Recently, I was asked to respond to an authentic problem and to provide a briefing on Differentiated Instruction. Specifically, I was asked to highlight what DI is; to identify barriers to bringing DI to high school; to highlight the role of DI in meeting the needs of at risk students.
While the request to asked respondents to limit their response to 1 page, I couldn't resist but to respond in a differentiated manner. Here is the 8 minute presentation I shared in response.
Whether you have success stories in bringing DI to the high school environment; suggestions for overcoming barriers; or approaches you've tried in professional development, I'd love to hear from you. Stories shared in comments; through hyperlinks; or via email would be appreciated.
Showing posts with label differentiation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label differentiation. Show all posts
Friday, October 8, 2010
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Classrooms of Tomorrow
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to lead the academic staff of Regina Mundi College, through a morning of learning, reflecting and designing. With the staff still getting to know me through the first ten weeks of school, it was a unique opportunity to revel in my passions for emerging technologies along with local colleagues.
The Lesson
I began the workshop by highlighting Ten Trends sure to affect teaching and learning in the years to come:
Peppered throughout the morning, were unexpected bonuses that I like to call 'soft returns': resources that can immediately impact classroom teaching & learning. Tools you might take for granted such as Wordle, WolframAlpha or Mr. Robbo's blog, are a few of the examples that rewarded participants for engaging with the 'formal lesson'.
The Culminating Task:
To demonstrate an understanding of highlighted emerging trends, teachers were asked to consider the following questions:
Which trends are most likely to impact your classroom?
How will your classroom change?
What tools will you need to address these trends?
What will you need to learn?
What will you need to un-learn?
Rather than answering the questions in a journal, or writing a test, teachers were grouped and tasked with designing a 'Classroom of Tomorrow'. To highlight the potential of collaborative design tasks, members of each group were invited to take on roles with entry points differentiated to meet the needs of a diverse 'classroom':
Team Leader: ensure all have input
Architect: sketch the classroom
P.R. Specialist: communicate design decisions
Espionage Expert: sample the ideas of other teams
C.F.O.: calculate a budget for proposed design
Timer: reinforce timelines for design and presentation
Showing What You Know:
Participants came to realize that it was possible to demonstrate an understanding of the 'course content' through an engaging activity. If such a task were to be used for assessment purposes, teachers were reminded that each individual should be required to explain the group's design choices, in the context of course expectations. It was also emphasized that any rubric for such a task, might de-emphasize the artistic presentation, in favour of a focus on design thinking and understanding.
The Wrap-up:
In completing this design task, my teaching colleagues transformed into students before my eyes. Letting their true colours show, we staff members unwittingly took on the characteristics of just about every type of student you can imagine. The animation and willing participation of my colleagues was beyond my greatest expectations.
To conclude our morning, an eloquent Ontario teenager, and 'wired' high school student, Patrick Quinton-Brown joined us via Skype. Patrick is a student trustee with the Durham District School Board, and Director of Communications with OSTA-AECO whom I met six days earlier while sitting on a panel at the People For Education annual conference in Toronto. Having heard him speak about the role technology played in his life, and about how the restrictive classroom environment often impeded his learning, I knew he'd be the perfect guest to wrap our morning.
In arranging an appearance, 'live' from his home school, Patrick was instrumental in helping me to put an exclamation point on the need to transform our classrooms. Indeed, my colleagues were able to experience first-hand, the Classroom of Tomorrow!
Photo Credit: Rodd Lucier
The Lesson
I began the workshop by highlighting Ten Trends sure to affect teaching and learning in the years to come:
Ten Trends Rmc
View more documents from Rodd Lucier.
Peppered throughout the morning, were unexpected bonuses that I like to call 'soft returns': resources that can immediately impact classroom teaching & learning. Tools you might take for granted such as Wordle, WolframAlpha or Mr. Robbo's blog, are a few of the examples that rewarded participants for engaging with the 'formal lesson'.
The Culminating Task:
To demonstrate an understanding of highlighted emerging trends, teachers were asked to consider the following questions:
Which trends are most likely to impact your classroom?
How will your classroom change?
What tools will you need to address these trends?
What will you need to learn?
What will you need to un-learn?
