The idea of differentiation has been discussed and explored widely among schools and educators. It is an area of development for my school as recommended by our accreditation organizations. Before diving deeper about how we can provide differentiated instructions, it is worth mentioning some common misconceptions about differentiation observed by Carol Tomlinson and Marcia Imbeau as below: 
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Differentiation is

• new; 
• for a particular category of students (for example, special education, English learners, gifted education); 
• something extra that teachers have to do in addition to their "normal" plans; 
• oppositional to content standards; 
• a way to "mollycoddle" students; 
• a particular set of instructional strategies; 
• extreme teaching - something only an occasional teacher can expected to do; 
• something teachers already do. 

I had these misconceptions before. When I was a young teacher first learning about differentiation, I also mistakenly thought that differentiation requires teachers to implement a special set of strategies for each individual student. Attending workshops about this topic, I usually obtained many different instructional ideas, but I did not always know how to effectively use them with my students. As the authors pointed out in the book, Managing a Differentiated Classroom, "Differentiation is a way of thinking about the classroom, not a specified set of tools." I also heard many teachers say that "We are already doing differentiation." It's important to point out that although teachers might use some sort intervention in responding to different students' needs, the approaches used are not always proactive and/or intentional. 

After reading Differentiated Instruction Made Practical: Engaging the Extremes through Classroom Routines, I developed a greater understanding of what differentiated instructions is and is not. In this book, the authors proposed the ALL-ED (All Learners Learning Every Day) theoretical framework specifying four steps to implement differentiated instructions. 

Step One: Identify OSCAR 
First teachers need to identify lesson Objectives, Starting position, Criteria, Action pattern, and Reflections to determine any necessary adjustments to the instruction.  

Step Two: Look and Listen
Then teachers need to get to know their students and their learning profiles by gathering student response in order to implement individual and group learning routines. 

Step Three: CARR Check
in this stage, teachers give formative assessment to check understanding, and analyze data to determine how they can further support students. To help teachers use CARR Check, guiding questions are provided for teachers to reflect on the four elements based on the formative assessment data collected: 

• Clarity: Is this task clear to all students? Are the words understandable by all students? Are students expected to understand vocabulary that may be vague, have multiple meanings, or are in unfamiliar contexts?
• Access: Could all students complete the task independently and feel capable?
• Rigor: How much effort is required of different students? What would students find complex?
• Relevance: Would all students find this task important, interesting, valuable, and/or useful?

Step Four: SHOp Adjustments 
Finally, teachers use their formative assessment data to guide their instructional decision-making and provide options according. They might need to adjust Structures for tasks,Help and provide Options to respond to perceived learner needs. (I am unsure what the 'p' standing for.) 

This is a very nicely put together evidence-based framework that is easy to follow. I particularly appreciated the concept that all learners learn every day. I rethink why we need to differentiated and how differentiated instruction can benefit all students. I had an a-ha moment. When teachers differentiate according to students' interests, readiness, and learning profiles, we actually try to increase their motivation, academic growth and efficacy. This make differentiation so much easy to understand. I begin to think about how this ALL-ED framework can be integrated with the IB programmes and what instructional ideas that might support teachers in implementing differentiated instructions.

Here is the model that I came up with: Differentiation is when everyone LEARNS. 

• L: Look for patterns of need and create a safe and inclusive environment
• E: Establish purposeful and relevant curriculum and assessment mapping 
• A: Analyze assessment data throughout to inform instruction decisions 
• R: Refer to learning objectives and provide targeted and actionable feedback
• N: Nurture self-regulated learning behaviors and assist students in setting goals 
• S: Structure lessons that promote thinking and stretches students  

There are five classroom elements that teachers can differentiate or modify: content, process, products, affect and environment. When differentiating any of the elements, we consider students' interest, readiness, and learning profile. I think before teachers differentiate their class, we first need to consider affect (How students link thoughts and feeling in the classroom) and learning environment (the way the classroom feels and functions) as maslow always first! Using the MYP language, I identify content is the written curriculum; process is the taught curriculum; process is the assessed curriculum. 

After synthesizing information from High Impact Teaching Strategies and cross-reference the 250+ Influences on Student Achievement, I identified some key strategies that teachers can use to differentiate content, process and product. I hope this model is easy to follow and helpful to teachers who want to implement the differentiated instruction. 

You can click the image below to download the PDF file. ​

• Bondie, Rhonda, and Akane Zusho. Differentiated Instruction Made Practical: Engaging the Extremes through Classroom Routines. Routledge, 2018.
• Tomlinson, Carol Ann, and Marcia B. Imbeau. Managing a Differentiated Classroom - a Practical Guide, Scholastic Inc., 2011, pp. 10–11.
• State of Victoria. “High Impact Teaching Strategies.” State of Victoria (Department of Education and Training), June 2017, revised and updated October 2020.
• “250+ Influences on Student Achievement.” Visible Learning Limited Partnership and Cognition Education Group , Nov. 2017.

