Differentiation at Ormondale
Differentiation at Ormondale
Introduction
Every child is unique. Differentiation is the process by which teachers respond to student learning styles, skills, interests, background knowledge, and academic readiness to maximize learning. Engaging students in meaningful, respectful tasks at each stage of their development may appear outwardly different in each grade level, but the purpose is always to enable them to learn to the best of their ability. The goal is for differentiation to be woven seamlessly into the fabric of each classroom, making this process invisible to the students as it is simply part of how every day unfolds.
Every child is unique. Differentiation is the process by which teachers respond to student learning styles, skills, interests, background knowledge, and academic readiness to maximize learning. Engaging students in meaningful, respectful tasks at each stage of their development may appear outwardly different in each grade level, but the purpose is always to enable them to learn to the best of their ability. The goal is for differentiation to be woven seamlessly into the fabric of each classroom, making this process invisible to the students as it is simply part of how every day unfolds.
To meet the needs of individual students, teachers may use:
- various instructional techniques
- small group, whole class, and individual instruction
- student choice
- options for demonstrating students have reached mastery
- different resources and activities
In all Ormondale classrooms, teachers engage students with different learning styles through the use of:
- technology such as interactive whiteboards and desktop computers
- math manipulatives
- hands-on experiments
- small group guided reading
- questioning and critical thinking
- interest based projects
- Investigative Learning
You are invited to step into our classrooms to see a sample of differentiated instruction in action. While not exhaustive, these videos highlight the daily experience of differentiation in various subjects and across grade levels. Select the grade level or specialist area you would like to explore.
Additional Resources
These books and websites provide more information if you are interested in exploring the research and theory that guides our work at Ormondale.
Books:
The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners
by Carol Ann Tomlinson
Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design by Carol Ann Tomlinson and Jay McTighe
Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom by Susan Winebrenner
The Parallel Curriculum by Carol Ann Tomlinson, Sandra N. Kaplan, Joseph Renzulli, Jeanne Purcell, Jann Leppien, Deborah Burns, Cindy Strickland and Marcia Imbeau
Frames of Mind by Howard Gardener
Websites:
Emerging Perspective on Learning, Teaching, and Technology
http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Main_Page
California Association for the Gifted
http://www.cagifted.org/
Bloom’s Taxonomy
http://ww2.odu.edu/educ/roverbau/Bloom/blooms_taxonomy.htm