Differentiated Instruction and Assessment

Current Practice

I am aware of and attentive to the indicators in the Differentiated Instruction and Assessment Category of the Pedagogical Practice Domain in my current professional/teaching practice. I do recognize that students learn best in different ways and that instruction can be adapted in order to better reach different types of learners. I think I’m doing okay with this category pretty naturally, but I could stand to look at my performance more closely in order to reveal areas for future growth.

Below are brief descriptions of the indicators in this category with specific examples of how they are present in my teaching practice.

(1) considers and addresses each student’s learning profile

Currently, I consider and address student learning profiles in the following ways:

  • Whenever I launch a new course (at the beginning of the year for my year-long course or at the beginning of the trimester for my trimester-long course), I review the learning profiles for students with accommodations.
  • For students in Guided Study Hall, I work with both the students and their Guided Study Hall teachers to make sure they complete their assignments (with whatever accommodations work best for individual assignments) and have accommodations for assessments (Artifact Ped-3 and Artifact Ped-4).
  • For students who do not have Guided Study Hall, I occasionally meet with parents to discuss how they or I can better support their students (Artifact Ped-5).
  • More frequently, I meet directly with students who want to explore how they could have done better on assignments or assessments (Artifact Ped-6).
  • Currently, I accommodate almost all student requests for breaks, use of computers, etc. regardless of whether they have accommodations (Artifact Ped-7).
  • I try my best to be clear about accommodations when engaging with students about assignments or assessments (Artifact Ped-8).

While this list represents a solid effort, I’m not sure that it addresses “each” student’s learning profile. I would like to further examine this as outlined in the Future Practice section below.

(2) designs class activities and assignments that engage and accommodate for both individual students and a diverse group of learners

Currently the activities and assignments I use in my classes engage and accommodate for both individual students and a diverse group of learners. For Scientific Thinking 1, activities and assignments include lab work (both following existing procedures and students creating their own procedures), reading and answering questions from a book, taking notes, class discussions, watching videos, giving presentations, and creating a poster, among others. For Environmental Practices-8, activities and assignments include written assignments, class discussions, film watching, conducting research, creating a video, creating a presentation, and a class TELA discussion. In both of my classes, work is completed both individually and in partners or small groups.

One example of where I engaged and accommodated for both individual students and a diverse group of learners was during the 6th grade Scientific Thinking/10th grade Chemistry collaborations. In this collaboration, 10th grade students gave feedback to 6th grade students on scientific presentations. Depending on where the 6th graders were in their presentation development, they either presented to small groups of 10th graders, presented to a single 10th graders, received help on PowerPoint development, or received help on performing research (Artifact Ped-9).

In her observation of this main class period during which we collaborated, Anne Duffy noted that “Students were researching a material that they found interesting. Since the students got to choose their material, they all seemed very vested in their presentation topics.”

While it’s clear that I offer a variety of activities and assignments in my classes and I’m able to engage and accommodate different types of learners, after this reflection, I’m compelled to examine this in more depth.

(3) builds in opportunities for each student to contribute during each class period

Building in opportunities for each student to contribute during each class period has been an area in which I have directed a considerable amount of attention over the last two years. I consulted on this topic with Sam Uzwack on a few occasions. Some of the strategies I have employed to increase student opportunities to contribute are:

  • Specifically requesting to hear from students who I “haven’t heard much from recently” during in-class discussions and when they raise their hands, calling on them immediately.
  • Giving honest feedback during conferences and on progress reports to students who both under contribute and over contribute during class discussions.
  • Giving students three chips each at the beginning of class which represent the number of times they can contribute in class. When they are out of chips, they can’t contribute any more.
  • Using teaching strategies other than open class discussions (previously my default strategy) to review material (Artifact Ped-10).
  • Utilizing teaching strategies that involve all students (not just volunteers) (Artifact Ped-2, Video 3: Polymers in class).

In her observation of the main class period during which 6th and 10th graders collaborated, Anne Duffy noted how I made opportunities for each student to contribute: “Students were working with small groups of 10th graders so every student who was ready had a chance to practice in front of a group of 10th graders with some going more than once” (Artifact Ped-1).