In my previous post, "OREO Online Learning Guidelines", I put together a list of tools that our teachers and students have been using to facilitate learning. I intentionally did not introduce any new tool in an effort to avoid adding cognitive load in our initial implementation of asynchronous remote learning. Entering the second implementation of remote learning, we are implementing synchronous learning (with a combination of asynchronous learning). In synchronous remote learning model, students will engage with various collaborative and interactive learning engagements. They might be also receive instant messages and emails. It's not uncommon we often see students (and also adults) have many tabs and/or windows open in their web browser. I learned about the term 'collaborative overload in the article entitled, Tips for Avoiding Collaborative Overload. Put simply, it refers "the burnout that results from reliance on emails, meetings and other collaborative technology tools that have limited our ability to get stuff done." I am sure this sounds familiar to many of us. 

We want to leverage tech tools for content delivery, discussion, interaction, collaboration, differentiation, and personalized learning. However, we also need to be mindful of how different platforms and digital tools for collaboration can overwhelm and confuse learners. Intentional planning, having a clear process and routines can help students avoid ‘collaborative overload’. When learners do not want to open one more tab or window, or launch one more app on their computer, it might signal that they begin to feel overwhelmed with communication and collaboration. Here are some tools that our teachers have used with students previously. I organize these digital tools based on the purpose for learning. Of course, you can always move them between categories. It all depends on the intention!

I also included some ideas for virtual icebreakers. Learning is not transactional. Instead, it's social and relational. We need to think about the purpose and maximize the time being together virtually. Instead of jumping right into the content and instruction delivery, at the beginning of the lesson, we welcome students and invite them to learn. However, asking students to share any experiences or ideas voluntarily is less effective and it does not include everyone. This is true whether being online or on campus. Relationship building requires thoughts and we need to do some prep work. Thus, having some "online icebreakers" might be useful to support teachers as their reference.  

When delivering online instruction, an idea is also to "streamline" the learning process and materials. What I mean is to organize all learning material in sequential order and avoid open different tabs or window if possible. For example, Google Slide is a very tool to streamline the content and instruction and then I can use Peardeck to engage students. This way, I don't need to send students to use other website. 

Another great tool that supports digital teaching is ClassrooScreen. It's exactly as it described on its website, "All the classroom tools at your fingertips". Students can follow the instruction in one space rather than jumping between webpages. 

If you are a ManageBac school, I will also highly encourage schools and teachers explore the Stream & Resources function. It appears to me that many schools use ManageBac but they are not really aware of the functions and only use ManageBac for recording unit plan. I have made this Stream Function tutorial for our teachers. Hopefully, this will be helpful and encourage teachers to use ManageBac more as a teaching and learning tool, but not just a record keeping tool. Isn't it exhausting to use multiple platforms to teach and record lesson plans? Most importantly, it is really crucial to keep all information, resources, and student assessment work in the database to support teachers who will teach the unit next year and to further refine and develop curriculum.  
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Click the image to download the poster in PDF file if you want. 

Note: The screenshot of ClassroomScreen is used with permission. 

Unfortunately, we will begin our second semester virtually after a lovely break. I am very grateful that we all had a lovely break before things got shut down again. I am very grateful that we had an opportunity to travel domestically and visited some beautiful places in Thailand. Normally, I packed my bags and traveled overseas to visit a new country or spend time with my family. It had been great to hike in national parks and enjoyed slow travels in Thailand. 

Due to the increasing local cases of COVID 19, schools in Bangkok are required to employ online teaching and learning for at least till the end of January. We reflected on our previous experiences and we feel we are now ready to employ the synchronous remote learning model. In our first-run of remote learning, our team worked together and embraced challenges with a can-do attitude. It was very hard and emotionally drained. Everyone was doing their best not to fall apart while trying to achieve the common goals - continuing to provide quality learning; help students; support each other. Thinking back on this experience, I wondered what made us, a community of learners, resilient and perseverant? What helps develop collective efficacy? I think it was very evident that we do have a shared goal and understood our roles and responsibilities. I reflected on what went well and how our staff had stepped up to support students, families and colleagues. Moving into the synchronous teaching and learning model (with a combination of asynchronous learning), I use O.R.E.O (Objective, Responsibility, Expectation, Organization) framework and elaborated responsibilities for different roles. It gives clarity of who is doing what and how we can continue to support each other during this period of time. 

As I am in the process of refining our service learning program at KIS, I got an opportunity to enhance my understanding of global competence. The definition above succinctly illustrated how we envision what a global citizen will act to make an impact in our interconnected, diverse, complex and fast-changing world. Students learn how to recognize their own and other's perspectives and identify factors that influence these perspectives. This is very much aligned with the IB mission, promoting international-mindedness. As we all come from different experience and backgrounds, it is important to make a deliberate effort to develop awareness of our own assumptions and overcome our stereotypes when trying to solve problems in responding to specific community needs. 

