Advancing Differentiation: Thinking and Learning for the 21st Century

by Richard M. Cash

Overview

Powerful strategies that will transform the way you teach and the way your students learn.

Advancing Differentiation will lead you through the process of creating a thriving, student-centered, 21st-century classroom. Since its initial publica­tion, the book’s materials have undergone rigorous testing and refinement in classrooms all over the world to deliver the best and most effective differen­tiation strategies. The strategies in this book will help you: 

• Deeply engage every learner while challenging students to think critically, self-regulate, and direct their own learning
• Set new roles for student and teacher that encourage learner autonomy
• Employ cutting-edge techniques for designing rigorous E4 curriculum (effective, engaging, enriching, and exciting) 

This revised and updated edition features:

• A primer on differentiation, which answers the crucial question, Why differentiate at all?
• Self-assessment surveys, observation forms, and new ideas for increasing proficiency in classroom differentiation
• Ways to address the changing needs of the future workforce
• More articulated curriculum design defining the differences between strategies and skills—refining the levels of conceptual knowledge

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781631981432
Publisher:	Free Spirit Publishing
Publication date:	10/03/2017
Series:	Free Spirit Professional®
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	627,306
File size:	43 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	7 - 18 Years

About the Author

Dr. Richard M. Cash is an award-winning author and educator who has worked in the field of education for over thirty years.

His range of experience includes teaching, curriculum coordination, and program administration. Currently, he is an internationally recognized education consultant (www.nrichconsulting.com). His consulting work has taken him throughout the United States, as well as into Canada, the Czech Republic, China, England, Indonesia, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Oman, Poland, Qatar, Spain, South Korea, and Turkey. 

Richard received his doctorate in educational leadership and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Along with his bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Minnesota, Richard holds a bachelor’s degree in theater from the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire. For over ten years, he codirected a children’s theater company in Minnesota and coauthored four award-winning children’s plays.

He was the recipient of the National Association for Gifted Children’s Early Leader Award (2011), recognizing his leadership in programming for gifted children. Richard was also named the “Friend of the Gifted, 2016” by Minnesota Educators of the Gifted and Talented. His areas of expertise are educational programming, rigorous and challenging curriculum design, differentiated instruction, 21st-century skills, brain-compatible classrooms, gifted and talented education, and self-regulated learning.

Dr. Cash is the author of Advancing Differentiation: Thinking and Learning for the 21st Century (2011/2017), a finalist for the Association for Educational Publishers Distinguished Achievement Award and winner of the The Legacy Book® Award; Self-Regulation in the Classroom: Helping Students Learn How to Learn (2016); and coauthor of (with Diane Heacox) Differentiation for Gifted Learners: Going Beyond the Basics (2014/2020), winner of The Legacy Book® Award.

Richard lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Palm Springs, California.

Table of Contents

Reproducible Pages

Figures

Foreword

Introduction

The Next Level of Differentiation
The Importance of Thinking Skills in Today’s World
About This Book and CD-ROM
How to Use This Book

Part One Taking Differentiation to the Next Level

Chapter 1: Defining How Differentiation Looks in Today’s Classroom

GT Stands for Good Teaching
Dispelling the Myths of Differentiated Instruction
Technology Use in the Differentiated Classroom

Chapter 2: Defining the Essentials of a Differentiated Curriculum

Skills for a New Century
A Hierarchy of Knowledge: Factual, Procedural, Conceptual
Four Steps to Defining the Essentials of Curriculum

Chapter 3: Advancing Differentiation to New Levels Through a Rigorous Curriculum 

What Is a Rigorous Curriculum?
Hallmarks of a Rigorous Curriculum:
Effective, Engaging, Exciting, Enriching (E4)
Infusing Rigor Into Your Curriculum

Chapter 4: Motivating and Engaging Learners

What Is Motivation?
Understanding How the Brain Learns
Strategies to Motivate and Engage Students
Using Assessment to Motivate and Engage

Chapter 5: Developing Student Self-Regulation

Self-Regulation Theory
Building Self-Regulation Through Goal Setting
Building Self-Regulation Through Mindset
The Student-Centered Classroom

Chapter 6: The Teaching and Learning Continuum: Building Success Through Autonomy

What Is the TLC?
Why Build Autonomy?
Framework Supporting the Teaching and Learning Continuum (TLC)
The Four Levels of the TLC Model
Assessment That Builds Autonomy
Part TwoPutting Thinking Skills to Use in the Classroom

Chapter 7: The Thinking Classroom

What Is Thinking?
Divergent Thinking vs. Convergent Thinking
Characteristics of a Thinking Student
Characteristics of a Thinking Classroom
Characteristics of a Thinking Curriculum
Methods for Developing Intellectually Disciplined Thinkers
General Strategies to Improve Student Thinking

Chapter 8: A Framework for Thinking: Digging Deeper into Bloom’s Taxonomy

A Brief Introduction to Bloom’s Taxonomy
Performing Automatically to Performing Consciously
Building on Bloom’s
Putting It All Together: The Digging Deeper Matrix (DDM)

Chapter 9: Critical Thinking: Developing Reasoned Thought

What Is Critical Thinking?
General Critical Thinking Strategies
Critical Thinking Strategies in Reading
Critical Thinking Strategies in Writing
Critical Thinking Strategies in Mathematics
Critical Thinking Strategies in Science
Seven Critical Questioning Strategies to Use Daily
Critical Thinking Tools

Chapter 10: Creative Thinking: Stepping Outside the Box

What Is Creative Thinking?
Characteristics of Creative Individuals
Creative Thinking Strategies
Creative Thinking Activities
Creative “Sponge” Activities
Additional Creative Activity Ideas
Building a Creative Classroom

Chapter 11: Problem Finding, Problem Solving, and Decision Making

Characteristics of Effective Problem Finders, Problem Solvers, and Decision Makers
Finding Problems
Solving Problems
Decision Making

A Final Note: Pulling It All Together
Conclusion
References and Resources
Index
About the Author

Editorial Reviews

2017 Legacy Book® Award

From the Publisher

If you find it difficult to navigate the often-perilous landscape of differentiation, Dr. Cash is the guide and guru you need. His gift to you is this survival kit. Use it well!

David Michael Slater

Advancing Differentiation is a fantastic resource for teachers and teacher leaders to develop their understanding of differentiation. This book provides a number of powerful tools for teachers to develop their questioning skills, embed critical thinking into their classrooms, and create a learning environment that will motivate and engage a diverse range of learners.

Jake Duke

Advancing Differentiation is a game changer! This book helps me navigate through the challenges of differentiation by providing rigorous and practical methods that help my students uncover the deeper layers of learning.

John Born

My graduate students call this the ‘blue book,’ an apt title for a volume that defines value in education. They routinely report that they keep their copy on their desks long after their course is over. The second edition is even stronger than the first, with its increased focus on concept and capacity building. Many view differentiation in standards-based classrooms as an impossible dream, but Richard Cash joyfully and capably provides valid and viable strategies for teachers who know in their hearts that there is more to education than one-size-fits-all thinking.

Frances R. Spielhagen

Cash adeptly blends advanced content, complex thinking, and conceptual understanding with the technologies of twenty-first century learning. This second edition lays out the essential components of a differentiated classroom including emphases on teaching big ideas through critical and creative thinking and problem solving. Cash blends theoretically sound ideas regarding curriculum and instruction with a clear guidance for applying differentiation in authentic learning spaces. This is a great book for teachers and curriculum designers.

Todd Kettler