Differentiated instruction (DI) is becoming a mainstay in classrooms across the country as educators are starting to see the ways that the traditional classroom setting limits their ability to reach diverse learners. Join us on this journey through 10 practical DI integration strategies! Count on at least three sample integration lessons on each strategy, and just think of all the ways that you can apply them to improve learning outcomes for your students.

Over the next six weeks, we'll talk about DI strategies ranging from multiple intelligences (MI) to flexible grouping, cubing, WebQuests, I-Searches, tiering, anchoring activities, and interest centers. Every lesson is packed with real-world examples that will help you put these strategies to use in your own classroom. We'll take a look at integration across different subjects, grade levels, and learning profiles as you gain helpful tips on bringing DI to your classroom.

This course is a must for today's teachers who often have to differentiate quickly, and with a minimum of resources. DI is an excellent launch pad for ramping up your creative classroom, and with the tips in these lessons, you'll be reaching your diverse learners in no time flat.

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Syllabus:

All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the course. You do not have to be present when the lesson is released, but you must complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.

A new section of each course starts on the second or third Wednesday of each month. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two months apart.

Week One

Wednesday - Lesson 01

If you've been wondering how you can introduce differentiated instruction (DI) into your classroom, or even if you're already practicing it, this course is for you. Chock full of practical integration strategies and examples separated by elementary, middle, and high school, this class will give you the how-to so you can power up your creative classroom. In this first lesson, we'll go over what DI is, the different avenues for implementing it in the classroom, and the basics of DI assessment.

Friday - Lesson 02

Did you know that we're all different kinds of smart? According to researcher and Harvard educator Dr. Howard Gardner, we each excel at learning in eight different ways (with a ninth category up for consideration as we speak). In today's lesson, you'll discover the power of teaching to multiple intelligences in your classroom as you learn tried-and-true techniques to customize your lesson plans.

Week Two

Wednesday - Lesson 03

You may already be adept at providing scaffolding and guided practice in your classroom, but today you'll learn how to ramp it up a notch with some smart tips on integrating and extending this DI strategy. You'll learn the power of tying familiar learning processes to new material as you lead your students from one exciting topic to the next. But the most exciting part will be watching them take ownership of new concepts in ways that complement their learning profiles.

Friday - Lesson 04

Flexible grouping is likely already a mainstay in your classroom, but this lesson is packed with great integration strategies that will help you extend its power across different grade levels and academic subjects. You'll enjoy this discovery of unique ways to group students based on readiness, natural abilities, and talents.

Week Three

Wednesday - Lesson 05

If you've ever put a computer or book nook in your classroom, you're probably already familiar with interest centers. By grouping students into centers based on topics, subjects, or types of activities, you can focus like-minded learners on specific tasks. This allows you to differentiate across the board, offering unique learning opportunities for all the students in your class. We'll go over all of it in today's lesson.

Friday - Lesson 06

Do you remember the Rubik's cube? What a fun puzzle that is! In this lesson, you'll explore the power of the cube in your DI classroom. If you're not already familiar with this strategy, cubing is a writing activity that lets students explore topics from six distinct points of view. Whether your cube is wooden, paper, or plastic, you'll have fun tossing it up on the desk and letting students approach learning with new vigor.

Week Four

Wednesday - Lesson 07

While WebQuests have been a powerful classroom tool for some years now, in this lesson, we'll take a look at why they're so useful in the DI classroom. You'll examine the components of successful WebQuests and learn the best ways to find quality ones on the Web. You'll probably find that you're even more Web savvy than you thought you could ever be!

Friday - Lesson 08

I-Search, you search—let's all search for this DI strategy. An alternative to the traditional research paper, this DI strategy allows students to pick a topic that interests them and do traditional and out in the world research to learn more. The products of I-Searches are always amazing, and in this lesson, you'll see the ways in which your students can have a lot of fun learning more about topics that matter to them.

Week Five

Wednesday - Lesson 09

Today you'll discover another great writing strategy for your DI classroom: RAFTS. If you're not familiar with RAFTS outside of the life-saving type in the ocean, welcome to a fantastic DI strategy that's somewhat similar to cubing. RAFTS is another strategy where students assume different roles to approach reading and writing and then create unique products. You'll have fun exploring this strategy with your writers!

