Many teachers want to use differentiation to help all students grow. But the press of time, standards, and – in some cases - 100+ students can make that goal seem unattainable. What does differentiation really look like in today’s classrooms? Is it even possible to plan with all students’ needs in mind? This seminar will tackle these questions through hands-on activities focused on making differentiation practical and applicable in real K-12 settings. Participants will themselves engage in active strategies for building classroom community, gathering information on student progress, engaging students in challenging content, adjusting the level of support and scaffolding, and fostering motivation with the goal of helping teachers see and understand differentiation in the context of what they do every day. You will come away from the seminar with proactive differentiation strategies to apply in your classroom.
This seminar runs from 8:15 am to 2:30 pm at the Crowne Plaza White Plains / Downtown Hotel.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will be able to:
• Establish the affective and interactive foundations for differentiation
• Proactively design interactive tasks designed to motivate reticent learners
• Plan differentiated tasks that account for patterns in students' readiness needs, interests, and learning preferences
• Connect differentiation to other aspects of teaching – specifically formative assessment and classroom management
• Use hands-on activities to make differentiation practical and applicable to real classrooms
• Provide active strategies to engage students in challenging content and foster motivation
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
This seminar is applicable for K-12 teachers, special educators, curriculum and assessment coordinators, literacy and math specialists, instructional coaches, and administrators.
WORKSHOP LEADER
Kristina J. Doubet, PhD, is a Professor of Education at the College of Education at James Madison University, where she received the College of Education’s Distinguished Teaching Award, the Madison Scholar Award, and currently holds the Sarah M. Luck Endowed Professorship for Excellence in Education. She works with preservice teachers preparing them for careers in the classroom and with practicing teachers to help them implement initiatives in differentiated instruction, curriculum design (UBD), digital learning, and classroom assessment. Dr. Doubet has co-authored Differentiation in Middle and High School: Strategies to Engage All Learners (2015) and Differentiation in the Elementary Grades: Strategies to Engage and Equip all Learners (2017)
