Look at the section “What Are the Hallmarks of a Differentiated Classroom?” beginning on page 6 and select one of the bold “hallmarks” and describe how you will incorporate this thinking into your classroom. List the page number of the “hallmark” selected.
As I commented in the first question, I like the idea of differentiated assessment. I also think it goes along with the section on individual growth on pages 7 and 8. I have always tried to incorporate my students in setting classroom rules or have them help me solve problems in the classroom. While reading this section, I would like to work on having the students work with me on making goals for learning and how they will assess their own learning. I don't know if I could do it for every subject or concept, but I would like to try it out maybe in writing. I think giving the students ownership over their own learning is good motivation.
ReplyDeleteThe hallmark I think is so important is the strong link between assessment and instruction on pages 6 and 7. Coming from a primary teacher's perspective, I think a lot of times we focus on beginning of year and end of year assessments, but we forget or downplay how important those smaller, continual assessments are throughout the year. I try very hard to make anecdotal assessments on my students every time I meet with them. I want to work harder, however, at doing it in a more focused, planned out way, not simply a "check-in."
ReplyDeleteIn response to what Shauna said on June 5 at 12:40 P.M., I like your idea of students setting their own learning goals. There is a book called Cafe in the Classroom by Boushey and Moser that addresses student goal setting in reading. While I enjoyed the book, I thought is was more appropriate for someone teaching older students. (I was teaching kindergarten last year.) It may be something you'd want to read.
ReplyDeleteThe hallmark that best fits my teaching philosophy is mentioned on page 8; the teacher works to ensure that all students have “respectful” work. This is something I have been working on incorporating into my classroom for quite some time. It is time consuming to plan for and can be difficult to monitor, especially if I am pulling small groups. I do think it is the best way to meet their needs. I am hoping the book will give me some ideas on how to do this in kindergarten. One thing I do is let my students chose their own numbers to work with for problem solving. This seems to work well for all learners.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite hallmark is on p. 9... "The teacher's differentiation is largely proactive rather than reactive." I am guilty, as many teachers are, of not planning as much as I should or in as timely a manner as I should/could/would if I had unlimited time. As a Librarian, my time is often not my own during the day - we spend so much of our time working for/with and serving others - sometimes when I think I have that "last hour" on Fridays, something unexpected happens that I have to take care of as part of my responsibilities on campus. I am never as well-planned as I'd like. The hallmark I mentioned is, to me, the most important thing to think about... being PROactive with regard to differentiation. I will work toward this by taking time each week to really think out my activities that I'm doing with students, even beyond making lesson plans. When one is proactive, excellence isn't far behind!
ReplyDeleteIn response to tif from June 6... I am soooo a "check in" person... working in the Library doesn't give me as much time with individual students as I'd like, and we're always "on the clock" since we are always pressed for time... I need to think more deeply about continual assessments, too!
ReplyDeleteIn response to Shauna on June 5, I love what you said about giving students ownership over their own learning. In a perfect world, we'd do this every day, all the time. In the reality of education, if we give this task to our students and teach them to be frequent monitors of their own learning process and journey, they will be better students and better lifelong learners!
ReplyDeleteThe teacher’s differentiation is largely proactive rather than reactive, page 9: I will incorporate this into my thinking by having to improvise less and strategically plan more. Something I have going for me in this area for this next year is that I am already familiar with a lot of my kids because I have worked with them in different capacities this year, so I will have a better understanding when I play and what their learning styles as well as needs are.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Tif: I really like what you said about how important the continuous assessments are throughout the year. As an intermediate teacher, it is important to monitor all the assessments and benchmarks, rather than just the TAKS test. This way we can get a better understanding of the gaps and how to close them.
ReplyDeleteJust like Miss. Lee I too am very guilty of being reactive rather than proactive. My planning is very much done on the fly and I'm a master at improvising (or faking it ! ).
ReplyDeleteThe passage that spoke to to me is on page 8 - "respectful work". I've always tried to teach my PGP kids skills they bring back to their classroom. In fact, I've tended to focus more on the skill - creating a PowerPoint, an Animoto, or a Trading Card than on the "facts/ information" showcased on the skill. I really need to work to find a better balance.
Thanks Tif for the book recommendation! I'll check it out. I really want to do my best to guide my students to being as autonomous as possible.
ReplyDeleteI also wanted to reciprocate what Miss Lee stated about being a proactive teacher. I know we are always super busy but being as proactive and prepared for our individualized learners as possible is the best way to reach all of the needs of our students. I really would like to work on that this year and hopefully not get to bogged down with other things.
I am combining hallmark number 1 “There is a strong link between assessment and instruction” and hallmark number 3 “The teacher groups students flexibly.” I believe these two hallmarks go together. Assessment drives instruction so it is critical that the teacher is constantly assessing students. Assessment has a Greek origin and means ‘to sit beside’. Assessment can look lots of different ways-such as a conversation, a phrase written on a post-it note, a paragraph written in a notebook or a video clip of a group solving a problem. All of these ideas show me what my students can do at any moment in time and tell me where to go next with my instruction.
ReplyDeleteSmall group instruction is bases on assessment. When a teacher pulls together a small group, there is a focus and reason behind it. Based on assessment, the teacher has students work in a small group. Sometimes this group meets with the teacher; sometimes they meet with each other. They could be grouped based on academic skill or a social need or even just for fun. The key to small groups is that they are focused and flexible. Students move in and out of small groups for a variety of reasons and purposes, based on their needs.
Oh Katie I wish your quote "As an intermediate teacher, it is important to monitor all the assessments and benchmarks, rather than just the TAKS test" wasn't so. At the north of the freeway schools it is TAKS, TAKS, and always the TAKS. The poor GT kids really get the shaft. I know that's why the GT kids have always tugged at my heartstrings - so much potential, so little attention. We have so much ground to cover and so much ground to make up that the TAKS is the 10,000 pound Gorilla that takes over the classroom.
ReplyDeleteMiss. Lee, I guess the library is the ultimate differential classroom - we have materials for all students on all levels and one of our goals - the right book in the hands of the right student at the right time is differentiation at its best!
ReplyDeleteI really appreciated the "Hallmarks of a Differentiated Classroom" on p. 6-9. I thought that it was very helpful for any teacher who wanted to get organized for a new school year. This list of characteristics would be essential in the planning stages. I particularly liked the part where it says, "The teacher involves her students in understanding the nature of the classroom and in making it work for everyone." I've started working on this with my students, but I could definitely use help in improving this. I'm hopeful that the book will go into more detail or provide examples of how to do this effectively.
ReplyDeleteThe hallmark I would like to concentrate on in my classroom is found on pg. 7; "the teacher uses time, space, and materials flexibly." Being a music teacher who sees classes for 45 minute periods either once or twice a week, I find the use of time and space extremely challenging. What would be a normal two week project in a regular classroom setting can easily become a 6 week assignment in mine. I have worked closely with my librarian to physically move classes to a larger setting offering many more differentiated learning opportunities through the use of technology. Involving volunteer parents would open up more possibilities as well.
ReplyDeleteThe hallmark that I like to concentrate most on is page 8- " The teacher sets her own sights high, just as she asks her students to set their sights high". In teaching science, too many of my students come into class with the " I can't possibly learn this" attached to their shoulders. This past year I was very diligent about always stating that we were working towards surpassing our last goal- let's just beat it! became the constant cheer. I would constantly show students how they had grown in science knowledge through use of those lovely bi-weekly assessments/benchmarks/released tests- and the students starting believing in their abilities. I believe students want to succeed- just some have lost faith in themselves because they don't know how to get back on track.
ReplyDeleteIn response to tif:
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting a book title. I will look up Cafe in the Classroom by Boushey and Moser to see what they have to say on goal setting with reading. I used to think that giving students the opportunity to choose their own books was good enough, but I can see now, that that might not be enough. Of course, students read at a different pace, so a student who has never completed a book independently is probably going to need a different goal than a student who reads all of the time. That is a pretty obvious realization, but I needed the reminder.
In response to Miss Lee: I also love the idea of teaching our kids to be "frequent monitors of their own learning process." We need to start them doing this way before middle school, though. I have 8th graders, and I notice that they are very set in their ways by this point. I'm trying to work around it, but I would love it if we could encourage this around our district at every grade level.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Ms. Lee...being proactive is by far the most time consuming factor in differentiation..but what a difference it makes! I'm relatively new to really concentrating on offering differentiated activites in my music classroom. Linked together with my own librarian for a truly differentiated project was mind blowing!!
ReplyDeleteThe hallmark that resonates with me is the one on page 7-8 - The teacher emphasizes individual growth... Previously, I would set goals for my students. This year was the first year that had a very special student set his own goal. We set "mini-goals" to reach throughout the year. This child went from thinking he would never be able to read to reading on-level by the end of the year. I attribute his success to him being able to reach his mini-goals (that he set) throughout the year. Each time he met one of HIS goals you could see his self worth increase. I will do more of this next year with all my students.
ReplyDeleteThe hallmark on p.7, " THe teacher emphasizes individual growth as central to the success of the classroom," is paramount in a differentiated classroom. I encourage my fourth grade students to set personal learning goals each nine weeks and to "raise' the bar for themselves in small increments that are both a challenge yet realistic to attain.
ReplyDeleteI include a homework assignment of discussing/sharing these goals with their parents as well since we are a "team."
Also in setting up a safe learning environment I utilize the Tribes agreements and "doing your personal best" is one of the basics.
So when I read this hallmark it resonated with some of the classroom practices I try to incorporate.
When Miss Roth stated, "I am combining hallmark number 1 “There is a strong link between assessment and instruction” and hallmark number 3 “The teacher groups students flexibly.” I believe these two hallmarks go together. Assessment drives instruction so it is critical that the teacher is constantly assessing students. " and 'Small group instruction is bases on assessment. When a teacher pulls together a small group, there is a focus and reason behind it. Based on assessment, the teacher has students work in a small group," I agree that these two hallmarks dovetail together and are critical to the process. Having the student's need and the instruction and grouping strategically planned is essential.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Cynthiamer, posted on June 7th: I love the idea of goal writing with kids. I have always found goal writing difficult so I am excited to try this with my new 4th graders too. Goal setting leads right to measuring individual growth, allowing students to keep track of their progress toward meeting the goal. This does not need to be shared with others, it can be completely personal.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate Cynthia reminding me of the importance of always working towards a goal!
The hallmark I liked the best was, The teacher emphasizes individual growth as central to the success of the classroom. Like I stated in my response to question 1, so many of my students have learned how to avoid participating and contributing to any kind of group work in the classroom. I like the idea of helping them understand that the classroom can only get stronger and can only succeed if every person is adding to it. That doesn't mean that every student must get all As or do everything perfectly, it simply means that each student must do his or her best to GROW. I think they also pointed out a good reminder that if there is no growth, an adjustment needs to be made by the teacher, student, or both. I often look to the student to make the adjustment instead of stopping to focus on how I could adjust things in the classroom for him.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the connection that Miss Roth made on June 6 between assessments and flexible groupings. Being in a district that is data-driven, I think it is so important to have valid assessments (both formal and informal) that can be used as the basis for forming groups. The data from assessments can be grouped and analyzed in different ways allowing for various groupings. I also liked her idea that sometimes the groups meet with the teacher and sometimes the groups meet with each other.
ReplyDeleteThe last hallmark described on page 9, “the teacher’s differentiation is largely proactive that reactive,” resonated with me as a growth area. “…effective differentiation rests upon purposeful planning for student variance.” As I read through the first unit on the ABCs, I noticed how differentiation is planned that would be applicable to any given group of students. I plan my differentiation based on the actual students I have in my classroom, so of course it is different every year. I do think differentiation should be responsive to the particular students in my class. Nevertheless, I see the value of thinking through a unit so completely and identifying ahead of time the areas where differentiation will take place. This coming school year, I would like to think through my units and identify those potential areas in advance.
ReplyDeleteIn response to cynthiamer: I really liked her idea of a 9 week goal and having students discuss this goal with their parents. I see how this supports the hallmarks, "The teacher asks her students to set their sights high," and "the teacher involves her students in understanding the nature of the classroom."
ReplyDeleteLast fall I read a book by Ruby Payne on the culture of poverty. One characteristic of generational poverty is that they tend to live in the present, but the process of setting goals helps to develop a more future-orientated mindset. Most of my students do come from cultures of generational poverty, so I started having my students write a "goal for the day" in their planners and the beginning of the day and then reflect on it at the end of the day. Unfortunately, with all the curricular demands that eventually got pushed to the side. I would like to try goal setting again this coming school year, perhaps on a weekly or 9-week basis.
I feel very strongly about “Teacher groups students flexibly.” I plan on using a variety of flexible grouping strategies with my students next year. Students learn so much from one another, but there are times that you put different students together for different purposes. I also plan on meeting with students to discuss their goals.
ReplyDeleteIn response to CynthiaMer and Miss Roth's discussion about Goal Setting. I plan on doing this periodically next year. I feel like it will also boost their self esteem to see their goals accomplished. At one point this past school year I asked students to tell me what their strengths and weaknesses were as learners. This proved to be very difficult for some students. Some couldn't say a positive thing about themselves.
ReplyDeleteI think page 9 Using Differentiation as a Proactive instead of a Reactive approach is difficult for teachers. It gives more value to a pre-assessment and creates more work on the front end of units, but I would venture to guess that the hard work in the beginning would pay off in not having to re-teach as much in the end.
ReplyDeleteI liked the comments by MissRoth, CynthiaMer and CarrieKohl about goal setting.
In response to Brandy B. (June 7th, 11:33 AM)- when students set their own goals, they own them. It is so much more powerful and pushes them to accomplish the goal.
ReplyDeleteIn attempt to be late... here it goes!
ReplyDelete@ Cathy - Assessment drives instruction so it is critical that the teacher is constantly assessing students.
I agree totally!
However, sometimes my assessments are based on conversations while other assessments are productions - not necessarily a benchmark. While many of my colleagues think that my class scores higher than others because they are GT, they are mistaking. Many of my GT kids don't care for the assessments and just want to "be done" so that they can go about what they were working on prior. In fact, 9 out of 10 times, they know they answer. They just weren't concentrating on the questions.
What I like to do is see where they child is... prior assessment (mainly less formal and through a quick conversation). Then, I like to give to them ways in which they can select how they will learn. For instance, I might have them research it on the internet. I might have them interview someone (this is going to explode with the new capabilities of having the Dell Mini's and iTouch w/ SKYPE and Face to Face). This can also be someone who is in another grade - maybe a learning buddy. Kids can also have conversations with others using the "TodaysMeet.Com". This helped my class ask experts certain questions that they had - and then we shared the link out with others and some of them were answered.
So in the end, their final product (whatever was their choice from their "menu") is the assessment!
To me, I find that this makes learning more meaningful to the student. It gives them more choices to make and yet holds them accountable for the information.
In looking at the “hallmarks” the hallmark that I believe I am strongest in is on page 7, “The Teacher involves her students in understanding the nature of the classroom and in making it work for everyone.” I strongly believe that the children should be running my classroom because it is their classroom as well as mine. I work hard in making sure that the students are contributing significantly to the classroom efficiency and to a sense of community.
ReplyDeleteThe one that I would like to work on the next year is on page 6, “There is strong link between assessment and instruction.” What I plan to do next year is to formally identify in my plans how I am going to pre-assess my students. Often times, I introduce the unit and I evaluate the children’s understanding based on simple question and answering. I am now going to set up some formal plans in the lesson plans identifying how I am going to assess. I also am going to use a web form that I discovered on a teacher site to identify the children’s learning style and keep records of the pre-assessment. I don’t keep the best of records in this area and I think it’s a weakness in my overall data on each of my children. I especially like what the author’s share about “providing more than one way for students to show what they know, understand and can do.”
In response to CarrieKohl, I like the idea of children setting their own goals. I'm not sure what that looks like in second grade. However, recently I was reading a teacher's blog and she said that she has her students come in every year and she records them with a flip video discussing what their goals are for the year. She has specific questions that she asks. Then at the end of the year, she records them again asking if they accomplished them. I thought it was a cool idea and as part of the pre-assessment and having the children own the curriculum a great way to have them invest in their learning.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Katie, her statement from page 9 about a teacher's differentiation being more pro-active rather than reactive is so true. Again, something I have to keep in mind is that I must strategically plan more up front and improvise less, as Katie said.
ReplyDelete