Additional Thoughts on Differentiated Instruction

Parker, Linda

ET

Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement (2008). A

    teacher’s guide to differentiating instruction. Retrieved May 5, 2013, from

     http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Teacher_s_Guide/

     I found this article to be very helpful because of how the concept of differentiated instruction was defined and how the article provided practical tips and pointers for teachers to use in bringing materials to a diverse level of learners within the classroom. One of the most important ideas listed was the fact that differentiated instruction alone will not automatically improve performance, but that it comes from a combination of factors such as curriculum, instructional strategies, student interest, activities, and student satisfaction.

Real-World Problems Require Real-World Skills

Parker, Linda

ET
CO
IL

Schroeder, E. E., & Zarinnia, E. (2001). Problem-based learning: Develop information

     literacy through real problems. Knowledge Quest, 30(1), 34-35.

     This article speaks to the power of collaboration among teachers, teacher-librarians, and students as an effective means for developing real-world skills related to solving real-world problems.  Authors, Schroeder and Zarinnia, compare two different types of assignments: 1) a teacher assigned project where students go to the library to look up information to complete a report; 2) a problem identified for which students need to find solutions, collaboration takes place between teacher, librarian, and students to guide in higher-level thinking, development of critical thinking skills, and implementation of information literacy skills.  The article mentions that all too often, the second scenario doesn't take place as often as it should (and this is exactly what we've been trying to develop in our class transformations).  Clearly, the second assignment is an example of best practices for engaging learners and partnering with them in developing 21st Century skills.

   

   

Teaching Smart

Parker, Linda

CA
CO
ET
IL

Resnick, L. B. (1999). Making America smarter. Education Week, 18(40), 38-40.

     Although this article is a little older, it looks at what's needed to teach cognitive skills associated with intelligence so that learners are held to a new standard of excellence as compared to being held to old standards of aptitude or performance where learners are compared to one another.  In reading Resnick's article, I found it foundational as a precursor to what was needed in the classroom of the future to enable and equip students for higher learning.  For example, the author discusses a core of principles (which made me think of the Common Core) to guide the work, allowing extra time for those students who need it (differentiation), engaging students in thinking (inquiry and problem-based learning), meeting or exceeding the expectation of a higher performance level and holding students accountable based upon their own application and investment in the subject (Constructivism).  

     Amazingly, we are just now seeing the implementation of those types of skills throughout classrooms in our nation - some fourteen years later!  On one hand, it seems as though times are changing so fast (i.e. technology) and, yet on the other hand, it seems as though change can't come fast enough (i.e. education).  


     

Weighing yourself to measure your physical fitness

Shapiro, Brian

CA

Marzano, R. J. (2003). Using data: Two wrongs and a right. Educational Leadership, 60(5), 56-61.

In today’s data-obsessed educational culture, many schools are standardized testing, classroom testing, keeping portfolios, and having endless meetings about DATA! And of course it is a key component of strong, effective teaching—to be able to assess where students are in their understanding of a concept or ability with a skill. What makes this article interesting is that it highlights, based on research, two large-scale errors to avoid when a school is trying to use data to effectively drive instruction.

The first “wrong” is relying heavily on indirect measures of learning. In a nutshell, this means do not rely on generic or “off the shelf” standardized tests to measure the progress students are making in their learning. Marzano explains that these tests do not adequately assess the content taught at a given school or class. In some cases the data can even produce false conclusions. The metaphor he uses, compares relying heavily on standardized tests to measure learning is like only weighing yourself to measure personal fitness. This seems obvious on some level, but clearly it is not given the amount of budgeting decisions and now even teacher-effectiveness measurements based on these sorts of tests.

The second “wrong” is when schools have no explanatory model to interpret the data. Marzano contends that this second wrong is “less obvious than the first and therefore more insidious as a result." (Marzano, 2003). Data is not useful if there is no plan in place for both interpreting and using the data to drive instruction.

The “right” option that Marzano focuses on in this article is the idea of keeping a running “report card” of the actual skills and content being taught in classes, by teachers. Of course teachers would need the time and support to be able to do this, but if done consistently it will drive instruction, allow for focused scaffolding and challenges. In addition to this brief summary of what the right way to collect data is, Marzano briefly touches on the school, teacher, and student level factors that affect student learning. He also provides a chart that would allow school leaders and committees to assess where they are in implementing a “Guaranteed and viable curriculum.” The chart guides the team is not only addressing where their school is, but how much each of five factors would improve student learning, and how easy or difficult would each one be to improve at their school, providing an individualized system to analyze and plan.

Teacher Knows if You've Done the E-Reading

Amy Truter

CA
ET

Streitfeld, D. (2013). Teacher knows if you've done the e-reading. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/09/technology/coursesmart-e-textbooks-track-students-progress-for-teachers.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

This article describes a program called CourseSmart that tracks college students' progress through digital textbooks. This software allows college professors to see how often their students are reading the textbook, when they skip pages, and what kind of notes they are taking using the highlighting and notes tool available through the textbook, assigning each student an "engagement index" that condenses their textbook usage into a single number.

I think this article is super interesting, because, while describing college courses, this technology could just as easily be adapted to use in elementary and high school classrooms, especially as more and more schools adopt more technology in the classroom. I think giving teachers the information about how their students are interacting (or not) with the textbooks will give teachers an opportunity to explore alternate teaching methods, and maybe using this technology in conjunction with curriculum as discussed in Remixing Melville could get students engaged in all new ways.

Tips for Beating the Clock in the Classroom

Amy Truter

ET

Johnson, B. (2013). Tips for beating the clock in the classroom. Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/beat-classroom-clock-tips-ben-johnson

This article provides a handful of ideas to help teachers maximize their allotted teaching time. Johnson gives examples of "time wasters" in the classroom and then elaborates on how teachers can overcome those time wasters. He advocates the jigsaw method of learning, as well as using collaborative groups to enable to the students to work together and teach each other. He also suggests using time before the lesson begins to determine where each student is at, knowledge-wise, and build a foundation for the rest of the class through vocabulary and really clear rubrics.

The ideas in this article are rapid fire suggestions for teachers looking to maximize their time. Johnson doesn't really provide any concrete examples of his ideas or explanations for how new teachers might implement the practices suggested, but the comments section has some really wonderful, real life examples of ways to save time in the classroom.

Remixing Melville

Amy Truter

CA
ET

Schwartz, K. (2013) Remixing Melville: Moby Dick meets the digital generation. MindShift. Retrieved from http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/03/remixing-melville-moby-dick-meets-the-digital-generation/

Henry Jenkins and Erin Reilly are working hard to create curriculum that teaches high school students Moby Dick on their terms. Inspired by Ricardo Pitts-Wiley, who taught Moby Dick to a group of incarcerated youth and had them reinterpret the novel to relate to their own lives, Jenkins and Reilly developed and tested a curriculum that uses "remixing, reinterpretation, and multimedia elements." The goal is to make the learning experience more meaningful to students by making it more participatory and creative, using immediate assessments that are part of the learning process.

I really love the idea of being taught literature in this fashion. I may have read everything assigned in high school, but I know I was not the norm. I think teenagers could really benefit from this type of curriculum and teachers who are open to the idea of trying something new and daring. I would definitely be interested to know more about their teaching methods and how you teach teenagers Moby Dick without necessarily forcing them to slog through the whole thing.