March 2010 TSS Class Discussion

Using the Instructional Strategy Packet respond to the following:   What differentiation strategy did you implement and how did it impact student learning?   Be sure to also mention the strategy your protégé tried and how it worked. 

Comments

[Megan Paternostro]

My protege and I have both implemented tiered learning centers in our kindergarten classrooms. We've been working on tiering the Problem Solving Center during Guided Math every day, the Math Game Center, and the Math Think Aloud Center. So far the tiered centers have been a huge success. We've been observing in each other's classrooms and sharing lesson plans.

[Sheree]

I love the fact that you are observing each other and sharing lesson plans - wow!

[Tina Ratonyi]

The instructional strategy that I used was Yes/No cards. We are steadily preparing and practicing for the CRCT. As a differentiation strategy we used YES/NO Cards in conjuction with the Smartboard. On the Smartboard I showed LA questions and students had to determine if the questions were grammatically correct. With this activity I put students in small groups with their cards and also gave them only a certain amount of time to answer the questions. Students were allowed to brainstorm together to come up with their answer. The students really enjoyed this activity since they were able to interact and use manipulatives.

My protege worked on a math lesson with her students. She used a KWL chart before she began her instruciton. The students had previously learned the material but my protege wanted to see how much they retained. Her students worked in small groups to create their own KWL chart before she taught it as a whole lesson. My protege liked this type of instruction because she was able to see what students retained and what still needed to be taught. She thought that the students did a really nice job working together and that they enjoyed the interaction.

[Tina Ratonyi]

Megan,

That is wonderful that you have such an organized K-classroom. I don't know how you do it!

[Darcy Mcfarlane]

Tina, I'm in awe of your activity using the smartboards (not being a math teacher, I don't have one of those in any of the rooms I teach in and therefore I'm terrible at using them) and manipulative cards. Not only does this sound like a very fun activity but definitely something the kids will remember which will stick in their brains. . .I also like how they got to work in groups. Kudos! I'm also a fan of KWL's and think that was a great way for your protege to reinforce what she's already taught her students. Great job!--Darcy

[Darcy Mcfarlane]

In my SS class we completed a study guide which is such a boring task for 6th graders when it has 50 questions on it. To make it more interesting as we went over it the next day, students were allowed to "Note Share" for 5 minutes with a partner to ensure that any missing information from their study guides was completed. After we went over all of the answers, students were asked to pair with a new partner and do a "Tiny Teach" where they had one minute to share all they knew about a topic from the study guide (ie. Australia, New Zealand, Oceania, Antarctica, etc.). Students seemed to enjoy doing something different like these 2 activities and "showing off" what they knew about the topics. I think it gave them a sense of accomplishment when they could provide a peer with missing information and reflect on what they learned after all was said and done.

My protege is using a learning station activity in class right now that utilizes Venn Diagrams. She says the students are enjoying centers and the off task behavior has been significantly reduced by using a behavior monitoring chart I've given her called "thumbs up, thumbs down."--Darcy

[Tina Ratonyi]

Darcy,

What a wonderful idea note sharing and "tiny teach" especially for an assignment that would typically be boring. That is the hardest part for me finding creative ways to teach something that is not much for for the students. As for your protege I can tell you that my students always enjoy centers as opposed to independent work and I find that sometimes they retain more when working in centers.

[Genois Alexander]

Matt and I decided to introduce Learning Contracts to help differentiate instructions for our 6th graders. The students actually bought into the idea because they are allowed to pick and choose activities they feel are engaging.

[Genois Alexander]

Tina,
As we approach CRCT testing I think Matt and I will use the "yes/no," strategy to review content information.

[Genois Alexander]

Darcy,
Thanks for the SS tip. I never thought about note sharng. You are correct, this would help students appreciate learning our content since it is so abstract to some of our students.

[Megan Paternostro]

Darcy,
I love your idea of pairing the students with a new partner for the "tiny teach." The note sharing and tiny teach idea is something that I'm going to share with some of my friends who teach the upper grades at Due West. It sounds like fun!

[Megan Paternostro]

Tina,
I like your idea of using the yes/no cards with the Smart Board so much that I'm going to ask my student teacher to use that as one of her formative assessments next week in our kindergarten classroom. That's a strategy that can be implemented K-12.

