BOY WP  DRA2 Letter ID PLAN

PSA QSI  EXPLORE EMS 

directs ?  

by Martha Doennig, SPS Professional Learning Specialist

Puzzled by the meaning of the title?  Curious what these acronyms lead to?   Explore with me.  To date, teachers around Springfield have been collecting data on students using one of the above acronyms and discovering a range of student need.   Now that the data is collected, the expectation is to use the information to support instruction to achieve student growth in a variety of curricular areas.   This expectation can quite possibly be one of the most overwhelming responsibilities of a teacher.   So what strategies can be used to meet the spectrum of needs while effectively moving learning forward for each learner?

?=Differentiated Instruction

"Differentiated instruction is a way of thinking about teaching and learning.  It is also a collection of strategies that help you better address and manage the variety of learning needs in your classroom (Heacox, 2002)."

 

Knowing Differentiated Instruction (DI) is not a new concept to your role in the classroom, please take a moment to refresh your thinking on how you can best implement differentiation using the data that you have collected from a variety of beginning-of-the-year assessments.    

 

To begin with, there are six elements of differentiation that should be considered when developing lessons that will maximize student engagement and growth.  These six can be divided into the following:

 

Teachers can differentiate in three areas:

Content:  “what” students are expected to learn

Process:  “how” students are expected to learn the content

Product:  the end result of the “what is learned” and “how it is learned”

Teachers can differentiate according to students’:

Readiness: the level of preparedness of a student when working with knowledge,

understanding, or skill

Interest: areas of passion for students that can be utilized to push learning beyond

the prescribed curriculum

Learning Profiles: a student’s preferred mode of learning

How you manipulate the elements above is at your discretion based upon the data you have gathered on your students.   Ideally, you will move some part of your instructional class time toward smaller group instruction based on a single or combination of the above elements. 

Regardless of the arrangement of small groups in your classroom, keep in mind that differentiation should be very flexible.  By providing fluid, flexible groups, you are keeping the students’ interests, knowledge, and performance in mind.   In Differentiated Instructional Strategies: One Size Doesn't Fit All, Gayle Gregory and Carolyn Chapman share an effective tool to check grouping in the classroom, TAPS.  TAPS considers the balance necessary in group configuration to afford students the opportunity to be thinkers in a variety of settings.   The acronym TAPS stands for the following:

T	Total Group	There may be information or new skills that need to be shared or demonstrated to the whole class.
A	Alone	Sometimes students need to practice by working alone.   In life, we often work and think independently of others.
P	Partners	Partnering gives students a narrow audience with whom to share ideas, discuss new information, or process learning.   These partnerships may be random or teacher-constructed.
S	Small Groups	There are many ways to construct small groups; keeping in mind that any group larger than three or four has the potential for off-task behavior or lack of commitment to the goal.

When thinking about your classroom, TAPS is a great reminder of the need for balance.   By providing learners the opportunity to engage in many group configurations within any given day, you are naturally decreasing the attention drawn to the grouping.   This is important so students do not identify themselves or their peers with any particular group.   Depending on the activity and the purpose of the activity, you can group students homogeneously, heterogeneously, randomly, or based on student choice.   Regardless of the grouping method, keep in mind that your decisions for groups should be intentional and flexible.   

I challenge you to take the beginning of year data you have collected on your students and start small.  Don’t attempt a sweeping reform in your classroom if this is all new to you.   Begin with one subject or one project; differentiate the activities.   For those of you already working through a differentiated lens, I challenge you to take your practices to the next level.   Think of new content that would benefit from being differentiated.   In the end, remember that there is no single method to execute DI; Differentiated Instruction is more of a guiding principal that supports you as you adapt or modify curriculum and instruction for the variety of learners in your classroom.   You have the power to meet the needs of all your students as you integrate Differentiated Instruction into your instruction.

The Reality of the Innovation Configuration
by Curtis Cunningham, SPS Professional Learning Specialist

I was looking at the Resulting Student Behaviors section of the Innovation Configuration for 21^st Century Capabilities.  This is located in the resources tab of the SPS Learning Model binder.  Listed in the Ideal column is “students display respectful behaviors toward one another which create a safe climate for intellectual risk taking and collaboration.”  This might be a tall order considering that we are heading into the holiday season.  How do we gently nudge our students toward this worthwhile goal?  I turned a few pages back and looked at the reflective guide, specifically the prompts under the question “Do I behave in ways that support effective communication and collaboration?”  The statements below are taken directly from the 3^rd – 5^th reflective guide:

·         I pause and listen to help myself understand.
·         I ask questions to help myself understand.
·         I respect and appreciate others’ opinions.
·         I take responsibility for my words and actions.
·         I am kind and have a good attitude.
·         I follow group norms.

What impact might these statements have on how I manage student behavior?  If students are not functioning well in my classroom, perhaps the reflective guide will provide some talking points.  Could this reflective guide become an integral part of my classroom management system?

In the book Discipline with Dignity, Richard Corwin et al., suggest that teachers need to use a variety of ways to communicate with students and that we should allow students to be responsible for themselves (Corwin et al., 2008, pg 23-24).  It might be that a teachers use of the reflective guide might provide insights into what they are modeling in the classroom and the students’ use of the reflective guide might allow students to take ownership of their own behavior.

It is typical during the holiday season to feel a little pressed for time.  If students seem to have difficulty with self-regulating, perhaps a few minutes to reflect might help them to identify goals which will help to improve their behavior.  We encourage you to consider how the reflective guide might support you as you continue to build strong relationships in your classroom and encourage your students to become effective communicators and collaborators.

Source:  Curwin, R.L., Mendler, A.N. & Mendler, B.D. (2008). Discipline with Dignity (3rd ed.).   Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.