Differentiation and Engagement

This course provides an opportunity for educators to take an in-depth look at the text Differentiation in the Middle and High School: Strategies to Engage All Learners by Kristina J. Doubet & Jessica A. Hockett. Through a study group format tailored to the needs of course participants, teachers engage in a range of group reading talks and strategies for accessing text content as they try out these techniques with their students. Participants purchase their course texts. PLN provides "The Plainer Truths of Teaching, Learning and Literacy" by Morton Botel and Lara Paparo as a mentor text or they are asked to bring their own copy of The Plainer Truths from a former PLN course.

Key topics include:
Creating a classroom of respect to allow for supportive differentiation, increasing growth mindset among students and examining and implementing the Human Lens of Learning;

Developing true differentiation based on academic readiness, exploring how to consistently evaluate student progress to make instructional decisions, creating strategic, flexible groupings and implementing specific, focused strategies that allow for adjusting of content and increasing students' ability to make meaning and demonstrate learning against the backdrop of the PLN frameworks: The Five Reading Writing Talking Processes and The Four Lenses of Learning.