Understanding the basic principles of D.I.:  An insight into Carol Ann Tomlinson's D.I for dummies!

Carol Ann Tomlinson has become some sort of guru, mentor or reference when you talk about DI.  I personally enjoyed reading this book for my IDP, not only because the language and the insight into DI is very easy to follow if you're not familiar with terms or ideas associated with DI, but also because I got the feeling that she understands the inner constraints and deceptions? of us teachers in our path of making learning accessible for all of our students.  Mrs. Tomlinson clearly reveals the secret to one of the most successful and powerful changes in the didactics of teaching in this easy-to-read book, defending the need for a new kind of education and a change of perspective from what we are used to think education is.

As a DI rookie myself, I can say I really got to understand the core principles of DI by reading this book.  The vivid examples of classrooms, classroom practices and data associated to learning and teaching issues make the content of the book come alive and progressively helps you shape up what DI might eventually look like in your own context.  Mrs. Tomlinson keeps an insteresting style in which the usual metalanguage and wording of academic texts is replaced with a deeper connection and understanding of the conflicts teachers face when teaching heterogeneous groups of kids.  Most of the chapters in the book tell you about stories in which DI comes in hand as a solution to a teacher's dilemma or even nightmare!

The content of the book flows from the basic understandings of What is a differentiated classroom? all the way through elements of differentiation, and my favorite, How do you make it all work?.  Along with the book you gain also a good understanding of some of the basic but widely-known instructional strategies to differentiate: centers, tiered activities, menus, contracts, choice boards, among others.

Rethinking how we do school and for whom,-one of the chapters, takes you on a walk in time, emphasizing  the changes that have impacted the ideas on education, and how research has been a key element to make education respond to an incredibly rapid-moving world.  I loved to read about the fact that even though there is so much research and knowledge about how we learn now, there is little evidence of how all that wealth is actually producing more visible transformations in education.  The reflection that is given to us in terms of the challenges we can offer, and the opportunities to balance equity and excellence in our classroom, make our efforts worth trying.  "All children come to us differentiated" (p.24), so it really makes sense to offer them a  kind of instructions that values differences and that gets accommodated to those differences.  Thinking that students need to fit what they find when they enter your door, will make those who could be encouraged to give more, to simply give up and lose that intrinsic love for learning. 

 The concept of artful teaching, a response to a desperate geometry teacher who struggled because he was extremely skilled and professional, thought of powerful and engaging activities, and yet his students were not on the same dimension and really hated the class, is a simple and basic idea that serves as the foundation for DI according to the author.  The harmony that needs to exist among these 3 elements:  The Teacher, The Students and The Content will totally make a difference in the way you approach education itself:

I personally liked the fact that Mrs. Tomlinson referred to the extreme need of having "Healthy Classroom" as a condition for developing the right spirit of DI.  In these classrooms:

• Each kid is like all others and different from all others.
• Kids need unconditional acceptance as human beings.
• Kids need to believe they can become something better than they are.
• Kids need help in living up to their dreams.
• Kids have to make their own sense of things.
• Kids often make their own sense of things more effectively and coherently when adults collaborate with them.
• Kids need action, joy and peace.
• Kids need power over their lives and learning.
• Kids need help to develop that power and use it wisely.

You basically, as stated, need to make your classroom turn like a home, where your students, now your children, come eagerly to learn and be taught the secrets of independence and joy!  I loved that simple concept, and the deep impact it could cause if we embrace the 15 or 20 responsibilities looking at us in our classrooms as our own kids, our own children.  Isn't that also what you expect that your children get when they go to school?  Food for thought...

