For+Thursday+the+28th

Assignments Due On Thursday the 28th. Read Tomlinson pp. 45-71.

Discussion: Notes Identify a section that jumped out at you in a really helpful way. Why did it jump out at you? What about it was helpful?

One section that really caught my eye was the section on interest, specifically drawing on existing students’ interests. On page 53 Tomlinson lists four key ways of tapping into students; preexisting interests. These are:
 * 1) Help students realize that there is a match between school and their own desire to learn.
 * 2) Demonstrate the connectedness between all learning.
 * 3) Use skills or ideas familiar to students as a bridge to skills or ideas less familiar to them.
 * 4) Enhance a student’s motivation to learn.

Immediately following these guidelines are three actual examples of how these standards have been employed to create engaging activities. One that I thought was really great, was the sidebar used in Mrs. Janes history section on the Civil War. Tying in the students’ interests of sports, recreation, music, humor, cartoon, etc., the class became much more interested and lively in conversation and their research topics about the Civil War. I strongly believe that the level of investigation the students had to carry out ultimately personalized that time period more for those students than a dusty torn page in a history book ever could. For this class history came alive and was much more relevant and complete in scope. //Dan, I also loved this section from Tomlinson! As a history teacher, I am always trying to find ways to include all students in what we are studying. So much of history is from one perspective, mainly from "dead, white, rich guys". I hate that many teachers only rely on that one perspective. This method of "sidebar" investigation allowed the learning to be student centered around their own interests. This section was something I am going to certainly borrow for years to come. It appears to be another "low prep differentiation tools" mentioned in the first section of the book.**tara**// Dan, this section of the sidebar investigation also stood out to me. I had never heard of this type of activity and it sounds great! --**LG** This section helped me relate subject matter that students may find boring or unimportant directly to their lives, which in turn makes the topic much more interesting and applicable. Students will begin to observe parallels in trends and activities from their lives directly into those of their subject matter. This sidebar example fully employs the four guidelines mentioned above by Tomlinson and is a great method of generating deeper thought. Dan


 * I really liked the sidebar idea as well.. i love the idea that each student would have the opportunity to be an expert in a particular topic. I also like the idea that these sidebars can be ready-made and meaningful anchor activities . An application I can imagine for literature would be that students could sign up to track a particular motif, image or theme through a book. I might do this for the Odyssey: one student could track hospitality, another could be on the look out for combat and weapons, while another, more abstract thinker might look for moments where pride is a theme. This seams like a really nice way to give each reader a sense of ownership over the reading experience and something particular (and readiness appropriate) to be thinking about as she reads

All in all I think the chapter on differentiation by interest sparked the most reaction for me. It got the most ideas flowing... There are a lot of opportunities to offer meaningful choice while still keeping a focus on learning objectives. Another idea that ties the podcast idea to interest based differentiation would be to assign students to record someone they really like to listen to, maybe the best storyteller they know. This could be the basis for an investigation of good storytelling, where students identify and compare the attributes that make these people fun to listen to. They might even use audacity to create audio annotations of the story. Might this be a way to create critical insight into rhetorical and narrative structure? TA**

 

There were two major sections that jumped out at me. These were two sections and main ideas that I felt I could include in my classes for the upcoming fall, which is something I am always looking for. The first of the two sections was the idea of including students in the process of writing goals for final products of a unit. By differentiating the products the teacher can finds an, “ideal way to tap into student interests.” In addition, teachers that include the student in the goal writing process are also preparing the student to think about the end result. I believe this will lead to an increased feeling of ownership towards the project, focus on the objective, and open communication between the teacher and student. Sharing the responsibility of goal making makes the classroom a more democratic place to be.
 * Identify a section that jumped out at you in a really helpful way. Why did it jump out at you? What about it was helpful?**

The second section that stuck out to me was the figure 10.5 on page 69. The visuals on the page caught my eye immediately and I was intrigued from that point. Since I began investigating DI I have been searching far and wide for a student interest survey that has open ended elements, yet is focused around one major idea. I thought this section was extremely helpful because it provided a clear model that corresponded with the chapter reading. I often times find myself asking my students to brainstorm a specific place or name. They are then asked to write down everything they know about that place or name. We share our results and I gather information about where to go from there. Figure 10.5 adds more specifics about student interest, as well as their learning profile. I could definitely see myself adapting this interest questionnaire for many of my units and classes. Have a nice night! **Tara**


 * Identify a section that jumped out at you in a really helpful way. Why did it jump out at you? What about it was helpful?**

I was drawn to two sections of tonight's readings. The equalizer (on page 47) seemed to me to be a great way to visualize the adjustments that can be made when designing a readiness-based differentiated lesson. I picked up the "essential caveats" stating that:
 * 1) All students need lessons that are coherent, relevant, powerful, transferable, authentic, and meaningful.
 * 2) A curriculum that is good for students pushes them a bit beyond what they find easy or comfortable.
 * 3) Plan to encourage your students to "work up" -- that is, be ready to match students to tasks that will stretch them.