[Darcy Mcfarlane]

Tina--thanks for the comment about my strategies. I did like the outome of both "note sharing" and "tiny teach" and will certainly use both in the future. And I do agree with your statement about centers being of interest to our students and a way for them to better retain the information they learn. Take care, Darcy

[Darcy Mcfarlane]

Megan, I'm always afraid to try tiered centers because of the time and effort that goes into pulling them together and the creativity (since I have none). Your suggestions make me want to put something together to interest the students and "knock the socks off" my co-workers. Thanks for sharing, Darcy

[Carmen Bandy]

Darcy,
I like the "Tiny Teach" idea. It is manageable for both teachers and students. I'm sure your students felt empowered and ready for the upcoming test. I'm sure it also helped them appreciate the knowledge their classmates can share. I plan to use this idea with my fourth and fifth graders. Carmen

[Carmen Bandy]

Megan,
Great idea to find one area to implement tiered activities. This helps your students get the instruction they need. Awesome idea to involve your protege' in the same activites. You have someone to share ideas with and you both can help to improve this strategy. You've taken mentoring to another level! :-) Way to go!

[Vonda Benham]

My protege has taken "flexible grouping" to the next level. Not only does she group her readers according to DRA levels, but she takes one day a week and groups them according to skills they need to work on. It gives the struggling readers a chance to see that the more advanced readers still need to practicce some of the same skills they are working on. It sends the message that these skills are necessary no matter what level you are reading on. Even the "World Series" batters still have practice on their "swing".
I've used Carousel Brainstorming when teaching the Class Keys during our PLC sessions. Thanks, Sheree and Annette for the great modeling you've done :) Our teachers loved it. Being Elementary Teachers, they aren't use to sitting for two hours. They need to get up and be involved just like our kids.
Vonda Benham

[Vonda Benham]

Tina,
I like your idea of using the "yes,no" cards on the Smart Board. We have ActiveBoards and I've seen teachers using "Active Vote" very effectively. It gives them a great instant formative assessment. I think our school is expanding with something similar to Active Vote. It actually allows the students to "text" and further expand their answers.
Vonda Benham

[Vonda Benham]

Genois,
I can imagine how much those 6th graders latched onto the Learning Contracts. I'm sure it helped them to "Buy In" to the assignment. I can really see this working at the Middle School level.
Vonda Benham

[Judi Seldon]

"Say Something is a differentiated instructional strategy that I used.
I distributed a CRCT passage to my students entitled, "A Visit to the Dentist", that included lots of difficult vocabulary and it was a lot longer than they have been used to.
After 10 minutes, they stopped and "said something" to a partner about the passage. Then they followed that with a journal entry.
"Say Something" allows the student to use a multi-sensory approach with reading, speaking and writing.
My protoge activated prior knowledge with her 1st grade class using a K W L chart. She wanted to see what her students knew about measurement. The K-column listed the names of students and items they measured in one colored marker.
Then she proceeded with the lesson and the additional columns were filled with different marker colors during the next few days. The students were engaged and a fun time was had by all.

[Judi Seldon]

Vonda,
I really liked the strategy that your protege used to differentiate her reading groups. It's also an excellent way to "hone-in" on a different way to build skills. I think that I shall implement that idea in my classroom as well.

[Judi Seldon]

Megan,

Implementing tiered learning centers into your classroom sounded like loads of fun. I'm sure the students were motivated to use them. I think I'll recommend this wonderful idea to my protege, for her first grade class as well!

[Carmen Bandy]

I worked with a 5th grade class and we reviewed math CRCT questions while playing a ppt of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" The class was divided into four mixed ability groups, each with a white board paddle to show their answers. The entire class was working to reach 1 million, so if a team missed an answer, we were still in the game. We took turns and each group had a chance to share ideas before giving an answer. After the correct answer was revealed, the groups talked about why the answer was correct and why the other answers may have been chosen. This activity was able to reach visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners.

My protégé' has her 4th grade class work in math centers. She feels that self-assessment is a key part of the success of her centers. Students are able to check their thinking and revise and edit their responses. She is able to meet with small groups in guided math to assess their progress and model/practice the next center/performance task.

[Dominique Terens]

I recently conducted a department training and included the Two Column Notes strategy. It did not work very well, but I think I did not plan the best time to include it. I had a large notepad at the front to record ideas the teachers brainstormed into two different categories. I also asked them to record the responses in their two-column note sheets. I felt it slowed the brainstorming process down because they either 1) wrote their own notes and stopped volunteering ideas or 2) volunteered ideas and wrote nothing down. I would try this strategy again as a partner activity or a reflection activity, but not in a brainstorming session.

My mentee implemented flexible grouping with tiered review activities. Versus the traditional whole group review session they typically do, she felt student engagement increased. However, she felt that one or two groups did not get the amount of attention they needed to further prepare for the summative assessment the following day.

[Dominique Terens]

Carmen,
I think it is great that you used the idea of games/novelty to increase student interest in addition to using flexible grouping.