After trying some new techniques over the past few years, I would like to more formally examine how I am doing with indicator as outlined in the Future Practice section below.

(4) provides alternative explanations of course concepts

When I started teaching at EPS, my strategy was to first use the teaching materials my predecessors used when they taught the courses before me. In some of these materials, alternative explanations of course concepts were already included (e.g., Artifact Ped-11 with the class holding hands model shown in Artifact Ped-2, Video 5: Slowly pouring polymers). I also routinely add alternative explanations that I think would be helpful for students in the moment (for example if they asked me a question). I have not, however, actually examined whether or not I am providing alternative explanations consistently to reach different types of learners.

Student Experience Survey results for the statement “My teacher is able explain ideas differently if I did not understand the original explanation” indicate that I am somewhere between a 3 and a 4 on a scale of 1-4 (Artifact Ped-12). Students perceive that I am able to provide alternative explanations of course concepts.

(5) adapts instruction based on formative assessment

As a person who likes to create and implement plans, adapting instruction based on formative assessment was something I struggled with my first year at EPS. I have since relaxed a bit and have had a number of successes with changing things up.

Some examples include:

  • During the 6th/10th grade science collaborations, not all 6th graders came prepared to present to the 10th graders as I had assigned. When I realized this at the start of class, in collaboration with Nickie Wallace and Anne Duffy, I created groups of 6th grade students in three different situations (those who were ready to present, those who needed to complete their PowerPoint presentations, and those who needed help with research) and subsequently, paired them with 10th graders. As more became ready, I arranged for them to practice presenting (Artifact Ped-9). My colleague, Anne Duffy, noted my success with this stating: “Krissy circulated around the room to make sure that kids were getting feedback and the help that they needed. She also tried hard to make sure that every kid got a chance to practice but waited until the students were ready based on her informal interactions with them” (Artifact Ped-1).
  • During student presentations in Scientific Thinking 1, students ran their own Q&A after presenting. Malcolm Yates, who observed me during one of the class periods, noted the situation and my response as follows (Artifact Ped-1):
    “question and answer after is ENTIRELY run by students (no need for management from Krissy whatsoever) and goes really smoothly
    § possible downside, asking of questions is somewhat (but far from completely) dominated by a handful of hand-raisers
    □ FOLLOW-UP: Krissy does insert herself about halfway through and reminds students that she is tracking who has asked questions gently encouraging
    * students who haven’t been raising their hands as much to do so
    * students who have already asked questions to be thoughtful about giving others an opportunity
    * presenters to call on students who haven’t asked as many questions”
  • Spontaneously changing the Environmental Practices-8 curriculum to accommodate learning about COVID-19 during spring trimester 2020 (Artifact Ped-13). Although it would have been easier to continue with the already developed curriculum, it would have been a missed opportunity to not discuss COVID-19 in a course focused on environmental challenges and solutions.

Although it is clear that my comfort level for changing things up has increased during my second year at EPS, I would like to more formally examine how I am doing with this indicator as outlined in the Future Practice section below.

Future Practice

While the indicators of the Differentiated Instruction and Assessment Category of the Pedagogical Practice Domain are present in my current professional/teaching practice, my practice could be enhanced if I actively spent more time seeking and implementing new ideas to discover what specific strategies work best for me in the classroom.

Specifically, in the coming years, I would like to:

  1. Be more proactive about considering and addressing each student’s learning profile. I would like to do this by researching proven ways to reach students with different learning needs and creating a table with this information. As the school year progresses and I identify students with different learning needs, I can consult this table to quickly implement new strategies to help them learn.
  2. Analyze more carefully the types of class activities and assignments I utilize in order to ensure that I am engaging and accommodating all types of learners. I can do this by categorizing each activity and assignment I offer according to the learning style or styles it appeals to and adding or taking away types of activities and assignments as needed.
  3. For each of the two classes I teach, perform an analysis of how I build in opportunities for each student to contribute during each class period and identify and address specific areas of improvement.
  4. For each of the two classes I teach, perform an analysis of how I provide alternative explanations of course concepts and identify and address specific areas of improvement.
  5. Create a log where I track where there are opportunities in my classes to change things up based on formative assessment and how I respond to those opportunities.