Take the complexity out of differentiating and inspire your learners! This three-day session offers a step-by-step plan for creating an inspiring classroom through differentiated instructional practices. Learn how to honor all learners, build community and design engaging and meaningful lessons that meet standards and benchmarks while keeping the learning in your classroom rigorous and relevant. Kathleen has a multitude of dynamic, practical strategies and lessons examples for differentiating in the primary grades and creating 21st century learners. Be prepared to learn deeply, and HAVE FUN!

Objectives
Upon successful completion of the workshop, the participants will be able to:

• Create a classroom environment (tone and setting) for differentiation
• Collect pertinent student data for differentiating by students’ readiness, interests and learning profiles.
• Use two key frameworks to help you embed best practices into your lesson (brain-based, multiple intelligences, choice theory, and more!)
• Foster student independence and self-accountability through apprenticeship instruction
• Design engaging and meaningful lessons based clear and rigorous learning targets
• Create flexible groupings based on student profiles: learning/expression styles, readiness, interests, varied independence
• Develop formative and summative assessments for the differentiated classroom
  

Outline

Day 1:  Know Your Students/Know Your Learning Target

• Intro:  Getting to know You
• Getting to Know Your Learners
  • Know the needs of exceptional learners
  • Know how to gather and manage data
• Building an Inspiring Learning Community
  • Management Techniques for Creating an Empowered Learning Community
  • Creating an community that honors all learners – Fair is not same
• C U KAN: Designing Clear Learning Targets (No more random acts of differentiating!)
• Application Sessions:  Throughout the day, participants will set goals and implement Classroom Practice from today’s session.

Day 2: Vary the Pathways/The Craft of Apprenticeship Learning

• What Part of the lesson to Differentiate
  • Chunk (Input)
  • Chew (Process)
  • Check (Output)
• Ways to Differentiate
  • Whole Class
  • Choice
  • Readiness
• Whole Class Chunk Strategies (Input)
• Whole Class Chew Strategies(Process)
  • Lite-n-Lean Strategies
  • The Vital-know hows and how to teach them
• Whole Class Check
  • Formative
  • Summative
• Application Sessions:  Throughout the day, participants will set goals and implement Classroom Practice from today’s session.

Day 3: Flexible Grouping:  Choice and Readiness Level Differentiation, On-Going Assessment

• Tiered Lessons
• Choice Designs/RAFT Plus
• Formative and Summative Assessment
  • Rubrics for teacher and student assessment
• Final Project Group Share
• Application Sessions:  Throughout the day, participants will set goals and implement Classroom Practice from today’s session.

Trainer’s Profile
Kathleen K. is a life-long learner, an experienced teacher and an outstanding presenter. Kathleen is passionate, informed and committed to bringing the best educational practices to school and teachers, so that they can help ALL students succeed. She has taught general education, special education, and gifted and talented students.   Kathleen has also worked with students of varying socio-economic and multi-cultural backgrounds   She has taught and co-taught a variety of content areas at both secondary and elementary levels.

Kathleen is the co-author of the books, Inspiring Secondary Learners (2007),   and Inspiring Elementary Learners (2008), Kryza, Duncan and Stephens, Corwin Press, Winning Strategies for Test Taking, Denstaedt, Kelly, Kryza, Corwin Press (2009), Differentiating in the Real Classroom, Corwin Press November 2009. Kathleen is featured in the video, Differentiating Instruction in the Intermediate Grades, Bureau of Education and Research (BER), 2008. She has presented nationally for over 12 years for the Bureau of Education and Research (BER), and has presented for school districts locally, nationally, and internationally for 20 years on various educational and motivational topics.  (Differentiated Instruction, Reading and Writing for Understanding, Inclusion Co-teaching and more…)

Workshops with Kathleen are highly practical and inspirational.  You will leave her seminars with dozens of ideas you can implement immediately. More importantly as you use these dynamic strategies in your classroom practice, you will see your students respond and grow as learners

Methodology
Each day session will be a blend of whole class presentations, interactive group participation, and individual time for planning and self-reflection.  Each day will include sessions that will be differentiated to meet participants’ needs.  Each day will include multi-media with video clips of classrooms in action as well as engaging, interactive activities to deepen your understanding. All forms of artistic expression will be encouraged! Kathleen’s mission is for you to leave these sessions inspired and excited to share all you have learned with your students.

Target Audience
Secondary School Teachers and administrators, Special Education Teachers.

Duration: 3 days, 18 hours
Closing Date:  1 Apr 10 15 May 2010