An Updated Digital Differentiation Model Ten months ago I published a Digital Differentiation model on this blog. I've been using the model to guide the work I do each day and I've been sharing it via webinars and hands-on training sessions.Of course, ten months is a long time in the world of edtech, and I've added some new tools and resources to my personal teaching toolkit, so I decided it was time to update the model and tweak it just a bit. The original article and interactive graphic can still be found on this blog. Technology is a tool that can be used to help teachers facilitate learning experiences that address the diverse learning needs of all students and help them develop 21st Century Skills, an idea supported by the Common Core. At it's most basic level, digital tools can be used to help students find, understand and use information. 3 Components: Essential Questions Student-driven learning experiences should be driven by standards-based Essential Questions. Flexible Learning Paths Teacher as Facilitator
The Big List of Class Discussion Strategies Listen to this article as a podcast episode: Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 38:22 — 53.1MB) Subscribe: iTunes | Android | When I worked with student teachers on developing effective lesson plans, one thing I always asked them to revise was the phrase “We will discuss.” We will discuss the video. We will discuss the story. We will discuss our results. Every time I saw it in a lesson plan, I would add a note: “What format will you use? The problem wasn’t them; in most of the classrooms where they’d sat as students, that’s exactly what a class discussion looked like. So here they are: 15 formats for structuring a class discussion to make it more engaging, more organized, more equitable, and more academically challenging. I’ve separated the strategies into three groups. Enjoy! Gallery Walk > a.k.a. Basic Structure: Stations or posters are set up around the classroom, on the walls or on tables. Philosophical Chairs > a.k.a. Pinwheel Discussion > Socratic Seminar > a.k.a. a.k.a.
Make Games with Construct Vilka elever planerar du för? ”Det finns en tendens bland både lärare och rektorer /…/ att dela in eleverna i ”svaga”, ”starka” och ”medel” efter vad de presterar i olika ämnen. Underförstått finns det en föreställning om vad en ”normal” elev förväntas klara av. ” (ur Skolinspektionens rapport Rätten till kunskap) Låt oss utgå ifrån att det finns olika prestationsgrupper i våra klasser. Alla lärare vet att de har elever som har olika lätt för att nå målen och vilka dessa elever är, men varför planerar vi inte undervisningen utifrån den kunskapen? ”24 av 40 skolor i kvalitetsgranskningen anpassar inte eller bara delvis undervisningen efter elevernas behov och förutsättningar. De som lätt når målen får kanske extrauppgifter, får genomföra uppgifterna med mer utmanande frågeställningar eller får arbeta med komplexare underlag, men alltför ofta är det just anpassningar som görs utifrån normen, det vill säga den planering som gäller för mittgruppen. Att diskutera
What We Can All Learn from a Montessori Classroom As we scramble for ways to improve our schools, to meet every student’s needs, to push back against a test-score driven educational culture, many of us wonder what the right path might look like. Is it possible that path has been under our noses for more than 100 years? Until five years ago, I had no idea what Montessori was. When I heard people use the word, I assumed it was some early-childhood thing, some kind of school that was maybe a little esoteric and maybe a little privileged. Then, when my oldest child reached preschool age, and then the next kid and the next, I sent them to a Montessori preschool. For some parents, it wasn’t that simple. Several years ago, a tiny educational revolution started in Bowling Green, Kentucky. First, they held several meetings to see if enough families would be interested in the school. The only problem was, no one in town was certified to teach with the Montessori method at the elementary level. I think we could. The school day begins at 7:30 a.m.
BFL + Genreundervisning = Sant Med tanke på de uppskattade inlägg om bedömning för lärande och andraspråksutveckling och kamratbedömning som Robert Walldén tidigare har publicerat på Skollyftet bad vi honom skriva ett inlägg om den rapport han nu skrivit klart. Robert Walldén har skrivit en rapport inom masterprogrammet i pedagogiskt arbete som heter Genrepedagogikens vad, hur och varför i undervisningen av vuxna andraspråkselever och i detta inlägg delar han med sig av sina nyvunna kunskaper och erfarenheter. Kan man ägna för mycket tid åt att analysera sin egen undervisning? Jag upplever att jag åtminstone har tangerat gränsen för vad som är fruktbart under denna termin, då jag återigen har arbetat halvtid samtidigt som jag läser kurser i pedagogiskt arbete och svenska som andraspråk. Inledningsvis vill jag gärna göra de kopplingar mellan genrepedagogik och bedömning för lärande som av utrymmesskäl inte gjordes i rapporten. Genrepedagogiken som gemensam referensram Genrepedagogik och kamratbedömning /Robert Walldén
5 gaming dynamics that truly engage students “How do we get kids to walk out of our classrooms and continue to think about what they’ve done in class?” he asked. Games give students an “endless list of things they have to complete–but the difference [compared to homework] is that they’re making the list,” Kiang said. The top five most addictive games, Kiang said, are: 5. Leave of Legends, because of its large social element 4. There’s a great amount of power in the open-endedness of Minecraft as a learning environment, Kiang said. “When you know who your kids are, it makes a huge difference in how you see them–you can’t expect kids to fit in one mold,” he said. Kiang described the five gaming dynamics that engage students and make it easier for educators to integrate gaming into their instruction: 1. 2. When students save their progress in a game just before trying to solve a big challenge, they know their progress won’t be lost, and they’re more apt to explore. 3. “When you see those things, you’re free to explore,” Kiang said. 4.
Lektioner med stationer och gemensam lärarledd läsning Skönlitteraturen och samhället Som jag har skrivit om i tidigare inlägg så läser en av mina klasser i årskurs två på samhällsprogrammet just nu Thérèse Raquin eller Den unge Werthers lidanden. Nu har vi kommit ganska långt i romanerna och som avslutande uppgifter ska eleverna längre fram dels delta i ett boksamtal, dels hålla ett försvarstal (”En författares försvar”) där de ikläder sig rollen av författaren och skriver och framför ett tal där de försvarar sitt verk och sitt syfte inför en kritisk samtida publik. ”relationen mellan skönlitteratur och samhällsutveckling, dvs. hur skönlitteraturen har formats av förhållanden och idéströmningar i samhället och hur den har påverkat samhällsutvecklingen.” … och detta tycker jag att jag kom åt under dagens lektion när vi gemensamt närläste inledningen/företalet i romanerna i mindre grupper. diskutera ”stil, innehåll och bärande tankar” samt ”samband mellan skönlitteratur och idéströmningar i samhället”. Lektioner med stationer skapar variation
9 Tips for Engaging Your English Class with Pop Culture This guest post has been contributed by Jay Meadows. I’ve been teaching English for many years, across multiple grade levels, from middle school to high school to college. I’ve read (and have written) heaps of education books and research articles. What is the most essential ingredient to a rockstar lesson? It’s student engagement. We sometimes dress it up with the bells and bows of PBL, or strip it down to its bare components: authenticity, motivation, relatability. And for what? To better engage our students. In recent years, I’ve had the greatest success in achieving these things—and in evoking that sensation of having time-traveled—when I’ve gone out of my way to make deliberate connections between my students’ most popular interests and the “stuff” of my class. What follows is a list of practical strategies that promise to heighten engagement without sacrificing rigor when integrating popular culture into your English classroom. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
20 Questions To Guide Inquiry-Based Learning 20 Questions To Guide Inquiry-Based Learning Recently we took at look at the phases of inquiry-based learning through a framework, and even apps that were conducive to inquiry-based learning on the iPad. During our research for the phases framework, we stumbled across the following breakdown of the inquiry process for learning on 21stcenturyhsie.weebly.com (who offer the references that appear below the graphic). What do I want to know about this topic? These stages have some overlap with self-directed learning. References Cross, M. (1996). Kuhlthau, C., Maniotes, L., & Caspari, A. (2007).
Four Tools to Merge the Digital and Physical in Your Maker Classroom It’s a new world: the digital and tangible are merging, and educators need to help students navigate the changing terrain. The solution? Let them be Makers. I’ve been involved in digital learning and education technology for more than 30 years, and the burgeoning attempt to merge the digital and physical worlds has been one of the most interesting aspects of the evolution of EdTech to date. Managing that change in a Making context that encompasses digital tools, hands-on construction, creation and interaction allows students to learn and create new knowledge experientially. It’s no longer enough—if it ever was—for teachers to lecture to a row of desks; today’s teacher must be more of a coach. See, Understand, Make There are several evolving spaces in which we are seeing the blending of the digital and physical successfully fostering critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity. 2. 3. 4. Today’s Makers Solve Tomorrow's Problems We can tackle these obstacles.