Friday - Lesson 10

If you have learners at a variety of readiness levels, you'll be glad to learn the particulars of tiering, a DI strategy where you give students paralleled tasks at different levels of complexity. And of course, the levels of complexity all depend on where your students are on the learning curve. Today you'll learn how to employ this strategy with confidence as you find out how to customize assignments at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.

Week Six

Wednesday - Lesson 11

Similar to tiering in that it differentiates by readiness, curriculum compacting is a DI strategy that will help you give different work to your advanced learners so that they aren't bored by average or remedial instruction. You'll find out everything you need to know in today's lesson. If you're a GATE teacher or have GATE students in class, compacting is a must-have in your DI tool kit.

Friday - Lesson 12

In our final lesson, we'll look at anchoring activities that will help you direct students on further productive activities when they're finished with regular classroom work. You'll learn how to bring these activities alive with a little creativity and a lot of DI. We'll also take a final glance at DI in your classroom, and help you assess reasonable implementation strategies.

This course includes a knowledgeable and caring instructor who will guide you through your lessons, facilitate discussions, and answer your questions. The instructor for this course will be Tracey Birch.

As an educator who has worked with students as young as four and as old as 12, Tracey Birch started practicing Differentiated Instruction before the term was coined. After completing a master's degree in education, Birch taught in varied school settings, from private to public schools and across multiple grades. She currently serves as the Middle School Lead Teacher at a public junior high school.

Requirements:

Internet access, e-mail, and Netscape or Internet Explorer Web browser.

Student Reviews:

"After completing lessons, I found that I was already doing some of these strategies. I teach music to elementary age children and do a lot of different levels when it comes to learning to play recorders!! I have recently started to use anchoring activities such as games and computer for further learning of concepts."

"After completing the lessons, I found that I was already doing some of these strategies. I teach music to elementary age children and do a lot of different levels when it comes to learning to play recorders!! I have recently started to use anchoring activities such as games and the computer for further learning of concepts."

"As a gifted teacher, the aspects that related to my teaching were very helpful. Thank you!"

"Differentiated instruction in the classroom is a useful course that any teacher should take in order to improve the education quality. The instructor made a good effort to answer any question and to guide the students during the process."

"Excellent course and outstanding instructor!!!"

"Excellent course-content and style were useful and very welcoming and encouraging!"

"Great Course! I am so excited about DI! I can't wait to get back in the classroom and implement some of these strategies. I've already recommended this course to several teachers I know and I hope to take the next course. Thank you for sharing your knowledge."

"Great course! I learned a lot. I really liked the fact that so many useful ideas were given to use in my classroom."

"Great course!! I learned a lot!!! Thank you!! Tracy!"

"Great course! I would definitely take another online course from this instructor, she was very helpful and her course was well written! I will be looking to take another course from Tracy!"

"Great course! Learned a lot of strategies that blended in with things I have done in the past. Instructor was prompt in answering questions. Learned a lot; Thanks."

"Great teacher. I loved her teaching style. Very positive and upbeat. Well organized course."

"Helpful, informative, well done and enlightening..... thank you for all the effort."

"I absolutely loved this course! It gave me lots of ideas to add to my classroom, as well as ways to increase the effectiveness of things I already do. Tracey's writing style was almost like having an online conversation with a teaching mentor. There were also plenty of links to keep me working for a long time!"

"I am a recent retiree now returning to the workforce at my dream job. I had not been in a classroom setting in a long time and the course and the instructor were exciting and informative. I never felt overwhelmed and I felt the teacher understood my challenges."

"I appreciated the very useful hands-on ideas presented throughout the lessons."

"I felt the course was extremely beneficial to me. This year, I have 29 third graders who will learn at their level as a result of this class. Thank you so much!"

"I found the suggestions on how to implement DI strategies such as cubing, to be extremely helpful. This course was valuable in helping teachers to not only learn about DI, but to incorporate it into the classroom."

"I found this class to be one of the most helpful of all the classes I have taken. The instructor breaks the lessons down and gives examples we can use in the classroom. It was great!"

"I found this course very educational. Thank you for your energy and time."

"I greatly appreciated all of the practical ideas that I could take into my classroom right away. I also liked that the ideas were broken down by elementary, middle and high school. It was nice to see how strategies developed for higher grades could be modified for younger students. Great class!"

"I have been out of teaching for several years and am looking to go back in the fall. This class gave me some good ideas to take into my new classroom."

