Differentiating Instruction: Environment

Video Transcription

Hello, and thank you for joining me for differentiating instruction with an emphasis on the environment. We have one essential question today, and that is, in what ways can the learning environment be differentiated? Let's start with a review of differentiated instruction.

Remember that differentiated instruction is the framework that teachers can use to make learning more meaningful for their students by realizing that not all students learn the same, and therefore, we have to change the way that we deliver certain things in the classroom so that all students can learn. Things that we can change are the content taught, which is what we're teaching the students, the process, which is how we're teaching the students the content, the products, which is the products the students free to show mastery, and the environment, which means both the physical environment and the mental attitude that goes along with the classroom environment. And that environment is going to be our focus of today's tutorial.

An important aspect of differentiated instruction is the creation of student profiles. Student profiles are multidimensional and help teachers realize that students are individuals and not all the same. When making a student profile, it's important to look at student interests, which is what they're interested in outside of school, the student's learning style, and their multiple intelligences. Both which can be found by the teacher doing research on the student or by simple online quizzes. The students usually enjoy doing this.

You also take into account the students gender, because studies do show that girls and boys learn differently, the students culture, which also helps the teacher be aware of their own cultural biases that they want to avoid in the classroom, and other factors, such as whether or not this has a learning disability, a physical disability, something going on in their home life that might affect their teaching. This isn't a negative thing or tracking students. This is the teacher using many dimensions of the student to find ways to teach them best, so that learning is authentic and meaningful.

Carol Ann Tomlinson has done a lot of education research. She's basically the creator of modern day differentiated instruction, and this is what she has to say about it. She says the learning environment will support or deter the student's quest for affirmation, contribution, power, purpose, and challenge in the classroom.

With that in mind, we want to take a look at how we can change the physical layout of our classroom and how we can change the feel of our classroom. For physical layout, you want to think about the way that your space is used. So this includes different areas for large or small group work. This includes having different centers in the classroom, and you'll probably see a lot of this in elementary school classrooms.

They have lots of different centers. They have their reading center, their dramatic play center, their computer lab center, their writing center. But there's no reason that we can't also have these different centers in high school classroom or in a middle school classroom.

You also want to consider things like lighting and environmental elements, like available supplies. These are all things that can be modified. My school that I teach at recently won a green award, and we had new windows installed in several of the classrooms that automatically would dim based on the placement of the sun. And then the teacher could also program the windows to dim, if he or she needed it to be darker a brighter for some reason.

It is astonishing the way that these windows have made a difference in the way that the students are learning in the classroom. Furniture arrangements should always be flexible, and this is because there are many different ways to engage a group. So in order to engage the group in different ways, you know, you're not going to have a huge classroom, where you can have small groups preset at tables and then have a large group preset.

Chances are the students are going to be moving the furniture around. But you just want to have flexible furniture and a space that is open enough to make those movements happen. You also want to consider the feel of the classroom, because we want all students to feel welcomed. And we want the environment to feel risk free.

We want our students to feel like they can put themselves out there. Sometimes, especially with higher grades, offering ideas and answers to questions might be intimidating to students. Because, if they're wrong, they might be afraid that their peers are going to tease them. So we want to help them understand that they can participate without fear of being put down or without being reprimanded by their peers or their teacher.

So one way to do this is by having procedures in place that help the classroom run smoothly. And these should be posted and discussed on the first day of school, so that everybody is on the same page. So I teach a literature class. And a lot of times, we're making connections to the literature from connecting it to our own lives.

So I always stress to my students that bullying is not tolerated. Laughing at someone's comments is not tolerated, and repeating comments outside of the classroom is also not allowed, if it's done in a way to make fun of the other person. Because this is a safe space. Because without having it established as a safe space, we're not going to be able to talk about literature in a meaningful way.

So some questions you should ask yourself when you're trying to differentiate the environment are, how should I arrange my classroom so that there are areas for different learning activities and grouping? How can I enhance the feel of my classroom, so that it is a safe, positive environment for all students? And how can technology help the students and me reach the above goals?

OK, do you see any benefits in differentiating your environment? If so, what are they? To review, today, we discussed in what ways can the learning environment be differentiated.

As you reflect on how this new information can be applied, you may want to explore the additional resources section that accompanies this video presentation. This is where you'll find links to resources chosen to help you deep in your learning and explore ways to apply your newly acquired skillset. Thanks for joining me and happy teaching.

