What is it? A.C.P.P.C.

Affirmation, Contribution, Power, Purpose, & Challenge

A.C.P.P.C

What does it ALL mean?!

Affirmation: "Perhaps the most basic of student needs is for affirmation."    

• I am accepted here.
• I am safe here.
• Others listen to me, and I listen to them.
• People want to know me, and acknowledge my likes and dislikes. 
• People BELIEVE in me.

This is how all students should feel in the classroom. 

Contribution: "Not only do people tell me I am worthwhile, I can actually see that I am."

• I make a difference in this place and in the work in this place.
• I bring my abilities and strengths.
• I help others in the class succeed. 
• I am connected to the others by common goals.

The students should know that they do this in the classroom.

Power:

• What I learn is useful to me now.
• I learn to make choices that give me success.
• I understand what is expected of me.
• I know what quality looks like.
• There is support all around for me.

Students should feel assured that these attributes of power will be learned and gained.

Purpose:"Purpose, like power and contribution, is a factor in developing a sense of self-efficacy."

• I understand what we do here.
• What we do here shows who I am and my world.
• What we do here makes a difference to me and in the world around me.
• The work absorbs me. 

Your students should find this in themselves.

Challenge: "Youth is a time for dreaming"

• The work compliments my abilities.
• It stretches me.
• I work hard.
• I am accountable for my own growth, and in helping others grow.
• I accomplish things that I did not know were possible.  

The students should know this.

So what is all of this? It is what your students should discover and know. It is what will help them grow, and it will help them succeed. Not only that, but it is what your students want to find.  

All quotes are taken from Carol Ann Tomlinson's book Fulfilling the Promise of the Differentiated Classroom.

What the Student Needs

 

"If what we do here meets my needs to be safe, to become stronger, I'm with you. If not, I can be simultaneously present in he room and absent from what you are asking of me." (Tomlinson)

Besides safety, there are five things students are going to seek when they enter a classroom...if a student feels and sees all of these, then that child will feel safe.

Affirmation, Contribution, Power, Purpose, and Challenge

 Effective differentiation begins with AWARENESS and UNDERSTANDING of basic student needs.

affirmation

contribution

power

purpose

challenge

Differentiation: An Easier Explanation

Differentiation in Learning…

          is a teacher’s response to a learner’s (students) needs guided by general principles of differentiation...

Such As

Respectful Tasks for ALL Students

Flexible Grouping

On Going Assessment and Adjustment for Instruction

Teachers can differentiate the Content, Environment, Process, Product according to students' Affect, Interest, Learning Profile, and Readiness.

What Differentiation Is:

Response, Proactive, Scaffolding, Providing Access, Include Accommodation, Adapting, and a Risk.

What Differentiation is NOT:

Individualize, Management, Reaction, Just an Accommodation, Remediation, Really Really Good Teaching. 

"Take the risk, you could change the world for kids!"

=Dr. P

"You can be a really really good teacher, but you could be a differentiated teacher."

-Dr. P

"Teachers must take into account WHO they are teaching as well as WHAT they are teaching. The goal of a differentiated classroom is to plan actively and consistently to help each learner move as far and as fast as possible along a learning continuum."

-Carol Ann Tomlinson

Road Trip! Just a thought...

I read and article today, as an assignment, and I didn't think I would like it as much as I did, it is called "Mapping a Route Towards Differentiated Instruction", and it put a random thought into my head...

It is true, there does indeed seem to be various roads of differentiation, and it can take some “rest stops” to get there, and there may even be forks in the road. However, to get to our differentiated destination, we as teachers must persevere and we must go and do, we can’t just stop. We must drive on, but that might be hard. Think of it like a road trip, you think of where you want to go (curriculum), and you have to have a way to get there (instruction). Even if you have an idea of where you are going, you will never get there without good passengers. You do not want to be stuck in a car with people who don’t have much understanding and engagement. As in, you want your students to understand what they are doing, where they are going, and what they have learned, and you want them to enjoy it. Don’t just drive from point A to point B, let your passengers stop and see what is around them. Do more than just use the text! Do things your students will actually enjoy and engage in.Together.

You can find the article here! http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/journals/ed_lead/el199909_tomlinson.pdf