The way in which a teacher manipulates, stretches, maximizes and engages content in his/her daily practice will also make a difference in the way your students see your practice.  A healthy classroom is also one in which independence and perspective are valued, and where thinking and inquiring are encouraged through structured questioning and thought-provoking activities and materials.  As stated by the author "When subject matter is dynamic, intellectually intriguing, and personal -when it bestows power to the learner- the "details" also become more important and memorable".  From my own experience, teaching the broader picture through effective techniques and strategies, has led me to have the kids gain a better understanding of basic things such as accents and spelling patterns in Spanish. The program of Inquiry offers that unique opportunity in our school, and well, it shows to work really well, when you engage in a more meaningful practice and you guide the kids into deep reflection and personal connection with the "stuff" or the content.

My own conclusion after reading

The intrinsic connection between DI principles and the  essential elements of the IB-PYP curriculum  lets the teacher materialize the fundamentals of a model of education that becomes more effective, meaningful and more connected to the needs of both kids and the changing world.   The tangible nature of the strategies and methods provided by DI help structure the more abstract concepts of the PYP curriculum into a practice that will enable students to manipulate content, knowledge and skills, helping them develop an incredible sense of awareness of their own learning and the way content is related to life, and to personal development as well.  I find this book to be an amazing  pathway to understanding how we can really make a difference, and also, a great startpoint for all those of us who strive for offering a new way of creating school, and school experiences.

Does it sound familiar?  Isn't it time already to make them part of deciding what's going to be exciting?

Assessment in the Differentiated Classroom

A great image that supports a core principle of DI: Assessment for Learning!

Formative Assessment:  A distinctive feature of a differentiated Classroom

Once I decided to embark in this adventure called "Differentiated Instruction", I supposed I was going to not only work a lot! but also gain an enormous amount of strategies that would change the way I viewed and used assessment.  We already know how those chunks of data drive our instruction, our grouping, and also the planning of new and more adapted learning experiences.

Reading the book I am reviewing now, I encountered very meaningful and fun strategies and approaches for assessing my kids.  The book  discusses and teaches you ways to incorporate more assessment for learning  opportunities in your classroom, in  order to "support learning during the learning process".  Formative assessments also match the PYP principles of developing autonomy and skills to self-assess own learning, and identify areas of progress and difficulty so that students develop a comprehensive awareness of their own process of understanding.  Through the use of more formative assessments, students will be able to tell whether they are in the right path or not, and evidence gathered from them helps the teacher to better guide and modify instruction in order to address all the levels of readiness, and comprehension.  As stated by the author " Without time to reflect on and interact meaningfully with new information, students are unlikelyto retain much of what is "covered" in their classrooms". 

The fact that many of the suggested ways to assess comprised in this book are quick and easy to do, low prep and very fun, make it very practical for daily use as well.  You can gather a wealth of information from your students as you try to monitor how their comprehension goes.  Because of the options provided on the book it is also very recommended that we use a wide variety of forms of these formative assessment.  From my experience using the resources in the book, once you use one, you start plotting possible adaptations and changes to suit your group, and from that experience I have multiplied my bank of assessments to triple the 25 the book has offered me!

The strategies in this book can be categorized in 4 main groups:

• Summaries and reflections.
• Lists, charts, and graphic organizers.
• Visual representations of information.
• Collaborative activities.

The great thing about this resource is that the author provides you with a step-by-step guide in order to help you implement the assessments in your classroom from introduction,  instructions, applications, tips for tiering, connections with ICT, samples of students' responses, and reproducible copies of each one.

As I have used the resources in the book, I have grown in awareness of the importance of assessment as a source of information to drive my practice, my students' confidence has been boosted because of the chances they have to demonstrate they "got it", and the daily interaction with content and skills makes the children aware of their own learning and make them become better monitors of their own understanding.  This way, my students know that there is always a chance to feel successful and that these chances are provided almost every day through a wide variety of strategies, games, and interactions that help me better teach them.  My kids in Primero B also know that I use these assessments to plan my classes, and have surprisingly taken them very seriously and rigurously, to the point that some of them say "tenemos que mostrar lo que aprendimos con mucho detalle".

Further scaffolding is provided in the book for struggling learners, and adaptations and accomodations are suggested as well.  A great resource that may benefit your own path of learning and using  DI in your class!