Differentiated Instruction: Taking It to the Next Level

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About this Learning Opportunity

In the last quarter of the 2019-2020 school year, the Edmonton Regional Learning Consortium presented four sessions with Rick Wormeli on Assessment & Grading to Support Learning at Home, focusing on effective principles and practices, particularly in our challenging situation with all students learning at home instead of in their school buildings due to the pandemic outbreak of Covid-19. In three two-hour, interactive sessions, we examined assessment and grading principles and how they apply to grading while students are learning at home, differentiated instruction, descriptive feedback techniques, and how to minimize cheating and plagiarizing. These were followed by a Question and Answer session in which participants’ follow-up questions regarding these topics were answered.  

As we look at the lessons learned during this emergency teaching period of the last few months, we are re-shaping our priorities regarding required and/or blended remote instruction in the year ahead. Interest in ethical, accurate, and pedagogically effective instruction, assessment, and grading practices has emerged as a result. If you weren’t able to take part in these webinars, the links to those recordings will be shared on each session page that aligns. We ask that all participants review the appropriate recordings prior to each corresponding webinar to ensure continuity for your professional learning. 

To continue supporting Alberta educators in this effort, ERLC is offering a series of presentations by Rick Wormeli for the 2020-21 school year that extend ideas from the Assessment & Grading to Support Learning at Home series, and introduce new content supportive of those principles that apply to both in-person AND remote learning scenarios. Each webinar is an important element to address assessment and grading challenges for Alberta. 

It is highly recommended that participants register for all five sessions in this series and as a school cohort to fully engage in a cycle of action research towards developing a deeper understanding of how specific research/evidence-based pedagogical approaches can positively impact student learning.

Day 4: October 28th 4 - 6 pm

Please review the following video prior to this webinar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZaIwVhA2-E&t=356s

Differentiation is a massive topic. We did an early introduction to it in one of the earlier webinars, but this session takes a deeper dive into tiering, mindsets, scaffolding, cognitive science, and how to adjust instructional design for specific students, particularly those identified as English Language learners, Gifted/Advanced students, and those challenged by executive function development. We’ll also explore options for deepening our own studies in differentiated practices.

You Might Also Be Interested In:

Day 1 - August 25th 4 - 6 pm: “Assessment Principles – Getting Up to Speed and Looking at What Still Holds True While Students Work from Home” 
Day 2 - October 1st  4 - 6 pm: “Cultivating Teacher Creativity and Intellect”
Day 3 - Oct 27th 4 - 6 pm: “What the Text is Summarization?! Why Should I Use It for Learning and Assessment?”
Day 5 - Dec 3rd 4 - 6 pm: “Descriptive Feedback: A Deeper Dive”

This session is being offered on a cost recovery basis.