TeachMeetSEN In partnership with Leicester City Council TeachMeet SEN took place on 28 January 2012 with over 60 people attending in person from all over the UK. It will live on through a micro-site which will contain the resources shared on the day, including the best videos of the presentations and selected tweets, photos and blog posts. The site is in production, and will be linked here once ready, but if you can't wait, you can see photos on the flickr and read blog posts by Josie Fraser and Jo Badge for quick summaries of the day. What is TeachMeetSEN? TeachMeet SEN will focus on engaging, amazing and effective examples of practice from parents and carers, school leaders, teachers and learning support staff working with children and young people with Special Educational Needs (SEN). What is a TeachMeet? TeachMeets are informal, free meetings, providing space and structure for people supporting education to share practice, innovation, insight and approaches. Venue, date and time Accommodation Social!
10 Ways 3D Printing Can Be Used In Education [Infographic] How 3D Printing Works 3D printing sounds like something from science fiction, but the process is similar to that of CNC machining, where billets are cut into specific shapes and products. But rather than cutting, it prints. A 3D printer works by “printing” objects–but instead of using ink, it uses more substantive materials–plastics, metal, rubber, and the like. It scans an object–or takes an existing scan of an object–and slices it into layers it can then convert into a physical object. The result is a product that while not as intricate, durable, or functional as the real-world equivalent, is otherwise a real thing that didn’t exist 30 seconds before you printed it. In fact, what it is you’re actually producing depends on what is being printed: if it’s toy jewelry, rubber balls, and plastic chess pieces your after, you’re printing not an analogue of the real thing, but the real thing itself. Crazy. 11 Ways 3D Printing Can Be Used In Education 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Using Bibliotherapy with Gifted Children - Unwrapping the Gifted Hopefully we’ve all had that experience of reading a book that powerfully “spoke” to us, a book whose characters we could relate to, and whose struggles and triumphs we identified with. Taking this experience a step farther is the strategy of bibliotherapy, the process of helping the reader learn about and cope with any social or emotional struggles or developmental needs by identifying with a character in a book who shares a similar struggle or need. The reading is typically followed up by discussion with a trusted adult. Bibliotherapy of course can be done with all students, particularly students who might be experiencing a divorce in the family, a learning disability, adoption, etc. Today I want to talk a bit about using developmental bibliotherapy specifically with gifted students. A fair amount has been written already (see links at the bottom of this post) about what bibliotherapy is and why it's important to do with gifted students. * Who in the book do you identify with and why?
Differentiation - tools, tips and resources Differentiation is an important aspect of education. Students learn differently, have different needs, different backgrounds, different skills, different ability levels, different interests and more. As educators, we try to create engaging lesson activities that provide a variety of learning experiences and allow students to demonstrate their learning in different ways. Differentiation should occur in both how students learn and gain knowledge and skills, and in how they demonstrate and are assessed on what they have learned. “In the practice of education, differentiation is defined as working to address the abilities, interests, and needs (both perceived and real) of individuals. Here are some resources, tips, and tools on differentiation: Digital Differentiation - ideas and tools for differentiating with digital resources Tools for Differentiation - helping teachers meet the needs of all learners Differentiating with Web 2.0 Technologies
Special Education Apps for iPad Add In my classroom , I was blessed to have students from amazingly diverse backgrounds and with an array of skills and strengths. I worked relentlessly to build in supports and foster an inclusive community for all of my students. Continuing with our Education Apps for iPad series, here are some apps grouped by category that students, parents, and teachers can leverage to support all learners! Communication Proloquo2Go . Grace . iConverse . iConverse is a simpler and cheaper AAC device that focuses on basic needs. TapToTalk . iCommunicate . Behavior First Then Visual Schedule . AutismXpress . CBTReferee . Earn It Stars . Skills Everyday Skills . iDress for Weather . Dance Party Zoo . iWriteWords . Thanks to www.b12patch.com , specialchildren.about.com , and the Apple App Store for helping me explore some of these great apps! For more iPad app inspiration, take a look at our post on apps for early childhood education , elementary school , and overall . image courtesy of edvoices.com
Teacher Resources : Differentiating Instruction Differentiating Instruction ... One Size Doesn't Fit All Effective Strategies to Improve Student Performance ! We have students in our classrooms who struggle academically and others who learn at an advanced level and accelerated pace. Testimonials about the workshops -- Fran McAleer is a valuable contributor to our work, training to create a new and better workplace in our schools. More! Franny McAleer has been providing staff development for teachers in the Berwick Area School District for the last four years, including whole staff workshops with the Six Thinking Hats as well as focused workshops detailing best practices with instructional strategies for gifted and honors students. AWESOME! Franny did a tremendous job of inspiring and engaging participants in a one-day training session on differentiation. The presenter knew her topic and was open to all questions. Franny McAleer is a dynamic presenter. "This workshop got nothing but rave reviews." Teacher and parent links are blue.
Differentiator - free web app to help teachers differentiate using Blooms Taxonomy The Differentiator is a simple web app that helps you create objectives based on Bloom's Taxonomy. You simple click on the thinking skill, content, resources, product, or group tabs and then select what you want the student to do by clicking on the sub categories. For example, on the Thinking Skill tab, you can chose Remembering, Understanding, Applying, Analyzing, Evaluating, or Creating and then a sub-term. Product tab has visual, multi-media, oral, written, and construct tabs as what the student would create as a product to demonstrate their learning. I think this is a great tool to help teachers come up with different objectives and some different activities for students to do in class. Related: Differentiation Using 21st Century Schools Differentiation with Web 2.0 Technologies
Special Needs iphone/ itouch apps Learning Archives - TeachThought It’s Not About The Thinking by Terry Heick It’s not the thinking behind an idea that should bother us, but rather the effect of the idea. #edtech. Content-based academic standards. Read Post → 4 Strategies For Teaching With Bloom’s Taxonomy by TeachThought Staff Bloom’s Taxonomy can be a powerful tool to transform teaching and learning. Read Post → 50 Of The Best Podcasts For High School Students by Dennis Lee, StudyPug.com This post is the first part to a 3-part series entitled “250 things any high school student must learn”. Read Post → Want To See Their Best? Read Post → 7 Skills Students Will Always Need by Jennifer Rita Nichols Ed note: This post has been updated from a 2013 post. Read Post → 15 Common Mistakes Teachers Make Teaching With Technology by Terry Heick The role of technology in learning isn’t entirely clear–or rather, is subjective. Read Post → Read Post → Read Post → Read Post → Data-Driven Teaching? Read Post → Read Post → Read Post → Read Post → Read Post →
Differentiating the curriculum The Policy and implementation strategies for the education of gifted and talented students: Support package: Curriculum differentiation (2004) (pdf 1345kb) provides an introduction to curriculum differentiation for gifted and talented students and is suitable for all stages of schooling. It needs to be read in conjunction with the Policy and implementation strategies for the education of gifted and talented students (revised 2004) and its companion document (2004) (pdf 270kb). The purpose of differentiating the curriculum is to provide appropriate learning opportunities for gifted and talented students. Three important characteristics of gifted students that underscore the rationale for curriculum differentiation (Van Tassel–Baska, 1988) are the capacity to: learn at faster rates find, solve and act on problems more readily manipulate abstract ideas and make connections. The creation of a differentiated curriculum requires some pre-planning. Definitions Article (pdf 25kb) Acceleration Web page
The Best Resources On Differentiating Instruction My colleague Katie Hull-Sypnieski is leading a February 1st Education Week Webinar on differentiating instruction, and I would strongly encourage people to participate. Katie’s the best teacher I’ve ever seen…. In addition, Katie and I have co-authored a piece for Education Week Teacher on the topic that will be appearing there soon (it’s appeared: The Five By Five Approach To Differentiation Success), and an upcoming post in my blog there will be talking about it, too (that two part series has also appeared). I also did a second two-part series in Ed Week on differentiation. Also, check out The Best “Fair Isn’t Equal” Visualizations. Given all that, a “The Best…” post was inevitable, and here it is. Here are my choices for The Best Resources On Differentiating Instruction: The Best Places To Get The “Same” Text Written For Different “Levels” Busting Myths about Differentiated Instruction is by Rick Wormeli. Reconcilable Differences? Deciding to Teach Them All is by Carol Ann Tomlinson.