Ryder 1
EDU 579 Summer 09
Fall 2009
Course Outline & Syllabus
EDU 579 Differentiation: Meeting the Needs of Every Learner (7-12)
Section 001, June 23 – July 16 (T, W, Th, 9 a.m. –12 p.m.)
Taught by Dan Ryder, Instructor
(Note the 1! It isn’t there to be pretentious – apparently there’s more than one of me out there in the universe and quite frankly, that’s terrifying.)
Online
Cell: (207) 578-0357 (anytime)
Home: (207) 645-5141 (9 a.m. to 7 p.m. – we have a little one in the house)
Objectives
Our work in the course will be driving toward answering an essential question:
What does it mean to differentiate instruction?
There are many sub-questions within that single question. Some we may explore:
v How will differentiated instruction impact my teaching?
v How will differentiated instruction impact my students’ learning?
v How will differentiated instruction impact my school’s community?
In our efforts to develop answers to the above, we will be looking at five central concepts:
1. Learning to “Know” Our Students
2. Differentiating Content
3. Differentiating Process
4. Differentiating Product
5. Moving Toward Differentiation While Maintaining Sanity
And when the smoke clears, each participant should be able to walk into the classroom and implement the tangible, useable tools and resources developed from the intensive work of the next several weeks.
Required Texts
Heacox, Diane, Ed. D. Differentiating Instruction in the Regular Classroom. Minneapolis: Free Spirit, 2002.
Pink, Daniel. A Whole New Mind. New York: Riverhead, 2006.
Rose, David & Meyer, Anne. Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2002. (Online at www.cast.org)
Tovani, Cris. Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? Portland, ME: Stenhouse, 2004.
Assignments
In order to facilitate a course that best meets your needs as an educator and that has the unique features of being compressed into a five-week period, the assignments have been divided into two major categories: Participation (30%) and Formal Assessments (70%).
1. CLASS PARTICIPATION (BLACKBOARD POSTINGS, ONLINE BOOK DISCUSSION)
Everyone will be expected to post on our Blackboard discussion forum at least four times per week under the weekly topic. (Note: These are four separate posts, not necessarily four separate days. It is summer, after all, and I understand that people may only be able to get online a few times per week. Furthermore, there will be time in class to complete these as well.)
In addition, each text we read will have a book discussion area. Everyone is expected to post at least four times in each text forum over the duration of the course. As this is summer course, I employ a more non-traditional approach to the readings. Rather than a set schedule of readings, follow your instincts. All must be read and discussed, but choose the order that works best for your mind and needs. Pace yourself and see what other people are discussing and then explore that text next.
Missed classes means a need for additional online interaction. Thus, if you miss a class, double your online participation for the week. Two classes, triple it, etc.
2. FORMAL ASSESSMENTS
All students must complete:
STUDENT IDENTITY STRATEGY
· Craft three tools for capturing student identity information helpful to guiding instruction
· Develop a system for organizing and accessing the captured information
· Design a plan for implementing the tools in the fall
DIFFERENTIATION REFLECTION
· Compose a product demonstrating your understanding of differentiation and its place in your educational philosophy
· Explore your past and your future practice
· Use a traditional (written paper) or non-traditional (digital media) vehicle for delivering this understanding
Then one must choose from the following two options:
COMPREHENSIVE UNIT PLAN
· Design a complete 10 – 12 class instructional unit demonstrating the principles of differentiation at work
· Account for differentiated content, differentiated process, and differentiated products over the course of the unit
· Incorporate the backwards design philosophy in the unit plan
DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION SHOWCASE
· Compile 9 – 12 separate lessons and/or learning experiences demonstrating the principles of differentiation at work
· Account for at least three examples each of differentiated content, differentiated process, and differentiated products throughout the collection
· Design a means of sharing the showcase with other pracitioners
I know how challenging course work can be for the practicing educator. On the one hand, you want to see new and exciting things and be challenged to step outside the norm. On the other hand, you want to make sure your time is well spent focusing on work in which you find inherent value. (Nothing worse than the ‘talking head’ professional development day with a pile of correcting and an unfinished lesson plan on your desk.)
Thus, you will select the assignments you would like to complete as part of your demonstration of understanding for this course. Each has its own rubric and overview. The only other requirements: each assignment must meet the basic standards for graduate-level work (see “Submitting Assignments” below).
See the assessment rubric and overview materials for further details for each assignment.
Academic Integrity
Plagiarism is a disgusting word, not to mention very difficult to spell. Unfortunately, few people realize just how easy it is to plagiarize without intent. We will spend significant time working on giving proper credit where proper credit is due. At no point will it be consider acceptable to submit another individual’s work as your own, nor will it be acceptable to submit a piece of writing in this class that was also used for credit in another course.
Another element of academic integrity regards the importance of safety in this course. All must feel a sense of comfort in exploring new and challenging ideas during our work together. An effective learning environment can only exist when the participants honor and respect one another. To those ends, the use of slurs in regards to gender, race, ethnicity, physical or mental disability, or sexual orientation will not be tolerated. In similar fashion, personal or hostile attacks on opinions and expressions are not acceptable.
Special Needs
Equal educational opportunity is offered to students with special needs due to disability. Please notify the instructor at the beginning of the course if reasonable accommodation is needed to meet course requirements.
Attendance
Attendance for this course means a constant presence in class, on our discussion boards and communicating with me and your course colleagues through chat, e-mail, and/or phone. See ‘Participation’ under ‘Assignments’ for more details.
Missed classes means a need for additional online interaction. Thus, if you miss a class, double your online participation for the week. Two classes, triple it, etc.
Submitting Assignments
Proper Submission Format
All written assignments are to be in professional (Times New Roman, Helvetica, Tahoma, etc.) 12-point font. Files must be submitted in Microsoft Word (.doc) or rich text (.rtf) format. I CANNOT read .docX files created by Windows Vista enabled machines. Mailed submissions should be printed on standard white letter paper and stapled in the upper left corner. (Please spare yourselves and my sanity the burden of report covers.) If you would like written submissions returned, you must include a SASE.
The following information should be found in the upper left hand corner of the first page. Some people, including myself, call it a name block.
Name
Date
Course
Assignment
Your last name and page number should be included in the top right-hand corner of each page, beginning with the first.
Citations should be used where necessary and may follow either APA or MLA formats – familiarity and consistency are the key considerations here. And, as this is a graduate level course, all written work is expected to be of graduate-level quality in terms of grammar, mechanics, and spelling.
Revisions of course work must be accompanied by a detailed, bulleted list of the revisions made. The more detailed this document, the better I will be able to identify your work and assess the new product effectively.
Deadlines
All assessments may be revised as many times as one so desires within the duration of the class. But in order for me to provide quality feedback, I cannot be inundated with forty assignments coming at me during the last week of the course. Thus, you may submit ONLY 1 INITIAL ASSIGNMENT SUBMISSION PER WEEK. Revisions may be turned in at any time. Revisions and initial submissions may be submitted up to 1 week after the last meeting of class.
Remember, I am human and I have been known to utter the phrase, “Life happens,” more than a few times. Communicate with me and all should be well.
Grading
All grading may be accessed through Blackboard.
Ryder 1
EDU 579 Summer 09
93 – 100 A Exceeds
expectations
90 – 92 A-
87 – 89 B+
83 – 86 B Meets
expectations
80 – 82 B-
77 – 79 C+
73 – 76 C Mostly meets
expectations
70 – 72 C-
67 – 69 D+
63 – 66 D Rarely meets
expectations
60 – 62
0 – 59 F Does not meet
expectations
Ryder 1
EDU 579 Summer 09