I was also very much interested in both the learning-profile factors and the learning-style preferences. I think that this stood out for me, primarily due to my interest in Gardner's multiple intelligences. However, I had not read much about learning-profiles before, so this brought to light a whole new perspective for me. In teaching, I have often given my students the choice of learning profile without knowing it. Reading this now alerts me to the reality that offering this option to a student is more than just being aware of our surroundings...it actually helps create a better learning environment/situation for them. Can you say light bulb?

It was also very interesting to me that the things were were talking about this morning at the Cafe showed up in this chapter (pre-assessments, and asking students how they learn best). We must be on the right track.

See you all tomorrow! **LG**

One section that jumped out at me was the idea of drawing on existing student interest. I found the four goals really made a lot of sense, especially the last one (enhancing student motivation). I have seen that if a student is interested in the topic they are just more eager to learn about it. If they are not interested they might still do the work, but they don't get the same depth and/or breadth of knowledge. Continuing with this idea I found the concept of interest centers something that I think with work for my students and am going to try. I feel that interest centers would lend themselves nicely to my consumer math class and my history of math class. In the same chapter the idea of expanding student interests was brought up. Mention of real life applications of ideas and skills was one that instantly caught my eye. I don't know how many times students have asked, "When am I ever going to use this?” Sometimes the answer is easy, you're studying taxes - my response: "everyone who has a job has to do their taxes". Other times it is really hard, you're studying matrices - my response: "most of you won't see them again, except if you go into engineering or math related jobs". While I was reading this section the idea of a job fair appeared. I think it would be great to have people from different professions come to school and talk about how the use math on a daily basis.
 * Identify a section that jumped out at you in a really helpful way. Why did it jump out at you? What about it was helpful?**

I also liked the idea of giving students a choice of how to learn about a concept based on their learning style. The example that jumps out at is Mr. Larsen's class (maybe because it's math - not sure). The idea of "menus" is really interesting. I think it might take some real legwork to get to the point were students are making the correct choice about the activity that suits them as a learner. I think that without some discussion and work about what type of learner the student is you might end up with students picking an activity because that's what all their friends picked. //I think menus might work for you Hannah, just listening to you talk. You wouldn't have to do them every day, and it would give you a chance to check in with some of your students while the others were working with their menus. I've seen them work very successfully as a way to keep some of the kids "circling" while you worked to catch others up. cr// Hannah

The section that jumped out at me the most in a helpful way is the one geared toward interest-based differentiation. This particular section grabbed my attention because of how important it is to give students chioces that pertain to their interests. As Tomlinson says, "Interests are, in a way, windows on the world."

I found Tomlinson's guidelines on p. 57 to be straight forward and easy to understand because it outlined smaller steps to take in order to make interest-based differentiation more effective. For example, create an open invitation for student interests. Allow them to have some input on how about they might like to go about studying certain topics. The students feel they have some "ownership" in therir learning process. Another example is to develop efficient ways of sharing interest-based findings rather than just presenting to the class. The information following the the guidelines showed us strategies to use (fig. 9.2) which combined both low-prep and high-prep differentiation.

I also enjoyed the Learning-Profile section too as that was full of useful information and hopefully after reading these two sections, I will be able to contribute more valuable ideas when collaborating in groups. HH

I found chapter 10; the how to's of planning lessons differentiated by learning profile to be something that I know I am going to find very helpful down the road in planning lessons. The chart on P. 61 and 65 do a great job illustraiting the point that we, as teachers, need to be conscious about how we plan lessons, and how we are reaching out to all different types of learners. I'm always a fan (along with HH) of interest-based findings, and encouraging kids to learn and grow through their interests whenever possible. I also kinda liked the outlined box on page 80 on the difference between a "Good activity" and a "good differentiated activity". I do think that there is a difference. A good differentiated activity, from my understanding, seems to be one in which a variety of learners can still connect with the same material. The more connections you can make with your students, the more this attests to your teaching skills and approaches. Tomlinson does a great job illustraiting some pretty thick points, and although it's dense reading at times, I've really enjoyed it and found it a useful tool that I can always refer back on. JB**
 * Identify a section that jumped out at you in a really helpful way. Why did it jump out at you? What about it was helpful?

