One of the key principals of differentiation is information dissemination to stakeholders including students, parents, colleagues, and others involved in the education community.
 

In preparing for the first day of a new school year, you decide to create either informational literature (like a brochure or double-sided flyer) or a classroom website explaining the foundations of Differentiated Instruction and its implication in your classroom. Whether you choose to create a brochure, flyer, or classroom website, the information must be specific to your current or fictional classroom (e.g., school, grade level, academic content, student population).
 

In this assignment you must:

· Define differentiation in your own words including the justification for differentiating in the classroom environment.

· Describe how you will create a positive learning environment that is also safe and secure.

· Describe how you will meet the social and emotional needs of your students including ways to eliminate student fear of failure.

· Discuss your expectations of student work and assignments.

· Describe how you will provide students opportunities to succeed.

· Discuss how you will assess student work.

· Select at least three resources (your text may be used as one source) for education stakeholders on differentiation (e.g.,, books, articles, websites, etc.). These will be different from the sources you use to support your assignment (see below).

Be creative! Whatever you choose to create, provide access to your instructor by uploading all the necessary links or text in a document. Use your course text and two scholarly articles in the Ashford University Library or Google Scholar to support your research. Although a typical brochure or flyer is two pages (front and back) there is not a page or length requirement for this assignment, as that will limit your creativity; however, each rubric-based requirement must be fully and thoroughly addressed. If you plan to create a classroom website, you must provide access to the website to your instructor. Be sure to provide proper APA citations at the end of your assignment for the sources that you use (e.g., at the bottom of the brochure or website).
 

Feel free to use these websites as a starting point for creating a brochure or flyer:

· Free Newsletter Templates on Google Docs (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. – these are free newsletter templates for public use on Google Docs

· How to make a business pamphlet. (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

· Office templates (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. – Office provides users free templates using excel, Word, Publisher,

· Top 10 free online blogging platforms (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. – Free blogging platforms

Feel free to use these websites as a starting point for creating a classroom website: 

· Weebly (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.– allows educators to create free class websites

· SchoolRack (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.– free website and educational blog forum

· WordPress (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.– software to create free website or blog

Online Tutorials:

· Beginners Guide to Weebly (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

· SchoolRack Community Documentation (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

· Getting Started with WordPress (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Instructor Guidance Week 1

Assignment

Differentiated instruction includes the environmental layout and behavioral expectations that are set on the first day of school. Keeping in mind the teaching practices in a differentiated environment, where lessons are taught using multiple means of instructional delivery, students guide learning, and lessons are based on real-world examples whenever possible, how should a physical layout be designed to promote such an environment? A space should be created where students can work in groups without disrupting each other; materials should be organized in such a way that students can access them without interrupting others; the classroom itself should be inviting and culturally sensitive with pictures, signs, and student work displayed without being overwhelming; and collaboration should be evident along with independent learning that cater to student strengths (Southwest Educational Development Laboratory [SEDL], 1995).
 

In addition to instruction and the physical classroom layout, a differentiated learning environment promotes positive behavior management that promotes self-management, self-determination, and independence. According to Alfie Kohn, a well-known author of books on behavior, education, and parents, “…the more we manage students’ behavior and try to make them do what we say, the more difficult it is for them to become morally sophisticated people who think for themselves and care about others” (Kohn, 1996, p. 62). How does this translate into your classroom management? What can you do to teach them to make the right behavioral decisions, think independently, and take responsibility for their own actions? Watch this video (Cockroft, 2014) for more information:

Required Resources 

Required Text

Puckett, K (2013). Differentiating Instruction: A Practical Guide [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/

• Chapter      1: A Conceptual Framework of Differentiation
• Chapter      2: Theoretical Foundations of Differentiation

Multimedia

JCPSEmployee. (2012, September 13). Seven Principles for Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning  (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.[Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IptefRjN4DY

Websites

For the teachers (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (http://www.fortheteachers.org/differentiation_framework/)

Screencast-O-Matic. (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (http://screencast-o-matic.com/home)

VoiceThread (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (http://voicethread.com)

Voki (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (http://www.voki.com)

YouTube (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (http://www.youtube.com

Recommended Resources 

Articles

Garden City Public Schools. (n.d.). Differentiated instruction brochure (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. Retrieved from http://www.gardencity.k12.ny.us/cms/lib8/NY01913305/Centricity/Domain/29/Differentiated%20Instruction%20Brochure.pdf

Microsoft Office. (n.d.). Office templates. (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Retrieved from http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/?CTT=97

Swanson, J. (n.d.). How to make a business pamphlet. (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/how_8536865_make-business-pamphlet.html

Tomlinson, C. (n.d.). Strategies for managing a differentiated classroom. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/books/tomlinson2001_chapter6_errata.pdf

Uzayr, S. (2012, March 13). Top 10 free online blogging platforms.  (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.Retrieved from http://sixrevisions.com/tools/top-free-online-blogging

Websites

GoogleDocs: Template Gallery (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (https://drive.google.com/templates?q=newsletter&sort=hottest&view=default#)

SchoolRack (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (http://www.schoolrack.com)

Weebly (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (http://education.weebly.com)

WordPress (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (http://wordpress.org)