Workshops: Differentiation in a Brain-Friendly Classroom

On Friday, December 2, I attended Gayle Gregory's workshop  Differentiation in a Brain-Friendly Classroom with Pedagogical Chair Trish Bondurant and two  members of the Education Support committee, Nazneen Kateli-D'Souza (Grade Three Teacher), and Marla Smith (Education Support Teacher).  Hosted by Hamlin Robinson School, this day-long workshop provided educators with practical tools
and ideas for creating a classroom that invites student participation and maximizes student success, making success less dependent on skill level. 

What is differentiated instruction?

• flexible grouping
• student-centered
• based on readiness
• for all learners
• changing all the time
• meeting individual/personal student needs

What differentiated instruction is NOT:

• tracking
• a new strategy
• static
• teaching to the middle
• lowering the bar

What is differentiated?

• content and materials
• process and stategies
• assessment and assignment

Waldorf education, deeply invested in creating thinkers who seek to understand, rather than test-takers who can 'get it right', seems naturally suited to optimizing differentiation.  To illustrate the importance of sparking student understanding, Ms. Gregory showed us a paragraph about the Montillation of Traxoline (this is incorporated in an interesting blog entry--if you'd like to just see the paragraph, click here). It's easy to see the absurdity of trying to memorize facts that have been presented without any opportunity for students to understand the material through any other methods.  She humorously referred to this type of learning as 'sit-git-spit-fergit', and I'm sure many of us spent hours of our school life doing just that, rather than acquiring a real understanding of our subject matter.  On the flipside, we watched veteran teacher Kay Toliver (video above) inspire her students to succeed by creating  a classroom that was fun, safe to make mistakes in, and allowed for a high level of student participation.

While some of the material presented was not new to us (and reinforced what a great method Waldorf education is!), we did get new ideas for enhancing collaborative and group learning throughout the grades.  A productive classroom uses a mix of whole-class instruction, individual work, paired work, and small group work.  We found new ideas for paired and small group work, and are excited to pass on some of the methods to our colleagues.  Of great value were some practical, easy ways to assess student understanding and skill level without testing or singling out.  When teachers know where gaps in understanding and skills are, their lessons can be more targeted for student success.  Grouping students in heterogeneous groups is more effective than homogeneous groupings.

As much as we need quiet sometimes in the classroom, giving kids the opportunity to talk fuels learning.  Small group work allows students to ask a question more easily--it's more comfortable for students of all ages to take risks in a small group rather than a large one.  Small group work also helps build up the sense of safety in the classroom,  and can give students the courage to voice new ideas.  Dialogue between students:

• clarifies thoughts
• allows misconceptions to emerge
• strengthens language patterns
• develops vocabulary
• deepens concepts
• assesses skills (teacher can overhear misconceptions)

 Cooperative learning:

• improves retention
• builds social skills
• allows for differentiation

Best scenarios for differentiation:

• discussion
• practice
• peer teaching

Other Resources: Classroom Culture and Learning Communities,Gregory, Gayle; Chapman, Carolyn (2007) Differentiated Instructional Strategies: One Size Doesn't Fit All

You know how we love the topic of sleep! Here's a Frontline presentation on teens: click on #5, From Zzz's to A's.