"I have been out of teaching for several years and I am looking to go back in the fall. This class gave me some good ideas to take into my new classroom."

"I have enjoyed this course so much! You have inspired me to further my knowledge on this subject. I have accumulated such a wonderful resource and have suggested your course to many of my colleagues. I will definitely take your "Survival Kit for Teachers" course."

"I have really benefited from this class. Not only have I implemented these activities in my elementary classroom but also shared what I was learning with my college students. It has made me more confident on attempting to include internet/computer in my daily instructions"

"I learned tons from this class. After being out of the classroom for ten years exploring these new teaching strategies was very beneficial. The only problem I had was that all of the assignments were geared toward having a classroom to complete. Still being a stay at home mom and just trying to update my teaching certificate I had very little to add to the discussion area, but I did love the knowledge I gathered from those who did. Thank you."

"I liked how Tracey addressed elementary, middle school, high school in each of the [differentiated instruction] strategies. Examples were clear, internet resources-fabulous, and each lesson was well written. I felt inspired when the class was over. Thanks for a great class!"

"I liked how Tracey included us in her viewpoint, as if we were in the classroom with her. I also liked how she started each lesson with a few words of review from the previous lesson, and ended each lesson with a preview of material to come in the next lesson. It tied everything together neatly and 'hooked' us into the next lesson. Tracey's online orientation was very helpful. This is my first online course and it was such a good experience that I will most likely repeat it in the next few years."

"I liked that Tracey included additional resources for DI. The hyperlinks and websites that you provided for the topics were very helpful! This course was taught in a comprehensive manner."

"I liked the way the course was formatted to focus on a different DI strategy each lesson. I also liked the way examples were given for elementary, middle, and high school for each strategy."

"I loved every minute of this course and learned so much. I enjoyed doing the assignments. It wasn't something I dreaded. I looked forward to completing the lessons. I can't wait to try the things I learned in my classroom."

"I loved this course! Until I took this course I didn't realize exactly how much DI I was using in the classroom...and how much more could be used! I have accumulated a wonderful resource (2" binder) that will have a permanent spot on my desk. I am looking forward to Tracey's next course."

"I loved this course! Until I took this course I didn't realize exactly how much DI I was using in the classroom...and how much more could be used! I have accumulated a wonderful resource that will have a permanent spot on my desk. I am looking forward to Tracey's next course."

"I really appreciate all the things I learned during this course. It was a new and fun experience for me. I hope to continue taking courses like this. I'm sure I'm going to enjoy practicing everything I learned with my students. Thank you."

"I really found this course to be very informative and useful. Tracey seemed to be very knowledgeable of differentiated instruction. I liked that she had many examples of the methods to use in different grade levels. She also incorporated websites which allowed me to see how the methods could be used. I would recommend this course to any teacher who would like to use differentiated instruction in their classroom."

"I think the instructor did an excellent job in presenting the material for this course."

"I took this course as an introduction to a year-long study that we will be doing at our school next year. It was a great summary of DI, with many resources provided for research on my own later. I certainly learned and explored many avenues this summer, and look forward to the next year of learning. I also have many new ideas to use in the Computer Research class that I teach - and to share with the teachers at the school! Thank you!"

"I truly enjoyed taking the class. I have returned to work and when I mentioned to my students I was in school also, they found it quite amusing. You are terrific. This is my first online course, and now I'm not afraid to take another. Thanks for the encouragement when I needed it. You’re the best."

"It was very astute and wise of Tracey to choose strategies of DI that she called 'low budget and low maintenance'. Thanks - they are much more likely to be implemented than if they were the opposite."

"Lots of great info and resources to directly and immediately apply in the classroom."

"Lots of great info and resources to directly and immediately apply in the classroom."

"Loved the course.....so much great information to apply in the classroom I truly enjoyed reading each assignment with the instructor’s "flare" in writing."

"Ms. Birch is obviously very skilled in her area of expertise, and she communicated the skill sets concisely and effectively. The class was extremely helpful and I would recommend highly to anyone else."

"Ms. Tracey is a wonderful teacher, with so much energy, enthusiasm, and creativity. She is inspiring and encouraging, and the whole learning experience has been very meaningful and helpful."