Video Transcription

Hello, and thank you for joining me for differentiating instruction with an emphasis on the environment. We have one essential question today, and that is, in what ways can the learning environment be differentiated? Let's start with a review of differentiated instruction. Remember, that differentiated instruction is a framework that teachers can use to make learning more meaningful for their students by realizing that not all students learn the same, and therefore we have to change the way that we deliver certain things in the classroom so that all students can learn.

Things that we can change are the content taught, which is what we're teaching the students, the process, which is how we're teaching the students the content, the products, which is the products the students free to show mastery, and the environment, which means both the physical environment and the mental attitude that goes along with the classroom environment. And that environment is going to be our focus of today's tutorial.

An important aspect of differentiated instruction is the creation of student profiles. Student profiles are multidimensional and help teachers realize that students are individuals and not all the same. When making a student profile, it's important to look at student interests, which is what they're interested in outside of school, the student's learning style and their multiple intelligences, both which can be found by the teacher doing research on the student or by simple online quizzes. The students usually enjoy doing this.

You also take into account the student's gender because studies do show that girls and boys learn differently, the student's culture, which also helps the teacher be aware of their own cultural biases that they want to avoid in the classroom, and other factors, such as whether or not the student has a learning disability, a physical disability, something going on in their home life that might affect their teaching. This isn't a negative thing or tracking students. This is the teacher using many dimensions of the student to find ways to teach them best so that learning is authentic and meaningful.

Carol Ann Tomlinson has done a lot of education research. She's basically the creator of modern day differentiated instruction. And this is what she has to say about it. She says the learning environment will support or deter the student's quest for affirmation, contribution, power, purpose, and challenge in the classroom.

With that in mind, we want to take a look at how we can change the physical layout of our classroom, and how we can change the feel of our classroom. For physical layout, you want to think about the way that your space is used. So this includes different areas for large or small group work. This includes having different centers in the classroom.

And you'll probably see a lot of this in elementary school classrooms. They have lots of different centers. They have their reading center, their dramatic play center, their computer lab center, their writing center. But there's no reason that we can't also have these different centers in a high school classroom or in a middle school classroom.

You also want to consider things like lighting and environmental elements like available supplies. These are all things that can be modified. My school that I teach at recently won a green award and we had new windows installed in several of the classrooms that automatically would dim based on the placement of the sun. And then the teacher could also program the windows to dim if he or she needed it to be darker or brighter for some reason. It is astonishing the way that these windows have made a difference in the way that the students are learning in the classroom.

Furniture arrangements should always be flexible. And this is because there are many different ways to engage a group. And so in order to engage the group in different ways, you're not going to have a huge classroom where you can have small groups preset at tables and then have a large group preset. Chances are the students are going to be moving the furniture around. But you just want to have flexible furniture and a space that is open enough to make those movements happen.

You also want to consider the feel of the classroom because we want all students to feel welcomed, and we want the environment to feel risk-free. We want our students to feel like they can put themselves out there. Sometimes, especially with higher grades, offering ideas and answers to questions might be intimidating to students because if they're wrong, they might be afraid that their peers are going to tease them. So we want to help them understand that they can participate without fear of being put down, without being reprimanded by their peers or the teacher.

So one way to do this is by having procedures in place that help the classroom run smoothly. And these should be posted and discussed on the first day of school so that everybody is on the same page. So I teach a literature class, and a lot of times we're making connections to the literature from connecting it to our own lives.

So I always stress to my students that bullying is 100% not tolerated, laughing at someone's comments is not tolerated, and repeating comments outside of the classroom is also not allowed if it's done in a way to make fun of the other person because this is a safe space. Because without having established it as a safe space, we're not going to be able to talk about literature in a meaningful way.

So some questions you should ask yourself when you're trying to differentiate the environment are, how should I arrange my classroom so that there are areas for different learning activities and grouping? How can I enhance the feel of my classroom so that it is a safe, positive environment for all students? And how can technology help the students and me reach the above goals? OK, do you see any benefits in differentiating your environment? If so, what are they?

To review, today we discussed, in what ways can the learning environment be differentiated? As you reflect on how this new information can be applied, you may want to explore the additional resources section that accompanies this video presentation. This is where you'll find links to resources chosen to help you deepen your learning and explore ways to apply your newly acquired skill set. Thanks for joining me, and happy teaching.