Rather than answering the questions in a journal, or writing a test, teachers were grouped and tasked with designing a 'Classroom of Tomorrow'. To highlight the potential of collaborative design tasks, members of each group were invited to take on roles with entry points differentiated to meet the needs of a diverse 'classroom':
Team Leader: ensure all have input
Architect: sketch the classroom
P.R. Specialist: communicate design decisions
Espionage Expert: sample the ideas of other teams
C.F.O.: calculate a budget for proposed design
Timer: reinforce timelines for design and presentation
Showing What You Know:
Participants came to realize that it was possible to demonstrate an understanding of the 'course content' through an engaging activity. If such a task were to be used for assessment purposes, teachers were reminded that each individual should be required to explain the group's design choices, in the context of course expectations. It was also emphasized that any rubric for such a task, might de-emphasize the artistic presentation, in favour of a focus on design thinking and understanding.
The Wrap-up:
In completing this design task, my teaching colleagues transformed into students before my eyes. Letting their true colours show, we staff members unwittingly took on the characteristics of just about every type of student you can imagine. The animation and willing participation of my colleagues was beyond my greatest expectations.
To conclude our morning, an eloquent Ontario teenager, and 'wired' high school student, Patrick Quinton-Brown joined us via Skype. Patrick is a student trustee with the Durham District School Board, and Director of Communications with OSTA-AECO whom I met six days earlier while sitting on a panel at the People For Education annual conference in Toronto. Having heard him speak about the role technology played in his life, and about how the restrictive classroom environment often impeded his learning, I knew he'd be the perfect guest to wrap our morning.
In arranging an appearance, 'live' from his home school, Patrick was instrumental in helping me to put an exclamation point on the need to transform our classrooms. Indeed, my colleagues were able to experience first-hand, the Classroom of Tomorrow!
Photo Credit: Rodd Lucier
Friday, November 6, 2009
Which Brands of Soda Do You Sell?
In my search for an motivational piece of media for an upcoming PD day, I happened upon a gem that will be used to introduce the topic: Engaging Classroom Environments. When viewed through the right lens, John Nese of Galco's Soda Pop Shop has many important messages to share with educators.
Passion: When you are lucky enough to be doing something you love, you can't help but share your enthusiasm with others. Are you passionate about learning new things? Are you are willing to give novel ideas a shot? Do you validate the passions of others?
Community: The most successful entrepreneurs see themselves as part of a larger dynamic community. Do you see what you do in the context of an entire school? Do you go out of your way to connect classroom experiences to the real world? Do you encourage and empower learners to reach through the walls of your classroom?
Variety: There is no need for this vendor to offer run-of-the-mill product. Customers can get Pepsi Cola anywhere. What unique experiences do you offer to your students? Is there something uniquely available in your course or class, that has students hoping to be on your classlist?
Customer Engagement: John Nese has the trust of his customers, and he recognizes that each one has unique tastes. In a similar fashion, the movement twards Differentiated Instruction, is calling on teachers to recognize the uniqueness of the students in their classrooms. How well do you know your customers? Do you embrace their unique tastes over a one-size-fits-all approach?
Passion: When you are lucky enough to be doing something you love, you can't help but share your enthusiasm with others. Are you passionate about learning new things? Are you are willing to give novel ideas a shot? Do you validate the passions of others?
Community: The most successful entrepreneurs see themselves as part of a larger dynamic community. Do you see what you do in the context of an entire school? Do you go out of your way to connect classroom experiences to the real world? Do you encourage and empower learners to reach through the walls of your classroom?
Variety: There is no need for this vendor to offer run-of-the-mill product. Customers can get Pepsi Cola anywhere. What unique experiences do you offer to your students? Is there something uniquely available in your course or class, that has students hoping to be on your classlist?
Customer Engagement: John Nese has the trust of his customers, and he recognizes that each one has unique tastes. In a similar fashion, the movement twards Differentiated Instruction, is calling on teachers to recognize the uniqueness of the students in their classrooms. How well do you know your customers? Do you embrace their unique tastes over a one-size-fits-all approach?
Sunday, March 22, 2009
The Power of Choice
Being able to remix off-the-shelf materials in order to create a unique product, is looking more and more like the future of retail. Is this also the future of education?
In the marketplace, Nike had a head start with an online tool that allows customers to create individualized footwear. Now new players, like Flip Video Designs, are joining the fray.
Does this model of allowing the consumer to select and create custom designs, fit with approaches that could be harnessed for student and teacher education? That's the topic for today's podcast.
Related Link:
Richard Baraniuk: Goodbye, textbooks; hello, open-source learning
In the marketplace, Nike had a head start with an online tool that allows customers to create individualized footwear. Now new players, like Flip Video Designs, are joining the fray.Does this model of allowing the consumer to select and create custom designs, fit with approaches that could be harnessed for student and teacher education? That's the topic for today's podcast.
