during
the lesson and she would have the lesson on the smart board as well for the
students that needed it while she was teaching. She also had the students
divided by their ability and their level and for the ones that needed more
assistance she had a para work with that group. Her lesson was also guided
by their IEP goals. She was able to hit two objectives during this lesson. The
first was checking for understanding from the students and the second was
their goal from their IEP. Her technique for this lesson did work with both
groups of students; the ones that could do their work on their own did and
the other students that needed the smart board were able to see the lesson
better on the board.

Title
According to Dr. Carol Ann Tomlinson Differentiated Instruction is
Responsive Teaching than just the same teaching. In any lesson she states
you need to prepare, prepare and prepare more. Differentiated Instruction is
being able to reach the different students that are at different levels in their
learning. (Getting started on Differentiated Instruction, Pub. On July 10,

2012). With the different cultures, different languages that are spoken by the
students it is very important to be able to differentiate our lessons that we
are teaching to our students. Small groups are the best for Differentiate
Instruction. How well we connect with our students while we are teaching
differentiate lessons is very important.
Technology to Differentiate Instruction
The three technology tools that I will be using are the Smart Board, A
Reading Program, depending on which one the district would like for me to us
but there are a few out there that I like. Reading Horizons, Razz Kids, and
Read 180 to name a few that are really good with students that need help in
their reading and the mic. I really like the idea of wearing a mic while you are
teaching a lesson. You are able to be heard and your voice comes across
clearly and the students are able to hear you without any problems. The
smart board is an awesome tool to have in the classroom. At one of my
districts we did not use it as much as I did in my other district. This is a tool
that will greatly benefit the students and me as we can use the board for
small group lessons, whole group lesson and the best thing is that the
students can participate on the board as well. It is a really good tool. The
reading programs that I have mentioned are also beneficial to the students,
they are able to track where they are in the library, and I can monitor their
progress as well while they are working on their lessons. It is an individual
lesson and the students may go at their own pace.
Pros and Cons of Differentiated Instruction.

When we as teachers are learning and going thru our own trainings at
our Professional Developments. Additional PD research suggests that
teachers are more successful enacting PD outcomes if they are actively
engaged in iteratively designing, implementing, reflecting, and improving
innovative curricula (Kim et al. 2007, Luft et al. 2003). Through differentiating
instruction, teachers create different levels of expectations for task completion, and environments
where all learners can be successful (Waldron and McLeskey, 2001). Trying to figure out how to
do differentiate instruction is no easy task for teachers and sometimes students. It is a combined
effort on all involved from the teachers all the way up to the administrative level. Some teachers
find it hard to be able to teach to different students at their different levels. Small grouping is the
way to go when you are doing differentiated lessons to reach all of your students the best way
you can. You want to be able to reach all of your students so you can assess them and check on
their progress of learning. You can also tap in different ways of learning to the students. Some
students learn best in small groups, other learns best with visuals, while other students may learn
from more assistance during group time. In the education field some people feel that differentiate
instruction does not help the students like it should. This is not true as all students can learn;
some students just have a different way of learning. How well we connect with our students
while we are teaching differentiate lessons is very important.
Conclusion
This topic has been talked about in meetings, PDs, Special Educations
meetings and so on. It has been on the minds of Professionals in the
Educational field as we try and connect with our students and to reach our
different students. We have a very diverse group of students that we are

teaching, some come to us with different languages that we have to break

the barrier and teach them the basics before we can move on, other
students may learn at a slower pace or they may be guided by their IEP. We
still have to differentiate our lessons to reach the different students that we
may have. Also they are many different strategies that we can use to help
our students to learn. There are adaptive products, different teaching ways,
graphics, timing of the lesson, think-tac-toe, we can have the activity then do
the lesson. We can tap in different ways of learning. The most important
thing is how well we connect with our students while we are teaching
differentiate lessons to our students. Differentiated Instruction is Responsive
Teaching.

References
Dr. Carol Ann Tomlinson- Getting started in Differentiated Instruction,
Pub. On July 10, 2012.
Kim et al. 2007, Luft et al 2003. J. Sci. Education Technology (2010) 19:
505-511 pg. 508
By: Ruthanne Tobin and Alison McInnes. Literacy Vol. 42, Number 1,
April 2008.