My Teacher Inquiry Project: CFGs and DI

One way in which some schools are providing professional development for its teachers is through Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). Unlike the traditional professional development of "sit and get" via workshops which usually involve paying an "expert" to teach teachers, PLCs involve groups of teachers within a school meeting to discuss topics that affect their work related to teacher practice, student learning and community culture. Typically, PLCs meet regularly over an extended period of time focusing on one aspect of their work. The Anneburg Institute for School Reform out of Brown University published an article called Professional Learning Communities: Professional Development Strategies that Improve Instruction that is an exceptional guide to PLCs.

At my school, I facilitate, with two of my peers, a Critical Friends' Group (CFG). We have been facilitating groups for nearly two school years. Last year we had three strong CFGs. Each CFG consisted of teachers in grades 6-12 and across all subject areas. This year we have two strong groups still made up of teachers in grades 6-12 and across all subject areas.

As a CFG, we have decided to focus our learning on differentiated instruction (DI). DI is a rather nebulous concept that conjures a variety of meanings for teachers. Collectively, we know that we do not know enough about DI and that our learning for this year and into next year needed to center on DI.

We have begun our study of DI by introducing ways to access students learning styles via students' multiple intelligences. We gave a multiple intelligence survey to all students 6th through 12th grade and have placed the information in a spreadsheet so that teachers can access the strongest intelligences for students within a class. Our goal is to have teachers create alternative instruction and alternative assessments that appeal to the intelligences of their students. After developing the instruction and/or assessments, teachers will share their ideas at a CFG meeting to get feedback from colleagues using the "Consultancy Protocol".

As we continue to delve into DI through this year and into next year, I would like to examine how technology can be a tool used to differentiate instruction.