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So All Can Learn: A Practical Guide to Differentiation
How do we educate so all can learn? What does differentiation look like when done successfully? This practical guide to differentiation answers these questions and more. Based on national and international work, McCarthy shares how educators finally understand how differentiation can work. Bridging pedagogy and practice, each chapter addresses a key understanding for how good teaching practices can include differentiation with examples and concrete methods and strategies.
The book is constructed to differentiate for diverse educators: veteran of many years to the pre-service teacher, classroom teacher leader to administrator as instructional leader, and coaches for staff professional development:
All learners deserve growth. All teachers and administrators deserve methods and practices that helps them to meet learner needs in an ever challenging education environment. Take this journey so all can learn.
The book is constructed to differentiate for diverse educators: veteran of many years to the pre-service teacher, classroom teacher leader to administrator as instructional leader, and coaches for staff professional development:
All learners deserve growth. All teachers and administrators deserve methods and practices that helps them to meet learner needs in an ever challenging education environment. Take this journey so all can learn.
- GenresEducation
202 pages, Paperback
Published February 15, 2017
6 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
John McCarthy
2 books2 followersJohn McCarthy advocates for student voice and agency. He works with schools across the United States and in different parts of the world on innovative practices, such as Differentiation, College & Career Readiness Skills (aka 21st Century Skills), Authentic Learning Experiences, Project-Based Learning, Instruction supported by Technology tools, STEAM, Systemic and Culture building. “So All Can Learn” provides a vision and instructional tools that support these and other innovative practices.
Publications by John can be found on his blog, www.openingpaths.org, as well as for www.Edutopia.org, www.TeachThought.com, EdWords, and other sites. Find a complete list at: http://openingpaths.org/blog/publicat....
With wide ranging teaching and coaching experience, John consults, and is an adjunct professor at Madonna University. He has taught English and Social Studies in high schools in three different states, that included communities that were rural, urban, suburban, high poverty and high affluence. He spent years coaching in elementary to high schools. John has been a consultant for several organizations, including the Buck Institute for Education, Co-nect, and Wayne RESA, serving many schools in diverse settings. “So All Can Learn” is inspired and influenced by the context of these wide ranging experiences, so that educators in all of these settings will find much that addresses their needs.
John McCarthy is available for virtual and in-person talks about So All Can Learn. Contact him through Twitter - @jmccarthyeds - https://twitter.com/JMcCarthyEdS - or at www.SoAllCanLearn.org.
Publications by John can be found on his blog, www.openingpaths.org, as well as for www.Edutopia.org, www.TeachThought.com, EdWords, and other sites. Find a complete list at: http://openingpaths.org/blog/publicat....
With wide ranging teaching and coaching experience, John consults, and is an adjunct professor at Madonna University. He has taught English and Social Studies in high schools in three different states, that included communities that were rural, urban, suburban, high poverty and high affluence. He spent years coaching in elementary to high schools. John has been a consultant for several organizations, including the Buck Institute for Education, Co-nect, and Wayne RESA, serving many schools in diverse settings. “So All Can Learn” is inspired and influenced by the context of these wide ranging experiences, so that educators in all of these settings will find much that addresses their needs.
John McCarthy is available for virtual and in-person talks about So All Can Learn. Contact him through Twitter - @jmccarthyeds - https://twitter.com/JMcCarthyEdS - or at www.SoAllCanLearn.org.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 10, 2017
This exciting new book is just what is needed today! It will help new teachers, as well as those with many years’ experience, reach students in a time-efficient manner. New ideas are fine. But if one doesn’t have the time to implement them, they are not going to happen.
What makes So All Can Learn so relevant is that it gives the information, as well as the encouragement and resources, to create differentiated lessons today! It also shows why student ownership is essential as well as giving ideas on how to gain it. When students are involved in lesson planning and assessment, they’re self-motivated to do a good job.
I remember one fourth grade reading class. My students were of average intelligence or better but you’d never know it looking at their scores. I could see them struggling every day. This book would have been a big help! Its resources, strategies, and guidance would have given me so many great ideas and saved me so much time! Instead I had to invent the wheel by myself.
I also remember one of my favorite third grade math classes. The students came in every day smiling, happy and enthusiastic—until we got to word problems. Then I watched their moods sink. Why? Many of them were reading below grade level. They could do the math, but they couldn’t read the problems. So they didn’t know what they were being asked to do.
When I read about Assessment Fog in Chapter 3, it really resonated with me. That was the problem I had faced. Yes, I solved it, but again, it took a lot of time. If I had had So All Can Learn, with all its resources, I could have created fog free assessments much faster.
This is why So All Can Learn is so valuable. It has, all in one place, the ideas, suggestions and resources that teachers need to help create successful differentiated lessons quickly.
Claire Murray, M.A., L.P.C., N.C.C.
What makes So All Can Learn so relevant is that it gives the information, as well as the encouragement and resources, to create differentiated lessons today! It also shows why student ownership is essential as well as giving ideas on how to gain it. When students are involved in lesson planning and assessment, they’re self-motivated to do a good job.
