Responsive Instructions

According to Carol Ann Tomilson in The Differentiated Classroom, "Only teachers who utilize a variety of instructional models will be successful in maximizing the achievement of all students. Teachers need to "play to" students' strengths and mitigate students' learning weaknesses. This can be done only through the use of instructional variety."
Differentiation requires thoughtful planning and proactive approaches. When planning for students we should:
• Find out what students know and are able to do
• Let students in on what they are learning and why it is important
• Give students choices on how they will learn
• Give students choices on how they will demonstrate their learning
• Ask students about their interests
• Intentionally gather data about how students learn best
The websites below are great resources to help you address the diverse learning needs in your classroom.
Instructional Strategies that Work- This is one of my new favorite sites. I have been using it to plan Differentiated Instruction and High Yield Strategy sessions. Here you will find handy links to great on-line resources!
http://classroom.leanderisd.org/webs/marzano/identifying_similarities_and_differences.htm
Focus on Effectiveness- Integrating Technology into Research Based Strategies. This site focuses on the effective research based strategies reviewed in Marzano, Pollock and Pickering's text, Classroom Instruction That Works. Here you will find suggestions for integrating technology (e.g. digital cameras) into the nine research-based strategies.
http://www.netc.org/focus/strategies/rein.php
eworkshops- For elementary teachers. Click below if you haven't registered. This is a great site! It includes modules on Literacy and Numeracy with videos of teachers in action, activity sheets, lesson plans and more. You'll also find modules on Daily Physical Activity (DPA) from the government's Healthy Schools program,
http://www.eworkshop.on.ca/cfmx/edu/core.cfm
Links for K-12 Teachers. Here you will find many resources including sample lesson DI lesson plans and sample surveys to help students identify learning preferences; http://www.internet4classrooms.com/k12links.htm

Enhancing Learning with Technology (Differentiated Instruction) - I can't say that I have used this site. I came across it and it looks pretty good. Let me know what you think! http://members.shaw.ca/priscillatheroux/differentiating.html

Please remember,
If students aren't learning the way we teach‚ then we need to teach them the way they learn.
Dunn and Dunn