Poll educators about their formal training in differentiation and the results are disappointing, and research confirms that little differentiation actually occurs in classrooms. Even in this digital age, very few teachers have had undergraduate or graduate training in matching the needs, interests, and abilities of the students with the curriculum. They all know that it is important, but they may not know how to make it happen. Poll teachers about their comfort level in differentiating the curriculum, and the results are not surprising: very few feel comfortable and competent when trying to differentiate to ensure that students are making continuous progress. These content-knowledgeable educators must start with the basics: differentiating a single lesson. And, if these educators incorporate strategies and research with which they are already very familiar, then barriers to differentiation dissolve. Differentiation matches content, process, and/or product to student needs, interests, and levels of readiness. Basic and familiar strategies can often empower teachers to address those student needs. These differentiation strategies can help them provide challenge to diverse learners from those with learning difficulties to those who are gifted and talented. Differentiation itself has received a lot of attention in the field of education. Sources from textbooks to trade books include the how-to information on how to meet learner needs – especially struggling learners’ needs. Very little attention has focused on meeting the needs of those students whose needs are created by their strengths. This session shows how simple strategies can build challenge into lessons for all students, including those with gifts and talents. This session will provide strategies to make differentiation simple and yet challenging for learners who learn at a faster pace and a more complex level – those who are gifted and talented.
Summary :
Teachers mistakenly believe differentiating the curriculum means starting over, creating completely differentiated lessons for each topic. Not so! Differentiation begins with adapting favorite lessons, focusing on content, process, and product and students’ needs, interests, and levels of readiness. Learn strategies that make lessons engaging to all – including the gifted and talented. This session explores differentiation as a means of challenging the gifted student. Educators new to or uncomfortable with differentiation as well as teacher educators who work with teachers will be led step-by-step through this process. Personal favorite lesson plans – in lieu of units which can overwhelm the novice – serve as the starting place. An innovative look at strategies and theories probably already known to them serves as impetus for transformation. Numerous examples from multiple contents and grade levels will be shared. Through a workshop setting, participants will explore two differentiation strategies involving differentiation of process – one based on the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy and the other based on Venn diagrams. Through examples, hands-on practice, and the creation of the lessons themselves, participants will build confidence in their ability to transfer the strategies to their classrooms. With two presenters, the workshop should address individual needs. Participants will incorporate differentiation strategies into a lesson plan so that it is ready for immediate implementation. Participants will leave with strategies ready to differentiate and implement lesson plans plus they should feel much more comfortable with differentiation. They will examine tiering to differentiate as they learn strategies that help address all students’ learning needs, including those who are gifted and talented.

Author(s): Julia Roberts, (Western Kentucky University, USA), Tracy Inman, (The Center for Gifted Studies at Western Kentucky University, USA)