What teaching a college course on DI taught Lifsa Schachter about the roadblocks to implementation and why they must be overcome. In response to the interest in differentiated instruction (DI) among Jewish educators, I offered a distance-learning course on DI at...
If you change teachers' self-image, collective school vision, and roles on the team, argues Lena Kushnir, Differentiated Instruction can become a reality. Schools are not in the business of manufacturing mass quantities of identical products. Each unit of output is...
Systems Thinking is a conceptual framework for seeing wholes. The focus is on seeing interrelationships and patterns of change. A Learning Organization goes beyond learning for the sake of survival. It continually enhances its capacity to create its future. Mental...
The structure of the activity involves teachers sitting with pen and paper in silence. The instructional leader asks the following questions, giving adequate time in between to allow teachers to write their answers: What is your personal vision for differentiating...
Scott Goldberg uses action research as a creative instrument for staff development – and shares his insights from the process. A principal of a prominent Yeshiva Day School in the United States approached me following a seminar I gave on DI and said, “it would be...
Day 1 8:30am – 9:30am Doable Projects of Change: Using Action Research to Improve Teaching What is Action Research? 9:30am – noon Defining a problem in your classroom Defining a goal of what you want to see in your classroom Brainstorming solutions Various methods of...
Chaya Gorsetman and Amy Ament developed a unique program that uses DI to address some social-cultural aspects of learning differences. If a girl doesn’t have a brit milah, does she have to keep commandments? I don’t think it’s fair that I have to say “Amen” when the...
Asking questions. Questions set the stage for safe learning, sending the message that questions themselves are valued. Teacher non-response. By avoiding an immediate response, teachers encourage students to ask more rather than seek out a correct answer. Exploratory...
Q: How can I change my classroom and use differentiated instruction? It sounds so overwhelming. A: Every journey starts with the first step. Begin with only one aspect of the curriculum (content, process, or product) in one lesson or unit. Slowly you will be able to...
Differentiated Instruction (DI) – Classroom practice that respects student learning styles, preferences, and differences around content, process, product and/or environment. Differentiated instruction is an umbrella concept, incorporating current research on the...