I also value the promotion of engaging in open, appropriate, and effective interactions with people from different cultures. In order to make a change and have an impact, it is crucial to take human-centered approach by dialoguing with people to discover "local wisdom" and norms and behaviors, and build deep empathy before generating possible solutions. Chip Heath and Dan Heath provided an example of this in their book, Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard. Jerry Sternin from the Save the Children organization engaged with the local community in Vietnam and successfully collaborated with mothers to adopt new cooking habits to feed children with malnutrition. He talked to different people in the village and observed the children's eating patterns and how mother prepared food for the children. He analyzed data and designed a program with families to conquer malnutrition. Jerry Sternin stated that "Knowledge does not change behavior." If he simply gathered the village together and made a list of recommendations of what to do, he knew he wouldn't change their behavior. As a general rule, people don't like being told what to do and this is an important note to remember when we guide students to plan their service-learning project.  

I have created the Service as Action Learning Experience Diagram to guide our students to plan their interdisciplinary learning leading to their service as action project. Right in the center is what we aim to help students to become and develop. "Inspiring Individuals" is our school vision, inspiring each other to be inspirational. ''Learner agility" is also the core element that I hope students can develop through the self-directed service learning project. "Learning agility" is one of the 3 vital skills for the age of disruption according to World Economic Forum. "This is the ability and willingness to learn and then apply that learning effectively to prevail even in unfamiliar situations." It's a mindset that people believe they can learn, unlearn, and relearn. ​Students will then engage intellectually, socially, and emotionally in all service learning stages, from inquiring to demonstrating. I also tried to make the diagram look like 5 people, as the idea of working in a team, collaborate to achieve a common goal.   

If you have read some of my posts, you know I love acronym. It's easy to remember and helps me to remember the core elements more effectively. Therefore, the Self-directed Service Learning A.C.T.I.O.N. Project Standards and indicators are used to guide effective and quality service learning projects. If you are also developing service learning standards, it might be beneficial to check out the K-12 Service Learning Standards created by National Youth Leadership Council. It shares lots of great insights of what a quality service learning project should be like.   

I would like to thank Laurence Myers for sharing the student self-directed project he has designed with me. It was inspiring and provided me with many good ideas. 

We are getting ready to welcome our schools back to campus next week! The logistics and planning for reopening have been challenging. Our senior leadership team and administrative staff have worked very hard the whole summer to ensure the safety and health measures are in place. I am thankful for their dedication and our teachers are very excited to meet their students. Finally! It's so clear that as human beings, we yearn for interaction and social connectedness. 

Transitioning to the hybrid teaching and learning model for remote learning, we know it will be very important for us to (re)build relationships with our students and create opportunities for social connectedness. Lots of data have suggested that teenangers have suffered from the period of lockdown.  

15-year-old Liv McNeil's short film, Numb, illustrated her complex and complicated emotions resulting from the self-isolation and being bombarded with online learning and communication from her teachers so vividly. It made me misty as my own daughter also went through similar experience.    

It has not been easy to plan the MYP Student Orientation this year. Lots of constraints. All school community members need to wear masks and keep physical distancing. However, as I always say, every challenge is an opportunity. Everyone needs to wear a mask on campus, but we don't want to forget what everyone looks like! It is also very important to welcome our MYP year 1 students! We want to see their faces and make connections with them. It got me thinking of the Humans of New York idea. What if we can find out everyone's stories and find the connections between us? Wouldn't it be cool that we collect these stories and post them around campus? Wouldn't it be nice, if we feel down, there are always positive messages posted on campus to uplift our spirit? I felt this idea aligns with our school vision, inspiring individuals, so well. Voila! This is what I will propose to do with our students next week. We create some questions for students to choose and interview their friends.

Important rule! Students cannot take off their mask to take a photo. They will select a photo to share with the interviewer and the interviewer will use the template provided to report the interviewee's story together with the photo.    

Wouldn't it be a good opportunity for students to work in a group and involve them to re-create norms and think about how we can move forward together when returning to campus? An idea I have in mind is to encourage students to work collaboratively and create a campaign in responding to an issue. To emphasize the message and increase their awareness of the COVID-19 related safety and health measures the school has put in place, it seems like a no-brainer to engage students in advocating and promoting these topics. Our students are familiar with the design thinking process and also successfully worked together to complete inquiry projects during the online learning period. In the process of creating a campaign, students can reconnect with their friends, collaborate and take action to make an impact.    

Many teachers naturally worry about the learning gaps and want to help students to bridge their knowledge and skill gaps right out of the gate. We need to refrain ourselves from doing this and be mindful of our assumptions. We have not seen our students face to face for a very long time, and we don't have all the stories of our students. To go fast, we must go slow. Helping students develop confidence and build relationships with others in an incremental manner will pay dividends in the long run.