As a result of staff self reflection and recommendations from the International Baccalaureate (IB) and Council of International Schools (CIS) Peak School decided to make the focus of our action research group (ACT) to be differentiation.
Our goal was to develop a common, shared understanding of what differentiated instruction is and what it looks like at Peak School as well as forming a common understanding and approach to the concept of differentiation.
On September 29th a number of Peak School staff joined the ACT differentiation group. This group is in the process of surveying staff as well as conducting action research to find effective models of classroom differentiation.
A number of staff meetings were set aside during the 2014-15 academic year and we were able to work with educational consultant Bronwyn Macleod and differentiation guru Carol Ann Tomlinson.
In October Bronwyn Macleod visited Peak School for three days to work with staff on her three levels of questioning. as well challenging staff as how they cater for their children. Staff and planning meetings were held in term 1 to reinforce the work that Bronwyn has completed with the staff including planning, definition and expectations. This included time for teachers to review/modify planning, work on the definition of differentiation and develop shared expectations.
Action group spent a great deal of time researching different models of differentiation and almost all the research pointed toward the model created by Carol Ann Tomlinson as a result we were able to invite Carol Ann Tomlinson in for a day to work with the Peak School staff.
On January 30th we dedicated our CPD day to differentiation. We booked Carol Tomlinson to conduct the PD. Carol Ann Tomlinson is widely considered to be the foremost expert in differentiation. To prepare for Carol, we have shared presentation from our two staff meetings with Carol and prepared a number of questions for her to maximise her time with us.
After Carol’s workshop, staff meeting were set aside for teaching staff to identify areas that they wished to develop in the classroom to enhance their differentiation, e.g. plan to research ways to differentiate the content, the process, the product and learning environment. The ACT team (Bill, Ruth and Craig) as well as David Fitzgerald will be supported the staff during this research and planning stage.
This section of the website contains our findings as well a number of resources for teachers to use.
Our goal was to develop a common, shared understanding of what differentiated instruction is and what it looks like at Peak School as well as forming a common understanding and approach to the concept of differentiation.
On September 29th a number of Peak School staff joined the ACT differentiation group. This group is in the process of surveying staff as well as conducting action research to find effective models of classroom differentiation.
A number of staff meetings were set aside during the 2014-15 academic year and we were able to work with educational consultant Bronwyn Macleod and differentiation guru Carol Ann Tomlinson.
In October Bronwyn Macleod visited Peak School for three days to work with staff on her three levels of questioning. as well challenging staff as how they cater for their children. Staff and planning meetings were held in term 1 to reinforce the work that Bronwyn has completed with the staff including planning, definition and expectations. This included time for teachers to review/modify planning, work on the definition of differentiation and develop shared expectations.
Action group spent a great deal of time researching different models of differentiation and almost all the research pointed toward the model created by Carol Ann Tomlinson as a result we were able to invite Carol Ann Tomlinson in for a day to work with the Peak School staff.
On January 30th we dedicated our CPD day to differentiation. We booked Carol Tomlinson to conduct the PD. Carol Ann Tomlinson is widely considered to be the foremost expert in differentiation. To prepare for Carol, we have shared presentation from our two staff meetings with Carol and prepared a number of questions for her to maximise her time with us.
After Carol’s workshop, staff meeting were set aside for teaching staff to identify areas that they wished to develop in the classroom to enhance their differentiation, e.g. plan to research ways to differentiate the content, the process, the product and learning environment. The ACT team (Bill, Ruth and Craig) as well as David Fitzgerald will be supported the staff during this research and planning stage.
This section of the website contains our findings as well a number of resources for teachers to use.