High+School

﻿How to work differentiation into the High School Classroom

Chinese proverb: I //hear// and I //forget//; I see and I remember; I do and I understand. High School students are coming into school with less of the necessary skills that will help them to succeed in high school. __All the more reason to embrace the differentiated classroom.__ There are several lines of reasoning on why high school students are less prepared: 1) the primary and middle school are not providing enough of the drill practice, study skills and writing skills that students in the past had 2) reading skills of today's students are poor which compounds the problem in all subject areas 3) today's students are not the same type of learners that existed 10 years or 20 years ago Reasons two and third are the most accurate in describing today's students. They have grown with videos, computers, easy and fast retrevial of information. Reading comes in short bursts rather than through the pure enjoyment of reading books. Technology gives students the advantage of not using their analytical skills but to use the calculators and computers to solve their problems.


 * Step 1: Begin the school year with knowing your students and their learning styles. **

It really becomes critical to "know and understand" your students strengths and weaknesses. Providing them with study skill aids, such as, organizational skills, graphic organizers, methods to quickly take class notes, and methods to review/revise/re-read to improve their understanding of new material is critical in helping them to succeed. Below are listed some sites that are helpful for gifted students, learning impaired students and average students. The "Resource Room" is targeted for both teachers and students. The second link is specifically designed for differentiating high school math classes.

**Step 2: Pre-assess your students.** Pre-assessment allows you to determine what your students' backgrounds in the subject matter. If the majority of the students understand the material, then it is possible to have them work with those students who need additional instruction or have the majority of the students work in groups on additional problems that the group can present to the class and the teacher can work individually with the students with additional needs.

For example, in algebra I classes, the early material is oftentimes complete review work for the class, several weeks could pass before the students are faced with new material. Taking the time, to preassess initially could save days or even weeks of reteaching material that the students are already strong in.

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Pre-assessment and teaching based on assessment can be monitored using a simple Excel program. This Excel program allows you to record students' assessment grades and then use a color alignment to highlight the low scores. If using the traffic light colors, green-yellow-red, visually it becomes easy to identify those students that need additional instruction. When additional scores are added, the color code, easily provides information on whether or not the students have improved. Remember the goal is not to have a bell shaped curve with grade results, but to have all students succeed. <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Here is an example of the Excel program. <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">At the bottom left corner, there are three boxes: //data, strat, strat.// The "strat boxes" allow for a typed synposis of what the assessment was and then the plan to differentiate the teaching. <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Additional sites for math classrooms:

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Developing your unit of instruction based on essential questions, the understandings (information) will be a natural outcome of the essential questions. The questions will actually help frame the teaching for the unit. The goal is to have your students become more engaged, more enthusiatic, more able to understand the material. Post the essential questions on the board, let the students ponder their meaning. (These essential questions will/ should quench the students' question of "why I am I learning this?"
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Step 3: Use Essential Questions in Your Teaching **

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">If the focus is on the essential questions, and the enduring understandings are matched, then preparing the assessments is an easy step. Once the assessments are determined, it becomes very clear how to teach the material. "I want the students to be able to use the quadratic formula correctly." Although high school assessments typically are tests and quizzes, adding variation addresses, not only some students stronger talents, but it also makes the mastering of the material more interesting. The key to developing a different type of assessment is really in preparing an assignment rubric. This enables you to objectively assess the student and gives the student a clear-cut description of what is necessary to excel in the assignment.
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Step 4: Write those Assessments after the essential questions and vary the assessments **

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">An easy rubric site to use is: [|www.myrubric.com].

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Look at your assessment results, and analyze the results and based on those results, try a different method of presenting the material.
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Step 4: Differentiate based on data driven methods **

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">1. provide a different level of work (or use a different book for students with additional need) <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">2. use graphic organizers, such as, index cards with diagrams or foldables <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">3. use flexible groups where some of the students can help the others <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">4. vary the homework problems, such that, there will be small groups of students doing the same problems and then have those groups present their problems to the class.

Math Resources: