Differentiation Central

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Use Formative Assessment to Differentiate Instruction Overview Personalized Instruction and Regular Use of Assessment Forest Lake Elementary School (FLES) uses technology to differentiate student learning by initially assessing students with a program called MAP on English and math skills. They use Palm Pilots to frequently measure progress in reading fluency. Teachers use immediate response clickers to measure individual student progress in real-time. FLES has classrooms that hum with energy as the young students independently tap out blog posts, operate interactive whiteboards, and take part in other tech-enabled lessons at various learning stations in each classroom.

2018 Award Nominees Menu 2018 Award Nominees Nominees: Best in Children’s Books SMART IEPs (Step 4): Write Measurable (Not Abstract) Goals A SMART IEP is an individualized education program that is: specific, measurable, filled with action words, realistic and relevant, and time-limited. Attitude statements are non-goals A parent wondered if "commitment to academic success" was an appropriate goal. IEPs often include attitude statements, i.e., "have a good attitude," "display a cooperative spirit," or "develop healthy peer relationships."

Chrome Extensions for Struggling Students and Special Needs Technology can be a powerful tool to assist students with special needs or any sort of learning challenge. In particular the Chrome web browser allows users to install a wide variety of web extensions that provide tools that can help all learners, regardless of ability level. In this blog post we will take a look at over 30 Chrome web extensions that can assist students in five main categories:Text to SpeechReadabilityReading ComprehensionFocusNavigation Some of the tools fit into more than one topic, but each is only listed once. Certainly this list does not cover all of the useful web extensions available for struggling learners, but it is a great place to begin. In addition to the list of extension, I have also linked in the video from a webinar I did a while back on "Google Tools for Special Needs".

Authentic Assessment Toolbox Home Page to the Authentic Assessment Toolbox, a how-to text on creating authentic tasks, rubrics, and standards for measuring and improving student learning. Inside, you will find chapters on A good place to start -- In this chapter I identify the characteristics, strengths and limitations of authentic assessment; compare and contrast it with traditional (test-based) assessment. Why has authentic assessment become more popular in recent years? When can it best serve assessment needs?

After Summer, Teachers Spend a Month Reteaching Students Two-thirds of teachers polled in a recent survey said they spend at least a month reteaching students old material when they return from summer vacation. The survey, administered by the National Summer Learning Association, asked 500 teachers how much time they typically spend teaching students skills they should have learned and retained from the previous grade. Nearly a fourth (24 percent) said at least five to six weeks, while two-thirds claimed at least three to four.

Fair Isn’t Equal: Seven Classroom Tips If you ask students what are the most important qualities they like in teachers, one of the universally top-mentioned is fairness. Teachers and schools strive to be fair and build programs and polices based on this value. But what is fair? Many define it as treating everyone the same, but I would argue that doing so is the most unfair way to treat students. Students are not the same. They have different motivations for their choices, different needs, different causes for misbehavior and different goals. What I am thinking about – Part 1 – Leveling the Library Hello readers! The school year is winding down (or actually, it feels like it is busier than ever…so really we are winding up, but that’s school life for you) and I’ve started thinking a lot about next school year. Thinking about next school year means learning more about a reading “program” my teachers will be using and thinking about how to implement a Reading Plan that our state has mandated all schools develop. All of this learning and thinking has me feeling some anxiety and I feel like I need to get a few things off my chest!