Making It Work For Everyone

No two people are alike.  Just as no two students are alike.  We each have our own ways about ourselves, how we act, think, learn, respond and so many more endless things that make us different from one another.

This makes life more interesting, but for teachers it also makes things more challenging.  Trying to fill the needs of every student so that they reach the standards and goals set for them can seem impossible.  But as Tom Cruise keeps showing us year after year, movie after movie - nothing is impossible!

Not with differentiation.

Differentiating allows educators to teach a lesson in such a way that the teacher and the course are able to meet the varying needs of every student.  By taking into account certain factors (profiles, readiness, interest) teachers can feel more confident that no one is left out of the learning process.

Taking a look at differentiation:

How teachers use it in their classrooms/lessons:

Knowing what we have to teach isn't even half the battle - the real battle is the children.  And to beat your enemy you must know them! (I don't think children are the enemy - just rolling with the word play)  So, to properly differentiate lessons, educators have to first know and understand who they are teaching!  

Without getting to know our students (their learning profiles, interests or levels of readiness) we could be miseducating them, wasting time, and creating frustrations that could get buried deep within them and cause educational strife for them in the future. 

But by learning what they like, how they learn and their aptitude we can save everyone time and troubles and teach to them; not at them.  We can connect with them and help develop a deeper understanding and interest.  We can generate exciting and engagement that propels them not only further with their learning but also in life.  By connecting with them and learning how to meet them half way we are opening up doors and opportunities for them that will set them on a path for success for future endeavors.  

If we do not... then we are failing them as teachers, as role models 

and as adults.

There are plenty of ways to get to know your students and how best to serve their learning needs: 

• The simplest of ways is just to ask them.  "Hey Bill, what do you like to do?" and then take the information gained and apply it when teaching.
• Surveys, questionnaires, and tests can be given to help determine harder to identify features of a student's learning persona.  
• Setting controlled groups and learning stations and then monitoring how students fare in these situations can also help you determine what methods of instruction will work better for which students.  
• Set expectations and criteria for students to meet within a project or activity and see how students handle the work given to them.  Making adjustments as you go along based on students' response will help everyone learn and do well.
• Use varied methods of instruction to reach a larger body of learners.
• Choose - give students options for larger projects, so that they are better able to select an activity that highlights their skills and show off what they have learned.

You just have to keep them - your target audience - in mind as you plan and create your lessons.

I developed these differentiated strategies to better help me meet the needs of my "students" learning an Ohio 3rd grade Mathematics standard:

I choose these strategies because

1. I thought the were effective ways to teach the lesson/standard
2. I thought they aligned with the students learning profiles, interests and readiness
3. I thought they would be fun, engaging, and educational

I know those are quite simple and short answers, but all of the teachers I have talked to have told me to keep it simple, think of the kids, and make it fun for them.  So that is what I tried to do. 

Differentiation - making it work for everyone!

As a final reminder:

Differentiate your lessons.

The Final Product

Yup.... that's a pretty good depiction of how things can go in the classroom. 

You can't just teach them, you have to make sure they are learning.

And a good way to ensure that students are learning is to assess their knowledge as you go along.  

Formative assessments are designed to inform teachers of students' learning and to allow them to know when it is safe to move learning forward.

Have students master the skill being taught now?

Yes = next step

No = readdress and review

Assessments can be done in a variety of different ways...

As a teacher I will be responsible for developing effective assessments that will alert me to the progress of my students and then use that information to determine how to proceed or alter my methods, so that no students gets left behind and is unable to reach the standard.

Looking at part 3 of this Ohio 3rd grade Mathematics standard:

with the lesson objective being:

Students will be able to use division (for equal-sized group situations) to find the unknown number of groups or the unknown group size by using graphic organizers, arrays and/or word problems to correctly determine the solutions to problems.

The following formative assessments could be used to check students' knowledge.

Assessment 1 ~ graphic organizers:

1. Students are given a division word problem(s) and a graphic organizer.
2. They are asked to solve the problem(s) by drawing the solution(s).
3. The problem(s) is(are) then reviewed and checked in class, so that students are able to correctly see the process of solving the problem(s) and the process used to reach the correct result(s).

 Example:

      David  is going to a party.  He is bringing 18 cookies to share with everyone there.  If 6 total people are at the party, how many cookies will each person get?

This assessment will allow me to see if students understand (1) basic division, (2) if they are able to extract information from a word problem, and (3) if they can use an array to visually show how a problem can be solved.

