Katie+Dorr

Resources for differentiated instruction posting for week 6 Learning Community Assignment If you are interested in joining a public wiki dedicated to sharing resources for Differentiated Instruction, check out this link: http://tech4di.wikispaces.com/. People post strategies that have worked for them, as well as student contracts, forms, and lesson resources. At the bottom of this site, I discovered a Diigo link just for DI - []. This website is appropriate for all grade levels and it a good place to begin sifting through online resources. Susan Brooks Young, a technology leader in Washington State and throughout the nation, has established [|www.internet4classrooms.com] which includes a specific section on DI ([]). Here you will find lesson plans, instructional theory, links to teacher pages, and a variety of other resources. Applicable for all grade levels. If you are looking for an overview of DI to present to your colleagues or others in your district, this site might help you out. [] The materials were used as a talking point for a webinar hosted by Center for Implementing Technology in Education. Edutopia shares an example of technology integration and differentiated instruction in this online article: []. The reader is able to see DI and tech integration at work at an elementary school in South Carolina. Students are using interactive whiteboards, video cameras, PowerPoint presentations, blogs, and comic book formats for creative writing activities. I loved this quote which seemed to sum it up: "What's neat is that you don't see the disabilities. You see the abilities.” WestEd is a research, development, and service agency that works with education and other communities to promote excellence, achieve equity, and improve learning for children, youth, and adults. From its home site, there is a whole section on differentiating instruction through the use of technology: [] This is a comprehensive site where you can click on a topic such as digital text, audio, or visual and it will take you to a page that shares specific technology tools/strategies for supporting this learning need.  Teaching Community: Where Teachers Meet and Learn ([]) If you want a compilation of various resources that meet the different multiple intelligences, check out this site. For every identified intelligence there is a list of 10 – 15 recommended resources to use with each different learning style. The URLs aren’t hyperlinked, but you can copy and paste into address bar. The site has been updated this year (2012) and the links are current and appear to be appropriate for all grade levels.

UDL Presentation for staff 5/22/12 I created a video to share with my staff. I have been working on a variety of projects for the district and found many video clips and pictures that I have previously recorded to demonstrate examples of UDL in the classroom. I created my movie and uploaded it to You-Tube. You can access the video through this link @http://youtu.be/ZfBDFbBLMCY

Todd to Katie - Very nice video! I am impressed with the variety and quality of the video. I liked how you used videos, pictures, as well as quotes to give a well-rounded presentation. I especially liked the iPad application where the teacher could keep track of homework attendance, and behavior. Is that from your school, or did you pick that up from another website? Is that you at the 6-7 minute mark? Only our administrators have iPads, and they do not use them very well.

I would show this video in its entirety to show my school. If I HAD to change anything, it would be to lower or cut out the background music. I guess that is really picky - sorry. The examples you give throughout the presentation are excellent, within correct context, and provide a nice visual tool to help when there may be some ambiguity within the longer language portions. Thanks for sharing - I think it is a great presentation. Todd Deschaine

Learning Community Assignment

The student interest surveys were the most informal and provided the most personal information about a student. During my research I found two that I thought would be helpful for my middle school students. The first survey can be downloaded from this site: [] It asked questions relevant to a student’s academic experience and background. Students were asked to rate subjects according to interests and to specify a topic that they are particularly interested in – if you could learn anything what would you choose to learn about? The second student interest survey can be found at this site: [] This survey was more specific about family members, hobbies, favorite books, wishes, and predictions for the future. It was more about attitudes and social/emotional contexts for learning.

Learning styles surveys reflect a student’s preference regarding environmental elements, interactions, and personal needs. (Tomlinson, 2009) I found one survey that was more formal than a student interest survey, but could provide valuable insights into a student’s learning style. The name of the tool is the Paragon Learning Style Inventory that can be accessed online, but is copyright protected. The survey can be found at this site: [] It is fairly detailed and the learning categories are introvert/extrovert, sensate/intuitive, thinker/feeler, judger/perceiver. It asks users to identify how they would react in particular situations, how they interact in groups, teachers they prefer, work habits, and self-perceptions. Another survey format I plan to use is at this site: [] It has many of the same questions, but is not as formal in format as the one from Paragon. It has a list of questions that students either answer “yes” or “no”. The student profile is divided into Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic categories.

Robert Sternberg and Howard Gardner are the major proponents of intelligence preference theories of learning. They view a predisposition for a certain intelligence as more powerful than a particular learning style. They identify eight or nine intelligences: spatial, linguistic, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, logical-mathematical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalist and existential (Tomlinson, 2009). These intelligences help us make decisions, learn new concepts, and live life. A survey created by Walter McKenzie can be found at this location: [] The author cautions users that this is a snapshot in time, not a lifelong “category.” The survey asks people to place a “1” by each statement that is an accurate description. There are nine sections, each section relating to a specific intelligence. Scores are entered into a bar graph format so a visual profile is created.

What can a teacher do with all this information gained about individual student learning? One idea is to create an Instructional Learner Profile. I discovered this tool at //Dare to Differentiate// wikispace: I think this profile will be helpful because it asks for a student’s readiness in content knowledge skills, reading skills, and previous learning experiences. This information is critical when planning instruction for students even when learning styles, interests, and multiple intelligences have been identified. The rest of the form asks for student interests, and information from learning styles and intelligence preferences. It is a great format for having a culmination/summary of student information at one’s fingertips. I agree with Tomlinson when she shares that creating profiles “. . . helps teachers develop the habit of studying their students as individuals instead of looking at them as a unit or a ‘pack’” (Tomlinson, 2009).