A couple of thoughts on the readiness-based differentiation and a technical note. The tech note first. You may all know this, but I didn't: I discovered that if you lose a post because someone else is editing at the same time, you can retrieve it from the history tab. However, it didn't work to simply copy and paste from the history. What did work was to copy and paste from the history to a word document, //then// copy and paste into the wiki editor. A lot of us were really drawn to interest-based differentiation, and I suppose it's the most transparent and perhaps the most visible factor in our learning experiences. We can all remember when we've checked out because we simply weren't interested. Readiness-based differentiation, on the other hand, feels a lot more overwhelming to me and I know I want to do a better job a both reading and responding to student readiness. I like the idea of the Equalizer but it makes me dizzy to think of monitoring and manipulating 8 different variables for 12-25 students. Obviously one would have to limit one's attention to one or two at least to start. Where it is really helpful is in highlighting all the places I might look when "diagnosing" a struggling student. I might be tempted to only look at complexity when an adjustment in independence or pacing might allow me to retain a high level of complexity. It also is a great reminder that sometimes I expect way too much of students in terms of abstraction and that this can be an insurmountable obstacle for a lot of kids. I'm asking them to do things their brains aren't even ready to do. The pathways haven't even been sketched yet. Going from Grad school to teaching High School requires some mental recalibration. TA Schedule for the Thursday the 28th.
 * Gathering / CyberCafe
 * Report In and Discussion of Readings / 426
 * Charlie Time / 426
 * charting the lesson, drafting assessments (continued)
 * Work Time / Various Places.
 * independent work time: use this to advance your project and/or use this to investigate some of the techniques Tomlinson refers to on her many charts (pp. 65, 61, 34, 23)
 * Example: [|Double Entry Journals]
 * Share Time / 426
 * Next Steps / 426

Reactions to Today's Class. //Approximately 100 word entries//. //Please don't add separate pages here. Just add your entry to the one that comes before as a new paragraph. Leave your initials after your last sentence. CR//

Great class today. It was fun to just tool around a little on the web. I think I'm a little intoxicated with all the possibilities. To be honest, I've sort of steered clear of technology and didn't really think it would add much to English. I think I've tended to think of it as gimicky windowdressing. I've been pretty dismissive of grand statements about the transformative impact of technology. Those heralding the death of books, I felt, were overstating what was happening. And they may have been but I do feel like there is something remarkable at work that certainly demands a place in our thinking about instruction. I think what is clear is that technology alone is not the key. By now we've all seen enough atrocious powerpoints to know that technology will not fix what the human is bringing to the table. A bad speaker with the aid of powerpoint is aided to become a worse speaker. //I so agree with you! cr// I still like books, though. On the other hand, I've developed a real passion for downloadable audiobooks. I love that I can put a thirty-hour novel on my ipod and drive around listening to it. That's a lovely use of technology, though it's still on the level of a hyper-convenient version of a previously existing product. But it is cool to think about all the stuff my kids or I could do, and with equipment most of us already own ( I just discovered today that my computer comes equipped with a built-in microphone--I've just never used it). //Try the "notes" selection from you gallery menu. I think an audio record feature will appear with the application. cr//

I really liked the stuff we looked at on Edutopia. And it wasn't all tech-centered stuff. I loved the post-it responses to the photographs of nuclear victims. Of course, the easy availability of such images and the the extensive archiving of media is a direct result of internet technology. Primary sources are so easy to track down now. blah blah. I got a lot out of sharing our lesson diagrams (including the realization that my handwriting is bad enough to make me less effective as a teacher, need to work on that). It was good to see the slightly different approaches everyone took. I got stuff i could borrow from each group. I liked the "I" Paper idea, also, the superhero comic book.

An issue: how do you bring exciting, media-heavy activities into an English class and still keep the excitement about paper texts, some of which are antiquated? I have some thoughts, but maybe other people have some ideas too... TA

Today seemed to fly by. The entire class was engaging and once again made my brain start to spin with ideas. Starting with the laptops gave me more time to think about the purpose and point of my project. As was mentioned earlier, primary documents are quite easy to find, but compiling them takes the real time and effort. As I continued my search today I was really picky about which pictures I was putting into my flickr site. I was formulating specific reasons for including that one image. What I don’t want is for my project to turn into a massive picture gallery that becomes unclear of purpose. //Ouch, I've done that. This is a really good point. Kid's get bored quick when they don't see the point in a collection of things. I guess I do, too. TA// Therefore, I will be spending my time not only finding pictures, documents, political cartoons, paintings, etc, but also planning their purpose in the class curriculum. The edutopia site was fantastic and I cannot wait to explore it further. The video Charlie showed was inspiring. I kept thinking to what degree could my classroom become more like that one? //Bring it up in class and we can explore it together... . It is an important question, especially with regard to engagement. cr// I was relived to see that we returned to finish our lesson plans. I was unclear if that was going to happen or not. I thought that activity was a big learning experience. In my early days of DI exploration I struggled with the concept and implementation. I would often think: am I doing this right? Now, I can see that there are many ways to accomplish the DI goal. All of your lessons were interesting. I loved the deconstruct idea, as well as the jigsaw method (I’m a big fan of that already). The discussions around the plans were thought provoking. The conversation made me think a lot about “why” we do particular things throughout the teaching day. By the end of class I was looking forward to working on my flickr project, read the next chapters of Tomlinson and plan for tomorrow with you. Thanks again for a great day! **Tara