Assessment 2 ~ arrays:

1. Stations will be set up around the classroom with counting cubes and containers at each station.
2. Students will be asked to determine how many cubes will go into each container.
3. Students will record their findings on a worksheet.
4. Students will have a time limit per station.
5. Once every student has been around to every station, a set amount of time will be allowed for students to revisit a station if needed.
6. The teacher will be walking around watching students work through the problems and be available to answer questions.

This assessment is similar to Assessment 1 ~ graphic organizers, but instead of asking students to draw the solutions to the problems, it allows students to physically manipulate a learning resource.  Plus it gets the students up, moving and engaged in their own learning.

Assessment 3 ~ word problems:

1. Students are asked to create their own word problem and provide the solution.

This assessment will show that students are not only able to extract information from a word problem to solve it, but that they are able to thinking through the process of (1) solving division problems and (2) identifying key elements that go into making a word problem work. 

These assessments will be helpful to determining whether or not a student is ready to move forward and what needs to be readdress before the summative assessment at the end of the unit. 

Standard Importance

Woah! 

This was a really big, significantly important unit in regards to the role and implications that the learned aspects

Unpacking a Standard

Backwards Mapping

SMART Objectives

will have on us as teachers.

Truthfully, I'm worried that I did not fully get these concepts completely or all that well enough to fully use them to my best advantage when I have my own classroom.  These are concepts that will never go away when teaching.  They will be fixtures throughout everything we plan and do with our students.  They are key practices that should be learned, drilled, repeated, and exhausted until they are known top to bottom, all ways around, over and under.  And I'm afraid I am not there yet with them.

But perhaps, part of that is just use and practice.  Perhaps I will have to grow as a teacher and in my abilities and skills to feel more comfortable with them as I come to have more exposure and practical, real-life use.

I hope.

Let's break them down again to make sure the gist is at least correct.

Unpacking a Standard -

• Each country, state/province, district and/or school will have established standards that are benchmarked and have to be met.
• Standardized Tests can/are used to assess whether or not a child has successfully learned the standards set forth by the above organizations.
• In order to turn a standard into lesson educators use the method of unpacking.
•  This ensures that all parts of the standard are being covered and met within the unit/lesson.
• Teachers must (1) determine what a student must learn and (2) assess how the student will be able to show that they have mastered the standard in question.
• Verbs and nouns play a key part in analyzing what is required of the student.
• Verbs = what students need to do (the skill... the how)
• Nouns = what the students should be learning (the what... the concept)
• Summary: Find the small pieces in the big puzzle.

Ohio grade 3 mathematics example -

- Standard:

- Nouns (the what... the concepts) = (1) time to the nearest minute, (2) time intervals in minutes, (3) word problems involving addition and subtraction of time intervals in minutes
- Verbs (the skill... the how) = (1) tell, write, (2) measure

Backwards Mapping -  

• Using the standards set forth by a governing body, backwards mappings allows educators to plan assessments and activities that ensure the student is learning learning/meeting the goal.
• Step 1: Teachers start at the end of a unit/lesson ~ what should be accomplished.
• Step 2: Devise a way to determine that students are meeting the goal ~ assessment.
• Step 3: Create learning experiences to help teach/students to learn ~ activities.
• Summary: Start at the end and work your way to the beginning so you don't get lose the focus.

Using the same standard from above, looking at just one part of the concept (being able to tell time) -

Step 1: Students have to be able to tell and write time to the nearest minute and measure time intervals in minutes.
Step 2: Students are able to correctly read digital and analog clocks telling time to the minute indicated.
Step 1: Students complete worksheets containing various type of clocks, all showing different times.  Student complete worksheets on which they must match digital clocks to an analog clocking showing the same time.  Students are given a toy clock and must set it to the time the teacher indicates.  

 SMART Objectives - 

• Allows educators to create specific detailed lesson objective to ensure that students are able to meet the standard goals.
• Objectives are written as statements.  
• They are done in a way that describes behavior terms, so that they clearly identify what a student will be able to do through the instruction and practice given in the unit/lesson.
• SMART objectives focus on student outcome - not teachers activity.
• Each objective is:
• Specific
• Measurable or observable
• Attainable for the audience
• Relevant and results oriented
• Targeted to the learner and their desired level of learning
• Summary: The finer points are in the details.

Again, continuing with the same standard from above (telling time) -

By the end of the unit, students will be able to correctly tell time (reading digital and analog clocks) to the nearest minute and measure time intervals in minutes. 

