Day 1
01 Workshop Opener 02 Equity 03 Break 04 Previously, on 05 Model Lesson 06 Model Lesson Reflection 07 Lunch 08 Differentiation 09 Curriculum Investigation 10 Break 11 Conclusions and Connections 12 Wrap Up 13 Debrief

Session 8: Differentiation

35 minutes

discussion-based

Purpose

In this session, participants will have the opportunity to explore opportunities for differentiation within U5L5 with a focus on extending learning and supporting learning when appropriate. Participants will use the learning objectives and assessment opportunities to determine the core understanding that all students should have by the end of the lesson, regardless of how the lesson is modified to support the diverse learning needs within the classroom.

Objectives

  • Participants understand how to make choices when implementing lessons that support inclusion within classroom.
  • Participants are able to identify opportunities for differentiation within lessons in order to appropriately support diverse learning needs

Supplies & Prep

Room Setup:

  • Participants seated in pods

Facilitator Supplies:

Teacher Supplies

  • Computers
  • Journal
  • Pen

Agenda

Context (1 minute)

Lesson Learning Objectives (8 minutes)

Teacher Support (14 minutes)

Strategies (12 minutes)

Facilitation Guide

Context (1 minute)

(1 minute) Context

Remarks

The students in our classrooms come to us with various levels of prior knowledge and experience. This is especially true in units involving math concepts and programming. Differentiation is an approach to meet the various needs of learners in our classes and grow a culture of inclusion.

[Refer to the Differentiation and a Culture of Inclusion slide.]

Remarks

During the summer we introduced shared language for equity that included inclusion. Every classroom is likely to be inclusive to SOME of your students, but our goal is for the classroom to be an inclusive space for EVERY student.

The “Guide to inclusive computer science education” compiled by Microsoft, in partnership with CSTA, Code.org, NCWIT and other organizations, defines “inclusion” as “Creating learning environments that are accessible and welcoming of students’ identities, backgrounds, differences and perspectives without barriers or judgment. This means actively attending to gender, race, ethnicity, ability or socioeconomic status.”

Lesson Learning Objectives (8 minutes)

(2 minutes) Review Learning Objectives and Assessment Opportunities

Participants navigate to the U5L5 lesson plan to read the lesson objectives and assessment opportunities for Lesson 5.

(6 minutes) Think, Pair, Share

Discussion Goal

Participants should understand that lesson is about understanding patterns not about understanding the math behind the pattern. This is NOT intended to be a math lesson.

Prompt: What is NOT included as a learning goal around representing numbers in binary that some people might have expected? Why do you think they were not included as a goal?

  • (1 minute) Think: individual reflection
  • (2 minutes) Pair: discuss with a partner
  • (3 minutes) Share: share and discuss with the whole group

Teacher Support (14 minutes)

Remarks

Let’s discuss the teacher support built into lesson plans that help with preparing lessons while keeping differentiation in mind.

(4 minutes) Teaching Tips

Share the following teaching tips from U5L5:

  • For younger students, you may want to stop the activity after they have finished the first page of the worksheet. This means that they will not need to go online for any of the lessons.

  • This activity models a base-2 number system for the student. However, it is not necessary for the students to understand the math behind the patterns that they are creating. Students should focus on the fact that they are using a binary system (face up/face down) to represent information.

Invite a couple of participants to share their response to the prompt.

Prompt:

  • Think about the students in your room and the objectives of this lesson. What adjustments will you make to this lesson to meet the needs of your students?

(9 minutes) Discussion Goals

Remarks

Throughout the model lesson, students engage in discussions and “Discussion Goals” are provided throughout the lesson plan to support teachers in guiding the discussions. During the wrap up of U5L5, a video connects the concept of binary to its real world application, and thus, adds context to the content presented in Lesson 5.

For some of you in the room, this video might have been the context you were looking for to challenge your understanding of the concepts in this lesson and help you make connections between what you learned and the real world. For others, the content in this video might have felt overwhelming. It is possible that you thought you understood binary but then questioned that understanding because of the technical language in the video. This is a common experience for students in your classroom.

(5 minutes) Partner Talk

(2 minutes) Participants read the questions and discussion goals for the wrap up of the model lesson, U5L5. Then discuss the prompts with a partner.

Question for wrap up discussion in U5L5:

Why are all the types of data on the computer stored as numbers?

Discussion Goals included in U5L5:

For the first question, they may want to return to their ASCII character sheets and see how the computer would interpret the same binary sequence as a number. For their image representation, they may wonder whether it is even useful to interpret the binary sequences as numbers. In the end, the purpose of defining all data as numbers is less about the "reality" of what the ones and zeros represent, and more about how binary is traditionally interpreted.

Question for wrap up discussion in U5L5:

If everything is stored as a number, how do you think the computer tells the difference between numbers, letters, images, and sound?

Discussion Goals included in U5L5: For the second question, allow students to think of different ways that the computer would distinguish between different types of data. While it's not necessary for students to come up with any specific answer, challenge them in any ways that involve human interpretation of context, such as knowing that a name is most likely text and age is most likely a number. Assure them that they will look at the problem again in a couple of lessons.

(3 minutes) Participants share responses to the prompts with a partner.

Discussion Goal

Support participants in understanding the Discussion Goal is a guide for what to anticipate during a discussion and a plan to build out the discussion with students. The Discussion Goal supports teachers with differentiation by supporting teachers in scaffolding between knowing their students' varying needs during discussions and where the discussion should go.

Prompts:

  • What are some benefits to using the Discussion Goal when preparing to teach a lesson?
    • How might the Discussion Goal support differentiation during a class discussion?

(4 minutes) Share Out

Invite a couple of participants to share their response to the following prompt.

Prompts:

  • What are some benefits to using discussion goals when preparing to teach a lesson?
    • How might this preparation support differentiation during a class discussion?

Remarks

Quick reminder to use the CSD Guide to Differentiation 2021 as another resource when planning for differentiation. The CSD Guide to Differentiation is found on page 60 of the Curriculum Guide. A link to the guide is provided on the slide.

Strategies (12 minutes)

(1 minute) Introductory Remarks

Remarks

Facilitator Tip

Some participants might find it overwhelming to think about differentiating at the individual student level. Think about the various entry points into differentiation that you might offer to participants:

  • at the class level
  • one class is ready to go deeper while another needs to take a step back
  • from lesson to lesson
  • some lessons taught at a deeper level than others

The goal is to articulate a way to move forward. Having a fully differentiated classroom is not a realistic expectation for first time participants of this course. This work takes time.

In this session, we have focused on differentiation through the lens of Lesson 5. However, the ideas we have discussed here can be applied to multiple lessons throughout Unit 5 and the entire CSD course. At its core, we are simply adjusting our instruction to meet the unique learning needs of the students that promote inclusion within our classroom. Each lesson can and should look different for different classrooms.

(10 minutes) Group Brainstorm

Discussion Goal

Everyone should leave with at least one actionable idea for differentiation.

Prompt: What strategies do you use in your classroom to meet the unique learning needs of your students that promote inclusion? What strategies do others use that you might want to try?

  • (5 minutes) Table Talk - Participants share with the people at their table
  • (5 minutes) Group Share Out - Ask if anyone learned a strategy from another participant that they are excited to try.

(1 minute) Closing Remarks

Remarks

As we work towards growing the culture of inclusion within our classrooms, it is important for us to continuously reflect on how we might meet the various needs of learners in our classes.