I remember one fourth grade reading class. My students were of average intelligence or better but you’d never know it looking at their scores. I could see them struggling every day. This book would have been a big help! Its resources, strategies, and guidance would have given me so many great ideas and saved me so much time! Instead I had to invent the wheel by myself.
I also remember one of my favorite third grade math classes. The students came in every day smiling, happy and enthusiastic—until we got to word problems. Then I watched their moods sink. Why? Many of them were reading below grade level. They could do the math, but they couldn’t read the problems. So they didn’t know what they were being asked to do.
When I read about Assessment Fog in Chapter 3, it really resonated with me. That was the problem I had faced. Yes, I solved it, but again, it took a lot of time. If I had had So All Can Learn, with all its resources, I could have created fog free assessments much faster.
This is why So All Can Learn is so valuable. It has, all in one place, the ideas, suggestions and resources that teachers need to help create successful differentiated lessons quickly.
Claire Murray, M.A., L.P.C., N.C.C.
February 28, 2017
I enthusiastically, sincerely recommend John McCarthy’s So All Can Learn: A Practical Guide to Differentiation from these perspectives:
• As an educator, I can use this resource in my planning, collaboration and reflection immediately. The resources and best practices are practical, cleanly organized and richly supported with context that values the realities of a frenetic, dense day.
• As a colleague, I can personally attest to John’s integrity, work ethic and professional empathy. So All Can Learn is aptly titled: he establishes and does not relinquish the focus of aligning instructional decision-making on behalf of the evolving needs of ALL learners.
• As a parent, I steadfastly hope that my and others’ children benefit from teachers and administrators who leverage this resource in their curriculum and assessment planning and professional leadership. So All Can Learn unpacks differentiated instruction in thoughtful, innovative ways by championing the voice and choice of children.
• As an educational leader and professional developer, I objectively attest that John McCarthy has created a resource that powerfully synthesizes the rigor demanded by the most assertive of administrators with the frank experience and technical know-how that committed educators expect around differentiated instruction.
Classroom educators, site and central administrators, coaches and specialists can readily apply So All Can Learn: A Practical Guide to Differentiation within their learning communities. John’s voice is deeply engaging and thoughtful. The practices, resources and frameworks he shares align powerfully with modern, progressive pedagogical and assessment trajectories.
Most importantly, John’s recommendations and perspectives synthesize respected educational theory with his real-time experience as a coach and consultant. Over the last four years, I have personally observed educators across the United States successfully applying innovative, sustainable practices around differentiated instruction in partnership with John McCarthy.
Amos Fodchuk, M.A., N.B.C.T.
President
Advanced Learning Partnerships, Inc.
• As an educator, I can use this resource in my planning, collaboration and reflection immediately. The resources and best practices are practical, cleanly organized and richly supported with context that values the realities of a frenetic, dense day.
• As a colleague, I can personally attest to John’s integrity, work ethic and professional empathy. So All Can Learn is aptly titled: he establishes and does not relinquish the focus of aligning instructional decision-making on behalf of the evolving needs of ALL learners.
• As a parent, I steadfastly hope that my and others’ children benefit from teachers and administrators who leverage this resource in their curriculum and assessment planning and professional leadership. So All Can Learn unpacks differentiated instruction in thoughtful, innovative ways by championing the voice and choice of children.
• As an educational leader and professional developer, I objectively attest that John McCarthy has created a resource that powerfully synthesizes the rigor demanded by the most assertive of administrators with the frank experience and technical know-how that committed educators expect around differentiated instruction.
Classroom educators, site and central administrators, coaches and specialists can readily apply So All Can Learn: A Practical Guide to Differentiation within their learning communities. John’s voice is deeply engaging and thoughtful. The practices, resources and frameworks he shares align powerfully with modern, progressive pedagogical and assessment trajectories.
Most importantly, John’s recommendations and perspectives synthesize respected educational theory with his real-time experience as a coach and consultant. Over the last four years, I have personally observed educators across the United States successfully applying innovative, sustainable practices around differentiated instruction in partnership with John McCarthy.
Amos Fodchuk, M.A., N.B.C.T.
President
Advanced Learning Partnerships, Inc.
March 24, 2017
So All Can Learn offers a road map for moving from differentiation for some to building a system and culture for differentiation for all. Where other publications offer ample research and support for differentiation, McCarthy draws on his extensive experience as an educator and national consultant by culling practical and vivid examples of how to differentiate and what differentiation looks like in a variety of classrooms. He unpacks what can be complex relationships and interactions in the differentiated classroom in a way that is straightforward, learner-centric, and readily applicable to a range of educators.
What is most exciting about this book is how McCarthy offers not just the impetus but an organizing framework (in terms of process, assessment, classroom environment, content integration, student choice and readiness skills, practical resources and applications, etc.) to help educators hear and amplify the Learner’s Voice. McCarthy also delves into the important shifts in mindsets and attitudes that educators must make in order to build multiple and unique pathways to learning.