Students will be able to accurately solve word problems that involve addition and subtraction of time intervals in minutes through the representation of a number line diagram.

Through the use of these 3 concepts (Unpacking a Standard, Backwards Mapping, and SMART Objectives) I will be better equipped to create units/lessons for my students that ensure they are achieving the standards set forth for them by the state (Ohio) I will be teaching in this coming Fall.

Objectively SMART

SMART objectives allow teachers to design plans that are: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Targeted.

They are written for the student and tell what the student will do to be able to reach the standard.

Here's a look at 5 objects written for the indicated Ohio 3rd grade Mathematics standard.

H-T-A-M

My student teaching will take place in an Ohio 3rd grade elementary classroom.

I couldn't be happier, however; I am also slightly terrified at the idea of teaching any subject matter outside of Language Arts...

Social Studies

Science

Math

That's a lot of subjects.  

So I better get my practice and understanding of those areas started now in order to get a leg up.

I've chosen to take a closer look at mathematics for this reason/unit.

The Ohio Department of Education's website offers a full scope insight into the math standards for its school systems.

Here is the overview for 3rd grade math:

Within math (and in all subjects) I will need to ensure the my students are accomplishing state required goals and standards.  Through the process of backwards mapping I will be able to determine and design a plan of action that will ensure that the best laid plan has been created to aide my students in this endeavor.

Taking a closer look at an Ohio 3rd grade math standard - developing understanding of multiplication and division and strategies for multiplication and division within 100 - I can begin practicing how to design a unit plan using this approach.

Step one ~ look at the standards

Step two ~ determine assessments

Step three ~ plan activities

Standards:

Proficiencies:

1. Students will develop an understanding of the meanings of multiplication and division of whole numbers through activities and problems involving equal-sized groups, array, and area models; multiplication is finding an unknown product, and division is finding an unknown factor in these situations.  For equal-sized group situations, division can require finding the unknown number of groups or the unknown group size.
2. Students use properties of operations to calculate products of whole numbers, using increasingly sophisticated strategies based on these properties to solve multiplication and division problems involving single-digit factors. 
3. By comparing a variety of solution strategies, students learn the relationship between multiplication and division. 

Assessments:

1. Complete full sets of multiplication and division tables
2. Successfully reach the correct answer of word problems
3. Self-assessment through timed practice 

Activities:

1. Once students have developed their core understanding of numerical relations through additional and subtraction within 100, they can move on to developing a core understanding of multiplication and division using drill practices like table charts.

2. Teacher holds up a number and students must present a set of numbers that can be multiplied or divided to produce the number the teacher has indicated.

3. Having established a strong foundation of multiplication and division within 100, students could use that understanding to extract information from a word problem to find the desired total.

Through backwards mapping I would be able to use these elements to design, carry out, and assess the knowledge gained by each student to ensure that they were meeting the State's standards and goals.

Fears

The idea of being a full time, proper teacher, in a classroom of my own leaves me with a straight split of emotions.

Excitement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

and . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    nn   n

Terror

When I first started teaching in Korea, I was co-teaching - sharing the work, the instruction, and none of the classroom management (because my students spoke a different language than me).

After 3 years of co-teaching, it was time to grow and progress my teaching career forward.  I took a position at a charter school that required me to do 100% of everything.  This was definitely progress for the development of my teaching skills, but it was also stressful because my students primary language was still different than my own and I had little (to no) support behind me.

Now as I start a new step in the path of my teaching career I find that excitement and terror stand out in the forefront of the journey.

Excitement ~

I'm excited to have my own classroom, a group of students I will better be able to communicate with, a curriculum that has room for projects and crafts and creative avenues to expand learning and interest for children.

I'm excited to feel apart of a community.

I'm excited to feel like I am actually teaching and not just doing the steps that need done.

I'm excited to see my students discovering new things and to also discover new things along side with them.

I'm excited to be able to truly do what it is I am passionate about.

Fears ~

I am afraid I won't be creative in the creation of my lessons and assignments.

I am afraid I won't be able to create a stimulating classroom and that I will 'just do' what is needed and not push myself or my students forward. 

I am afraid I won't be a good teacher.

I am afraid I won't be patient.

I am afraid I won't be able to properly manage my students/classroom.

I am confident that I will ~

Be a loving and caring teacher.

Create relationships with my students that are special and meaningful.

Work my hardest to try to be better.