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Showing posts from February, 2012

Instructional Practices with Huge Impact

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So, you've done some formative assessment , and the results show you that the route you had planned to take with your instruction actually needs to adapt to where the students are at. Lesson planning and formative assessment remind me of planning a day trip. When I prepare for a trip, I like to have a plan or a route for where I'll go, where I'll park once I'm there, and what I'll do. Sometimes I need to make adjustments along the way, such as taking an alternative route when the street has construction work or is too congested. Other times, when I get there, the parking lot might be full, or I might find a more cost effective lot to park in. Lesson plans and formative assessment are similar because I start with a plan, but once I'm there, I realize that adjusting my plan to fit the circumstances and student needs are in our best interests. The formative assessments provide me with feedback on which route to take, what speed to progress at, and what pit st

Formative Assessment and Differentiation

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Formative assessment informs educators about student learning, and when done correctly, it also informs the students how to improve and move forward with their next goal. Teachers must know how to use that information to shape their instruction. We use formative assessments to drive instructional decisions such as changing the approach or changing the target content. Created with Doodle Buddy , prompted by Stem Resources visual Differentiating assessment and instruction I spent February 10th with the awesome staff at Apache Junction High School facilitating staff development . While talking about differentiating assessment and instruction , we addressed the importance of adjusting our teaching style to their learning style . For example, I'm an exceptionally visual person, and like to synthesize and put concepts together in pictures such as the one above. In school, I enjoyed geometry and calculus, but struggled in Algebra II. In fact, I took calculus as my fun electi

Managing the 21st century differentiated classroom

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One size does not fit all. Classrooms must be differentiated. Created on iPad using Doodle Buddy What does a 21st century, differentiated classroom look like? A 21st century , differentiated classroom should look and sound different from the classroom of my childhood. It also looks different from one classroom to the next, because there are numerous ways to differentiate. AJHS Differentiated Instruction: Module I on Prezi What procedures and routines help maximize learning? The foundational pieces for managing the 21st century, differentiated classroom are: Increase active student engagement Establish a positive classroom climate Establish task expectations Increase student engagement through individual accountability The presentation was created in preparation for professional development for our high school, which will go to a 1:1 learning environment in 9th grade next year. What procedures, routines, and norms help stru