"Superb class, it really helped me to get my thinking/planning/understanding of DI to a point to where I can implement it this upcoming school year. It's always been a buzz word for me, so I'm glad to understand it much more clearly now. Thanks!"

"Thank you for an excellent course. The ideas and examples were excellent! Very entertaining and useful instruction."

"Thank you, Tracey, for taking the time to share your wisdom, knowledge and experience with us. What more can I add to the above comments!! This course has increased my repertoire of teaching strategies and I am looking forward to implementing them in the fall."

"Thank you very much for this outstanding course. I would like you to know that I have been using all these exciting strategies. I'm really looking forward to your next course."

"The course was informative and will surely strengthen my teaching effectiveness. Taking the course was an enjoyable experience. Thank you."

"The examples and applications of the differentiated instruction strategies were extremely helpful, and helped me implement the theories into my classroom."

"The instructor was obviously excited about using DI in the classroom and her content was helpful."

"There was lots of useful information in this class. The web links and were especially helpful to find out more information about each topic. I would definitely take another course with this instructor."

"This course has been my most enjoyable yet because Tracey the instructor is so passionate about the topic and it really comes through in her lessons. She was like a cheerleader encouraging me to get excited about incorporating DI into my coursework. I would definitely take more courses from her."

"This course has been very helpful for my teaching methods. This has been one of the best and most useful courses that I have ever taken!"

"This course has really helped me out in selecting the strategies in my teaching. I teach adult education and it was very interesting to see what I was doing all along, I didn't know that there were words to explain what I was doing. Thank you for an understanding course."

"This course is extremely useful and the instructor was very approachable. Thanks:)"

"This course is great! It was more than I expected. It taught me about DI in ways that I could understand. I will recommend it to all of my teacher friends. I love that it is online and I can access it 24/7, in work clothes or pajamas."

"This course led me to implement new ideas/activities and to make changes for the better within my classroom. I enjoyed the readings and the assignments…I had a great time learning from you Miss Tracey."

"This course offered a variety of teaching strategies for grade and ability levels. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to enhance their teaching strategies. Thank you Tracey!"

"This course was filled with useful information."

"This has been a class that reminded me what DI really is and how it could be applied in a real classroom. It was worth every minute. Thank you so much!"

"This online course was exactly the right vehicle for me to obtain some professional development hours in DI."

"This online course was extremely beneficial to me. It was affordable and fit into my busy schedule. I will take more online classes from you."

"This was a beautifully and sensibly organized class (elementary, middle school, and high school)."

"This was a great course. I learned so much that will help me in the future as I continue teaching. As a new teacher of a multi-age class I found this especially helpful. The anchoring activities section was VERY helpful. Thanks so much for doing this. It is so nice to be able to take courses at all hours of the day and night, without worrying about babysitters for kids, and weather issues with driving. :)"

"This was a GREAT course...lots of exciting ideas for classroom that I will (if I get a full-time teaching job) implement. I really learned many techniques that will create a wonderful learning environment for all students. Thanks!"

"This was a great course with many, many suggestions on how to better my classroom. I have already been using a lot of the information I gained from this course. I am definitely going to recommend it to my fellow teachers."

"This was a very helpful tool for my classroom. Thank you!"

"This was a VERY practical class. I can and will use the information in my classroom ASAP."

"Tracey is an inspirational, personable instructor. The sample lessons were a favorite part of the lessons. Having the resources, the weblinks, imbedded in the lessons was very helpful. The opportunity provided for interaction in the Discussion section was a great idea. Being able to use the quizzes as Pre and Post tests enabled us to implement the ongoing assessment component of DI!! The choice of the Printer-friendly version of the lessons was very much appreciated. I printed the whole course for future reference. It has been so rewarding to 'walk away' with so many practical and theoretical ideas from this course. Thank you, Tracey and company for making this journey possible and exciting."

"Tracey, thanks so much for your wonderful course. It was exactly the kind of course that I like with lots of practical ideas to take back to the classroom!"

"Tracey, this was a very good course; it clarified several terms that have been bandied about but never sufficiently explained to us "old-timers" and provided an introduction to quite a few very sound, interesting strategies."

"We will begin implementing DI in my middle school this coming year, and this course gave me so many great ideas! It was very helpful and has answered several questions I had about time and implementation. I look forward to using many of the activities I learned here in my class next year."

"Wonderful course! I have already used several ideas in my classroom and they all worked well."