WEBSITE CATALYST
Originally created for a Curriculum and Instruction Master's Degree class at the University of Kansas, this website was created on the premise that it could be used in my classroom. Not only have I learned about the importance of Differentiated Instruction in the classroom, I have also realized that what I do EVERY single day in my classroom is valuable. As art teachers, we are often lumped in with content area teachers with the hopes that we can take the information presented and make it work in our classrooms. This is a working document and my hope is that other Pottery teachers can use this information to further their teaching dynamic and do what we do best, which is essentially assisting students in finding their voices, their creativity, their sensitivites, and their passions in our classrooms. I have spent hours on the Internet searching for documents regarding differentiation in the classroom. Below I am including a list of the documents that helped me tremendously. I sometimes wish I could create a document that incorporated all of the wonderful information that I have found in these studies, but I fear I would use an entire forest. So, I place these websites here in the hopes that others can utilize the incredible knowledge of fellow educators as I have.
http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/siteASCD/video/DifferentiatingInstruction.pdf
https://naea.digication.com/ericagloveredwards/Differentiation_of_Instruction
http://www.caroltomlinson.com/2010SpringASCD/Rex_SAstrategies.pdf
One of the best websites that I have found that directly speaks to what we do as art teachers is the following https://naea.digication.com/ericagloveredwards/Differentiation_of_Instruction. Thank you, Erica for sharing this ideal.
In differentiating instruction for the classroom, a teacher must consider focusing on content, process, products, and learning environment:
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In art education, content can be varied using demonstration and step-by-step instructions, art prints, supplementary texts, student choice, curriculum compacting, learning contracts, technology, and internet resources.
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Processes and activities can be differentiated by the art teacher to engage the student and make learning relevant. This means involving the learner by providing choices of art media and processes, creating centers that encourage exploration, using tiered activities “through which all learners work with the same goals, understandings, and skills, but proceed with different levels of support, challenge, or complexity,” and varying the length of time students spend completing tasks.
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Art educators can vary products, projects, and lessons to give students the chance to demonstrate, apply, or extend their learning. Students may be given options of how to communicate ideas and express knowledge. The teacher will use rubric guided lesson planning to match and extend student’s varied skill level. Students will spend time working independently, in small groups, as a class, and as a school to create products.
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The art room learning environment altered to accommodate a number of differing objectives. The art teacher can achieve a class-setting that is safe, engaging, and encouraging by setting clear guidelines, promoting respect and encouraging civil dialogue in critique and as a general rule, fostering inclusiveness, providing cross-cultural and cross-curriculum focuses, and appropriating areas for students to create visually stimulating art, and quiet areas for students that may need less distraction. (Tomlinson, 2000), (Heise, 2007)