Blogs on Differentiated Instruction

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Jim BermanFebruary 15, 2012

Career and technical education (CTE), formerly known as "shop class," is not limited to sawdust and greasy wrenches. It can be those things, but it can also be Biomedical Engineering, Food Science Theory and Application, Digital Media and Carpentry; all noble callings that are ripe with the potential of fruitful careers in the job market.

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Harold KwalwasserFebruary 10, 2012

Downtown Brownsville, Texas, has an otherworldly feel. Nestled in a crook in the Rio Grande near where it empties into the Gulf of Mexico, the narrow streets are filled with stores selling cheap merchandise to Mexicans or to the poor from the local Hispanic community, which is often just a few years removed from the other side of the border.

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Bob LenzFebruary 8, 2012

In a past Edutopia post, I asked the question, is blended learning worth the hype? I promised to ask the same question of the aspiring school administrators in the Technology in Leading and Managing course I am teaching at St. Mary's College of California. This essential question guided the candidates' exploration of educational technology and the implications for them as future school leaders.

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Andrew MillerFebruary 8, 2012

Project-Based Learning (PBL) naturally lends itself to differentiated instruction. By design, it is student-centered, student-driven and gives space for teachers to meet the needs of students in a variety of ways. PBL can allow for effective differentiation in assessment as well as daily management and instruction. PBL experts will tell you this, but I often hear teachers ask for real examples, specifics to help them contextualize what it "looks like" in the classroom. In fact, the inspiration for this blog came specifically from requests on Twitter! We all need to try out specific ideas and strategies to get our brains working in a different context. Here are some specific differentiation strategies to use during a PBL project.

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Marisa KaplanDecember 13, 2011

Quiz of the Day: What does the "Special" in Special Education mean?

A. That every child learns in a special way?
B. That every teacher teaches in a special way?
C. That a teacher specializes in educating all kinds of learners?

Actually it's
D. All of the above

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Ben JohnsonOctober 10, 2011

Technically all students, according to developmental psychologists Abraham Maslow and Howard Gardener, are gifted at something. But within the realm of what happens in the classroom, a teacher can help those superstars shine even brighter by simply adding a few additional strategies to their teaching repertoire.

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Dan JonesJune 1, 2011

Something about movie magic intrigues me. It was fascinating, for instance, to find out that actors in my favorite movies often filmed entire scenes without ever leaving the studio. And when I watch the special effects in a movie, I wish I could use that technology.

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Judy Willis MDMay 24, 2011

Imagine you are placed in the following scenarios:

  • You are dropped off at the top of a ski resort's steepest run when you've only had experience on the beginner slopes.
  • You have to spend your day on the bunny hill when you're an expert skier.
  • You play a game of darts with the target two feet away.
  • You play a game of darts with the target 200 feet away.
  • You are a 3rd grade student trying to do a crossword puzzle designed for experts.
  • You are an adult trying to do a crossword puzzle designed for children.
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Rebecca AlberMay 24, 2011

What's the opposite of scaffolding a lesson? It would be saying to students something like, "Read this nine-page science article, write a detailed essay on the topic it explores, and turn it in by Wednesday." Yikes -- no safety net, no parachute, no scaffolding -- just left blowing in the wind.

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Elliot WashorApril 5, 2011

Editor's Note: We have two guest bloggers today -- Elliot Washor and Charles Mojkowski, Elliot is co-founder of Big Picture Learning, a global leader in education innovation with 62 highly successful schools throughout America, Canada, The Netherlands, and Australia. Charles Mojkowski is a senior associate at Big Picture Learning. The majority of Big Picture Learning's schools are regular public schools, and some are in-district charters.

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.

--Marcel Proust

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