Related Link:
Richard Baraniuk: Goodbye, textbooks; hello, open-source learning
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Academic Integrity in Online Learning
In a regional professional development session held earlier today, online teachers were asked to consider academic integrity through the lens of both student and teacher. Integral to our understanding of the issues related to honesty of networked learners, are a number of cultural and technological trends. Following a review of the realities of the remix generation, I shared my contention that teachers can 'cheat-proof' learning tasks through the use of freely available e-learning tools and differentiation.
Following on the heels of Alec Courosa's presentation at the University of Saskatchewan's Academic Integrity Awareness Week, I was happy to attribute the ideas in my presentation to those who have most influenced my thinking on this topic.
You may be interested in reviewing Michael Wesch's "Anthropological Introduction to YouTube"; Lawrence Lessig's TED talk on how modern creativity is being strangled by the law; the work of my colleague, Suzanne Riverin, who condensed key learnings of Bonk and Zhang's "Empowering Online Learning"; and the 'non-traditional' scripted "Late Night Learning with John Krutsch".
Thanks to a tweet from Clint Lalonde, I also had the opportunity to share a highly entertaining 'how-to cheat' video. Beyond highlighting the ingenuity that can be harnessed by motivated learners, this video models what a rich learning task might look like in a tech design or media production course!
The next few editions of the Teacher 2.0 Podcast will focus on Academic Integrity.
Following on the heels of Alec Courosa's presentation at the University of Saskatchewan's Academic Integrity Awareness Week, I was happy to attribute the ideas in my presentation to those who have most influenced my thinking on this topic.
You may be interested in reviewing Michael Wesch's "Anthropological Introduction to YouTube"; Lawrence Lessig's TED talk on how modern creativity is being strangled by the law; the work of my colleague, Suzanne Riverin, who condensed key learnings of Bonk and Zhang's "Empowering Online Learning"; and the 'non-traditional' scripted "Late Night Learning with John Krutsch".
Thanks to a tweet from Clint Lalonde, I also had the opportunity to share a highly entertaining 'how-to cheat' video. Beyond highlighting the ingenuity that can be harnessed by motivated learners, this video models what a rich learning task might look like in a tech design or media production course!
The next few editions of the Teacher 2.0 Podcast will focus on Academic Integrity.
Monday, February 25, 2008
It's Time to Differentiate Support for Educators
Why don't we embrace the philosophy of differentiation in providing Internet and communications technology support to educators?
At the turn of the century (9 years ago!), I spent a lot of time learning about differentiation, specifically in attempts to develop suitable programming for the gifted students in my board. The past few years, the language of differentiation has made its way into all schools in our district. Even the ministry of education is on this tack both in professional development initiatives and in recently released policy and program documents. Maybe it's time we consider differentiating the support we provide to teachers...
Many teachers in North America are turned off of using the Internet, precisely because they find the web filters engaged by their boards to be too stringent. I know that in my board, this blog continues to be unavailable to the very educators I'd love to engage in dialogue. A differentiated approach to the filtering of the World Wide Web, where authentication of a user would grant varying permissions, is I think a logical step. Wesley Fryer sees injustice in the fact that teachers and kindergartners often have to play with the same filter rules:"If school districts insist on blocking access to sites like YouTube, PBwiki, Wikispaces and Blogger, in my view they should NOT block that access for teachers."
With increasing numbers of forward thinking educators attempting to leverage read/write tools of the Web, school administrators face challenging times. As Will Richardson writes:
"We’re in the “Networking as a Second Language” point in teaching, this messy transition phase that is slowly gaining traction where we are beginning to understand what this means but not quite sure yet what to do about it."
A differentiated approach to teacher professional development may be part of the solution. According to a March 2007 article on Canada.com, the Lester B. Pearson School Board in Montreal allocated significant funding to train teachers in making effective use of modern teaching tools:
"Ped-tech leaders were identified at each school - teachers who were willing to work with technology - and they are being used as the basis for the project. These 180 teachers have each been given laptop computers, a projector and a smart board to really crank up their efficiency. In turn, they will be expected to bring other teachers into the fold and help them become more familiar with and more comfortable with using technology in the classroom."
Teachers have diverse needs when it comes supporting the use of technology in the classroom. My fingers are crossed that some day soon, district school boards will realize that "Differentiation is an effective way to meet the needs of all types of learners... including teachers."
Teacher 2.0 Podcast: "Differentiation: for Teachers" now online.
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