Today was a fantastic class! First, I would like to thank everyone for being flexible around my meeting this morning. I really appreciated it. I really loved listening to each other talk about our lesson plans. As I stated in class, it always blows my mind to see just how different all of our activities can be, even though we are all reaching towards the same goals.

I am glad that we took some time to search and learn about things that could enhance our projects. Edutopia is a fantastic site, and while I have visited it a bunch of times, I always find new information to stretch my ideas. If everyone gets a chance, you should take a look at the Edutopia book written by the same people. It has some great examples of classroom scenarios.

I really feel like I am starting to wrap my brain around differentiated instruction again. It feels great to revisit things that I have previously learned. I can't wait to try to tie some of it into my final project. See you all tomorrow! -LG**

Today’s class was great! The continuation of the plant lesson plan and rubric project was an effective display. I know while collaborating on the project I was curious to see what other groups’ outcomes would be, and was glad to see the various activities at the end. I thought as a class our end results were well conceived. It’s absolutely amazing at the limitless possibilities of activities you could have in a lesson. I would really like to see these plans implemented in a real classroom. I would to see it in action with students and teachers and it reviewed and reflected upon in the end. DI //What impressed me the most was that I believe each of these plans could have been implemented in a classroom, they were that grounded in a clear perspective on students. cr//

I have to say this class has given me so many new ideas - it's great! I loved having time to start our projects. I'm really excited to incorporate a wiki into my class and see how the students react. I think they will really grab hold of it. I'm hoping that I will be able to have discussions and visuals on it (save a few trees). I found the edutopia site certainly worth looking at. I can't wait until this weekend when I can really look at it and explore. Completing the plant lesson was helpful. I found a lot of people came up with ideas I would have never come up with, but may use if I can find the place now. I also liked the discussion that surrounded the idea of assessing creativity. That is something that I have used in a couple of rubrics and find it really hard to nail down. Hannah

~I loved today's class! George Lucas' //Edutopia// is such an amazing tool that I had not heard of before- the textbook Laurie let me borrow is awesome. What a wonderful tool for teachers trying to adapt their classrooms to a more modern-day approach! My only hesitation in all of this technological advances is how much is too much? I remember (I think Tara) mentioned the other day how a program will even put bibliograpical information into MLA format for you. There are an ever-increasing amount of tools like this out there, and I tend to wonder at what point we are helping students in their educational endeavors, and at what point we are doing some essential work for them. I think this is a struggle all teachers face, and it is a difficult thing to try and create a boundary for. //Of course we have to be concerned with the issue you raise, Jenni, but it the activity gets them off their duffs and working on a task because they want to, that ought to be the benchmark to answer the question are we doing too much for them. Someone said once of her teaching, when I achieved a breakthrough was when I figured out how to have the kids to the work instead of me! Insightful comment... . cr//

On a lighter note, I loved being able to see how others approached today's activities. It was great to see how others approached the same situation in so many different, interesting ways. I learned some wonderful new ideas, and got the juices flowing on potential lesson plans to-be-used-at-a-later-date. Thank you to those who are already amazing teachers who can provide individuals (such as myself) with ideas you may have used! It's been increasingly helpful to see all of you in action, and how you (with a few years under your belts) approach a given task. Jenni~

Where do I start? There are so many parts of class that I thought were absolutely amazing!! George Lucas' Edutopia was incredible and another reminder to myself about how behind I am in technology. Iv'e been introduced to all these wonderful tools and resources that I am anxious to continue exploring.

I really appreciated the time you gave us to use as we wanted which gave me achance to check out the link you sent me on Individual Coaching, which really interested me-Thanks Again!!! And last but not least, coming together as a class at the end of our group work to discuss our lesson plan was key for me because of what I learned through the process of helping create this lesson plan, the FEEDBACK from the class and to see what the others came up with. It's been a great week! HH

//Looks like Edutopia was a winner! Thanks to George, r2d2 and c3p0.//