Description
As part of the series on Differentiating UP, Dr. Richard Cash will unpack the curriculum for you to create quality Essential Questions, which are used to guide your instruction. He will also demonstrate the art of compacting to address the needs of those who have proven mastery in a unit of study. Finally, Richard shares how to use Interest or Passion Projects for those students who have proven mastery or wish to be more self-directed in their learning.
This course is excellent for all educators who are seeking to improve their classroom instruction. Once you have completed this session, you will have a firm understanding of how to create a more engaging learning environment for your students’ diverse needs..
In this 1-hour course, you will learn:
- How to unpack the 3 levels of curriculum
- Interdisciplinary concepts
- The format for compacting
- How to create essential questions
- How to promote self-directed learning
Other courses in this series:
Differentiating UP! Offering Students Choice





Becky – WESTERN BROWN LOCAL (verified owner) –
It was well done and the instructor was knowledgeable.
William – PARMA CITY (verified owner) –
A rating of 2 only because I think there is value in the Passion Projects portion of the presentation. This PD seems like something pre-service education majors learn when preparing to become teachers.
Mike – GALVESTON ISD (verified owner) –
This course was helpful.
Faith – LANCASTER CITY (verified owner) –
Interesting!
Cynthia – LAREDO ISD (verified owner) –
Great presentation!
Presenter discusses the importance of essential questions in every lesson. It has so many benefits for the students and teacher gets feedback from the responses.
Marlis – YOUNGSTOWN CITY SCHOOLS (verified owner) –
It was interesting to learn the concept behind a passion project
Paula – WESTERN BROWN LOCAL (verified owner) –
Very informative.
Lacey – ELYRIA CITY SCHOOLS (verified owner) –
The course had good ideas and suggestions. I will take away some valuable ideas about differentiation and developing essential questions.
Rachel – KILLEEN ISD (verified owner) –
Very helpful
Kristi – WESTERN BROWN LOCAL (verified owner) –
it had some interesting points in how to address differentiation
Amy – LOS FRESNOS CISD (verified owner) –
This was interesting.
Josefina – UNITED ISD (verified owner) –
This course was easy to understand and follow. The instructor guided me throughout the presentation.
Heath – BEAUMONT ISD (verified owner) –
This was just grand
Brenda – KATY ISD (verified owner) –
Well organized, easy to follow. Makes a lot of sense.
Ana – LOS FRESNOS CISD (verified owner) –
This was a great course that I will use to reshape my essential questions for my units
Elsy – LOS FRESNOS CISD (verified owner) –
Very Interesting
Julianne – WESTERN BROWN LOCAL (verified owner) –
A very informative resource.
Merrill – MIDLAND ISD (verified owner) –
There were some great points made.
Tonya – MIDLAND ISD (verified owner) –
GREAT
Kristen – YOUNGSTOWN CITY SCHOOLS (verified owner) –
I think the course has a lot of quality information especially at an initial basis to differentiation.
Michele – COLUMBUS CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT (verified owner) –
Very informative.
Paula – BEXLEY CITY (verified owner) –
I thought there was some very rich content in this course. However, the information was a little overwhelming for a single hour course. A lot to digest, that would take well beyond an hour to really embed and understand. I also found it difficult to relate to math, as the instructor even said that math is a different type of learning at times. I appreciate the effort, but still found it challenging to apply some of the concepts in thinking about my content.
Amy – WESTERN BROWN LOCAL (verified owner) –
Informative
James – WESTERN BROWN LOCAL (verified owner) –
Content was good…
Technical difficulties made it frustrating…
I could not submit my first response and I could not view the second question…
Kathryn – WESTERN BROWN LOCAL (verified owner) –
It had some good ideas about essential questions.
Susan – Defiance City Schools (verified owner) –
I felt there were good reminders, but in general I already practice these concepts.
Jassmine – CRESTVIEW LOCAL – VAN WERT COUNTY (verified owner) –
I knew a lot about passion projects already. The curriculum information was redundant.
Irisol – EDINBURG CISD (verified owner) –
very informative
Brenda – WESLACO ISD (verified owner) –
Interesting session!
Gayla – Private Pay (verified owner) –
This was a little too much information too fast.
Sean – RIVER VIEW LOCAL (verified owner) –
Good ideas and topics at times but sometimes hard to follow.
Roberto – WESLACO ISD (verified owner) –
This video has lots of information.
Audrea – BEAUMONT ISD (verified owner) –
Very informative. Teaching does not come from a book but from what is needed by students.
jesus – WESLACO ISD (verified owner) –
more time would be needed to create teacher confidence in creating these questions
Viviana – MCALLEN ISD (verified owner) –
Thank you, very informative.
Maricela – UNITED ISD (verified owner) –
It’s an excelllent resource with a lot of ideas in how to guide the students to the process of learning.
April Renee – UNITED ISD (verified owner) –
okay
Jason – LORENA ISD (verified owner) –
This course has a good foundation for designing your curriculum; however, I wish there were more specific examples per content area.
Levi – UNITED ISD (verified owner) –
Great info.
Cynthia – UNITED ISD (verified owner) –
Very informative!
Lee – UNITED ISD (verified owner) –
Great information and examples.
Sylvia – UNITED ISD (verified owner) –
The course is very interesting.
Dora – UNITED ISD (verified owner) –
Good job!
Claudia – CHISUM ISD (verified owner) –
Good information about questioning.
Grace – UNITED ISD (verified owner) –
Great course! The essential questions are extremely thought-provoking and helpful.
Irma – PFLUGERVILLE ISD (verified owner) –
Very well organized and detailed.
Rosalinda – VALLEY VIEW ISD PHARR – REGION 01 (verified owner) –
This course helps you understand a different way of teaching your area and use different ways of assessing student learning.
DIANA – SAN FELIPE-DEL RIO CISD (verified owner) –
Very informative.
Martin – UNITED ISD (verified owner) –
Great ideas on differentiating curriculum.
Roberta – UNITED ISD (verified owner) –
Very helpful ideas that can be used with all students.