What is most exciting about this book is how McCarthy offers not just the impetus but an organizing framework (in terms of process, assessment, classroom environment, content integration, student choice and readiness skills, practical resources and applications, etc.) to help educators hear and amplify the Learner’s Voice. McCarthy also delves into the important shifts in mindsets and attitudes that educators must make in order to build multiple and unique pathways to learning.
March 6, 2017
In So All Can Learn, John McCarthy adds his experienced voice to the important topic of differentiation in the classroom. McCarthy shares his expertise and experience from working with hundreds of schools across the country to provide teachers and those who work with them practical strategies for making differentiation in the classroom a reality.
The book provides a combination of background on the benefits of differentiation with a variety of practical strategies that educators at any grade level and content area can incorporate into their classroom. McCarthy provides a scaffolded approach to differentiation that moves from Intuitive to Intentional Differentiation that will be helpful for teachers first embarking upon the differentiation pathway to veteran educators who are looking for practical help to support their colleagues as they explore differentiation practices. My favorite section may be the exploration of common obstacles to differentiation because McCarthy shares many examples of how these fears can be and have been overcome by sharing real stories from real schools. Others may find the great value in the ample detailed description of strategies that any teacher can implement that punctuate every chapter.
Those familiar with the topic of differentiation from education thought leaders like Carol Ann Tomlinson and more recently, Jay McTighe, will find this a helpful companion to that foundational work. The difference in So All Can Learn is the weaving of a rich tapestry of practical advice and stories from real schools that help even the most reluctant understand that differentiated instruction is truly possible.
The book provides a combination of background on the benefits of differentiation with a variety of practical strategies that educators at any grade level and content area can incorporate into their classroom. McCarthy provides a scaffolded approach to differentiation that moves from Intuitive to Intentional Differentiation that will be helpful for teachers first embarking upon the differentiation pathway to veteran educators who are looking for practical help to support their colleagues as they explore differentiation practices. My favorite section may be the exploration of common obstacles to differentiation because McCarthy shares many examples of how these fears can be and have been overcome by sharing real stories from real schools. Others may find the great value in the ample detailed description of strategies that any teacher can implement that punctuate every chapter.
Those familiar with the topic of differentiation from education thought leaders like Carol Ann Tomlinson and more recently, Jay McTighe, will find this a helpful companion to that foundational work. The difference in So All Can Learn is the weaving of a rich tapestry of practical advice and stories from real schools that help even the most reluctant understand that differentiated instruction is truly possible.
April 5, 2017
The keyword in the tile of this book is “practical.” Too often books about differentiating instruction talk about the importance of differentiating for student needs but give little direction to teachers and parents in what differentiation really looks like or how to actually implement differentiated instructional strategies. John’s book helps to bridge this gap. Throughout So All Can Learn: A Practical Guide for Differentiation there are real classroom examples of how teachers are doing the heavy lifting of making content accessible and relevant for students. John helps teachers to understand that differentiation is a ongoing process and provides tools and strategies to implement on the journey toward meeting each and every student’s needs. Taking the theory set forth by differentiating instruction pioneers such as Carol Ann Tomlinson and Susan Allan, John has created a valuable resource for teachers that is accessible whether they are in their first year of teaching or their fiftieth year. If you are a teacher looking for ways to better meet your students’ needs, are a parent looking for ways to support teachers in working with your child more effectively, or are a community member wondering how teachers can possibly reach and teach 20-30+ individuals in a classroom setting, this book is for you.
Bethany Rayl, M.A., M.Ed.
President and Founder
Global Success Skills, LLC
Bethany Rayl, M.A., M.Ed.
President and Founder
Global Success Skills, LLC
February 27, 2017
John McCarthy brings years of diverse educational experiences to illuminate the topic of differentiation in the classroom. In So All Can Learn, you can expect to gain insight into the history and working definition of differentiated instruction while learning what makes it accessible and applicable to all learners. McCarthy sheds light on how assessments, both formal and informal, are imperative to meeting the needs of each student while helping you gain confidence in collecting and using the data effectively. What makes this book stand out from others on the same topic is the emphasis it places on the learner. Mr. McCarthy addresses the need to form relationships with every student and to leverage opportunities in the classroom to encourage student voice and agency. Not only does he give you practical application for your own classroom, but provides the research to back it up. So All Can Learn should definitely have a place in your professional library.
March 30, 2017
There is lots to like about John McCarthy's excellent new book on differentiating instruction, but there are two parts I especially love. As an advocate of teaching to the whole child, I am especially impressed that John has included the engagement aspect of instruction. Student achievement may be the goal, but an important avenue in meeting that objective is inspiring and honoring students' personal passions. I also love how John makes the book itself a tool of differentiation for teachers. The chapters are meant to be read again again as needed throughout one's career. The end of each chapter also includes "Invitations to Reflection" that allow teachers of any level of experience to use this book in the ways that best suit their needs. These sets of questions put the teacher in the driver's seat-- precisely so they are better able to then put their students in charge of their own learning. Highly recommended!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews