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Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997). Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life. New York: Basic Books.

Danielson, C. (1996). Enhancing Professional Practice: A Framework for Teaching. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. ED 403 245.

Sternberg, R. J., Torff, B., & Grigorenko, E. L. (1998). Teaching triarchically improves student achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90(3), 374-384. EJ 576 492.

Tomlinson, C. (1995). How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-ability Classrooms. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. ED 386 301.

Tomlinson, C. (1999). The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of all Learners. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. ED 429 944.

Vygotsky, L. (1986). Thought and Language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Winebrenner, S. (1992). Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit.

Winebrenner, S. (1996). Teaching kids with Learning Difficulties in the Regular Classroom. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit. ED 396 502.

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Differentiation means tailoring instruction to meet individual needs. Whether teachers differentiate content, process, products, or the learning environment, the use of ongoing assessment and flexible grouping makes this a successful approach to instruction.

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SEL is an integral part of education and human development. SEL is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions.

SEL advances educational equity and excellence through authentic school-family-community partnerships to establish learning environments and experiences that feature trusting and collaborative relationships, rigorous and meaningful curriculum and instruction, and ongoing evaluation. SEL can help address various forms of inequity and empower young people and adults to co-create thriving schools and contribute to safe, healthy, and just communities.

- Collaborative for Academic and Social Emotional Learning (CASEL), October 2020

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Our Goal is to equip districts and schools with information, resources and support in order to implement key Transformative Social Emotional Learning (SEL) topics to address the needs of adults and students.

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Over the past few decades, students, their experiences, upbringings, and backgrounds have changed. Classrooms now reflect families of varying races, cultures, and socioeconomic statuses. As a result, the way teachers educate these students must change, too, says Cherese Childers-McKee, assistant teaching professor in Northeastern University's College of Professional Studies. One of these shifting approaches to education is known as culturally responsive teaching.

Below, we explore the concept of culturally responsive teaching, compare it against traditional teaching models, and offer a number of strategies that you can use to incorporate the approach into your own methods.

Download Our Free Guide to Earning Your EdD

Learn how an EdD can give you the skills to enact organizational change in any industry.

What is culturally responsive teaching?

Culturally responsive teaching, also called culturally relevant teaching, is a pedagogy that recognizes the importance of including students' cultural references in all aspects of learning. Traditional teaching strategies emphasize the teacher-student dynamic: The teacher is the expert and adheres strictly to the curriculum that supports standardized tests while the student receives the knowledge. This teaching method is outdated, Childers-McKee says.

"Teachers have more diverse classrooms today. We don't have students sitting in front of us with the same background or experience, so instruction has to be different," she says. "It needs to build on individual and cultural experiences and their prior knowledge. It needs to be justice-oriented and reflect the social context we're in now. That's what we mean when we talk about culturally responsive teaching."

Culturally Responsive vs. Traditional Teaching Methods

Culturally responsive teaching can manifest in a number of ways. Using traditional teaching methods, educators may default to teaching literature by widely accepted classic authors: William Shakespeare, J.D. Salinger, and Charles Dickens, for example, adhering to widely accepted interpretations of the text.

Culturally responsive teaching, on the other hand, acknowledges that there's nothing wrong with traditional texts, Childers-McKee says, but strives to include literature from other cultures, parts of the world, and by diverse authors. It also focuses on finding a "hook and anchor" to help draw students into the content using their past experiences.

"This way, students can see themselves in some of what they're reading and not just the white, western world. The learning is more experimental, more hands-on," she says. "Instead, you're showing them a worldwide, multicultural community and looking for different interpretations while relating it to what it means for society today."

Why is culturally responsive teaching important?

Culturally responsive teaching is especially pertinent today because the traditional education path from school to college to a career and life in the suburbs isn't a reality-or desire-for everyone, Childers-McKee says. Educators' approaches to teaching need to reflect these differences.

"That typical, mainstream education is not addressing the realities of today's students. Culturally responsive teaching isn't just for those students who don't come from white, middle-class, English-speaking families-it's an important teaching strategy for everyone. When done the right way, it can be transformative."

When integrated into classroom instruction, culturally responsive strategies can have important benefits such as:

Strengthening students' sense of identity

Promoting equity and inclusivity in the classroom

Engaging students in the course material

Supporting critical thinking

Here's a look at five culturally responsive teaching strategies all educators can employ in their classrooms.

5 Culturally Responsive Teaching Strategies for Educators

1. Activate students' prior knowledge.

Students are not blank slates, Childers-McKee says; they enter the classroom with diverse experiences. Teachers should encourage students to draw on their prior knowledge in order to contribute to group discussions, which provides an anchor to learning. Taking a different approach to the literature that's taught in classrooms is one example of this.

2. Make learning contextual.

Tie lessons from the curriculum to the students' social communities to make it more contextual and relevant, Childers-McKee advises. "If you're reading a chapter in history class, for example, discuss why it matters today, in your school, or in your community," she says. "Take the concept you're learning about and create a project that enables them to draw parallels."

3. Encourage students to leverage their cultural capital.

Because not all students come from the same background, it's important to encourage those who don't to have a voice. Say, for example, you teach an English class that contains ESL students. It's important to find ways to activate the experiences they do have-their cultural capital, Childers-McKee says.

The teacher may choose a book for the class to read in which the ESL students could relate and feel like they could be the expert, for instance. As a teacher, Childers-Mckee's once chose a book that told the story of a child of migrant workers because some of her students came from an agricultural background.

"When you have a mixed classroom, you want those in the minority to feel like they are an expert. You want to draw from their experiences," she says. "I do caution that you don't want to cross a line and make 'Johnny' feel like he needs to speak for all Mexican people by putting them on the spot, for example. That's a line you need to walk."

4. Reconsider your classroom setup.

Take inventory of the books in your classroom library: Do they include authors of diverse races? Is the LGBTQ community represented? Do the books include urban families or only suburban families? Beyond your classroom library, consider the posters you display on your walls and your bulletin boards, too. "These are all small changes you can make to your classroom more culturally responsive," Childers-McKee says.

5. Build relationships.

Not all students want to learn from all teachers because the teachers may not make them feel like they're valued, Childers-McKee says. Teachers need to work to build relationships with their students to ensure they feel respected, valued, and seen for who they are. Building those relationships helps them build community within the classroom and with each other, which is extremely important, she says.

"When we think about culture and diversity, people often automatically think about black students, but people need to think broader than that, now," Childers-McKee says. "Some teachers whose students are all white and middle-class struggle with how culturally responsive teaching strategies apply to them. It's equally important for them to teach students about diversity. These aren't just teaching strategies for minorities, they're good teaching strategies for everyone."

Educating for the Future

Educators have the unique power to impact the lives of their learners. Making use of thoughtful, inclusive instruction can have positive effects on students that last far beyond their time in the classroom.

Employing culturally responsive teaching strategies is a small step toward enacting meaningful change in education. If you're interested in leading your organization toward positive change on a larger scale, earning an advanced degree is one way to gain the necessary knowledge and skills to do so.

Pursuing a degree, such as a Doctor of Education , will empower you to address the challenges currently facing education and improve the learning experience. Students of the program work with industry-aligned faculty on real-world organizational issues, allowing them to have an immediate impact on their professional environments.
To learn more about how an EdD can further your career while improving students' educational experiences, explore Northeastern's Doctor of Education program page, or download our free guide below.

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Culturally Responsive Teaching: 5 Strategies for Educators

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Culturally responsive teaching values students' cultural references in all aspects of learning. Here are five strategies to bring to the classroom.

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Culturally Responsive Teaching in Special Education

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Spread the loveElementary age students in special education classes and/or dyslexia intervention deserve access to the highest quality literary resources and culturally relevant classroom experiences. Young students with special needs must have the opportunity to experience multi-modal learning formats in positive, safe, and supportive environments.

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Hands-On Math Goes Digital In and Beyond the Classroom!

Explore Our Collection of FREE Virtual Manipulatives

From Number Lines to Base Ten, Pattern Blocks to Place Value, Disks our collection of free Virtual Manipulatives gives educators and families access to visual and hands-on digital resources that lead to understanding. Students can use these resources in class and at home to practice math concepts, reinforce their growing math understanding, technology they love in the process.

Free Resources & Instructions for Teachers and Families

We've developed these resources for easy access and easy use:

How-To Videos

There's a short video for each of the Virtual Manipulatives in our collection so teachers can use these digital materials easily and confidently with students.
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Activities

Activities from the Didax books that teachers use most for easy download. Engaging challenges address core math operations, concepts and skills, from early numeracy all the way to introductory geometry and algebra.
Access Now

FAQ

Download this document of FAQ's to answer your Virtual Manipulative questions.
Download Now

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Demonstrate key math concepts in your classroom using our new virtual manipulatives!

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Get the Latest Updates, Events & Resources from the Educating All Learners Aliance!

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Best Special Education Apps and Websites

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Apps and Websites for Special Education Programs | Common Sense Education

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Apps and Websites for Special Education Programs is a Top Picks list of 32 apps and websites curated by Common Sense Education edtech editors.

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Get ready for the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade as Rocco reads Melissa Sweet's book, Balloons Over Broadway, in this episode of Read Out Loud! Read more "

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AldoAcademic Supervisor of Humanities New Jersey

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Solutions for every subject, student, & school: Newsela 2021

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Learn about how every piece of content or text set from Newsela is vetted and reviewed to ensure alignment with your specific state or local standards.

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A Placemat of Core Apps Serving Learning for All

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SIP Resources to Support School Closure- Padlet

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SIP Resources to Support School Closure- Padlet

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Supporting Inclusive Practices (SIP) Project

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Resources to Support School Closures/Distance Learning

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Sketch ideas and lessons whiteboard-style on the incredibly responsive and accurate stunning 55-inch, 4k display. Drop images, add notes, and grab assets directly from the web, or pull in work from Docs, Sheets, and Slides - all while collaborating with students or classmates from anywhere.

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Google Jamboard: Collaborative Digital Whiteboard | Google Workspace for Education - Google for Education

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A collaborative, digital whiteboard makes it easy to create without boundaries and share ideas in real time. Jamboard moves the whiteboard to the cloud.

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Aligning and Designing Integrated and Designated English Language Development for Students with Disabilities

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Aligning and Designing Integrated and Designated English Language Development for Students with Disabilities

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Specialized Support for Students with Diverse Learning Needs Engaged inAt-Home Learning

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Specialized Support for Students with Diverse Learning Needs Engaged inAt-Home Learning

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Wellness Resources for Families and Educators /Recursos de Bienestar Para Familias y Educadores

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Bookshare | An Accessible Online Library for people with print disabilities

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Bookshare makes reading easier. People with dyslexia, blindness, cerebral palsy, and other reading barriers can customize their experience to suit their learning style and find virtually any book they need for school, work, or the joy of reading.

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Seesaw | Elementary Learning Experience Platform

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Elementary Learning Experience Platform | Seesaw

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Seesaw is a Learning Experience Platform with 25M+ users, enhancing elementary education, engagement, and school culture while improving academic success.

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Student/Parent Tutorials for Tech Platforms

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Student/Parent Tutorials for Tech Platforms

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Student/Parent Tutorials for Tech Platforms

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Voice Typing for Google Document and Slides

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Voice Typing for Google Document and Slides

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Voice Typing in Google Docs and Slides.mp4

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Chrome Extension that provides text to speech, text to pictures, dictation, speech to text, summarizies, etc...

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Boost reading and writing confidence across all types of content and devices, in class, at work, and at home.

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Special Education: Everything You Need to Know

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Special Education: Everything You Need to Know

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Special Education: Everything You Need to Know

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Differentiate with Learning Menus and Choice Boards

"...at its core, differentiated instruction means addressing ways in which students vary as learners." - Carol Ann Tomlinson

[Tweet "Interactive Learning Menus with @GoogleforEdu #edtech#gsuiteedu"]

What Are Learning Menus?

IT'S ALL ABOUT CHOICE! Learning menus (aka choice boards) are a form of differentiated learning that gives students a menu or choice of learning activities. Learning menus and choice boards can be created in a variety of styles and mediums. They've been around for a long time and originated in a static, paper format. But with digital tools, we can bring the menus to life with interactivity and creation. Menus can be a simple list, a tic-tac-toe or bingo-style game, or get as creative and intricate as you like. Check out my Pinterest board for ideas.

Learning Menus Can Be Used with Any Age Group

I have found that menus and choice boards tend to be more popular among elementary teachers, but I used them in my middle school classroom, and now I use them in professional learning workshops with adults. Any grade level can use learning menus!

Learning Menus Can Be Used in Any Subject Area

Since learning menus are so flexible, they can easily be created and adapted for just about any subject area. So no excuses! Any teacher who is willing to try can make use of this student-centered strategy.

[Tweet "Any teacher who is willing to try can make use of this student-centered strategy. #edtech"]

Are Learning Menus Hyperdocs the Same Thing?

No, but they could be part of a Hyperdoc assignment. I love Hyperdocs! But these two are not one in the same. Keep in mind the definition of learning menus stated above. It is simply a menu of choices from which students can choose. Student choice is the big idea behind learning menus and choice boards.

A Hyperdoc is a complete packaged assignment that also meets some additional criteria. A Hyperdoc doesn't have to include choice, but it could. To learn more about Hyperdocs, visit their site or read the AMAZING book by Lisa Highfill, Sarah Landis, and Kelly Hilton.

Creating a Tic-Tac-Toe Learning Menu in Google Docs

One easy way to dip your toes into the learning menu water is a Tic-Tac-Toe menu. A Tic-Tac-Toe can be used for anything from short activities to more long-term projects, both assessment FOR learning (formative) and assessment OF learning (summative).

Below is an example of a Novel Unit Tic-Tac-Toe menu that I created as a summative project. It was created in Google Docs, nothing fancy, just a table and some color. Depending on how you want to use, you can add links, rubrics, images, video and more. (Click here to use my blank tic-tac-toe template.)
CLICK HERE to use the Novel Study Tic-Tac-Toe template. On mobile? CLICK HERE to make a copy.
Learning Menu Design

Remember when you are creating a learning menu to align it with your learning goals! First, I use the middle square as my non-negotiable, the one activity that I want every student to complete. This could be reading an article, watching a video, or in this case; every student will write a summary and add it to a collaborative Google Slide deck where they will also add links to their other projects. Everything in one place!

Some teachers also make the middle square a free space where students can propose their own ideas to demonstrate their learning. LOVE THIS IDEA!

I had some students who would try to find the easiest or fastest way to complete the tasks. But if you pay attention to the learning design, you can design it so that it gives choice and flexible learning paths, not just an easy completion grade.

I use the color to guide the learning design. Because I use the middle square as a non-negotiable, I control how they make the tic-tac-toe just a little bit more. Every student will do the middle square and one from the blue and one from the yellow. In this summative example, students are mostly creating, but in the example below, you will see how it can also work for activities that guide the learning.

Below is a professional learning example that I designed for teaching Google Chrome. As a trainer, I typically have very mixed groups in my training sessions (multiple grade levels, subject areas, and tech savviness). I usually address general skills, and apps and extensions that are applicable across all grade levels and subject areas as a whole group.

Then I move into an activity like the Chrome PD Tic-Tac-Toe learning menu to allow teachers to dig deeper into their own subject areas and grade levels AND move at a pace that is comfortable for their level and learning style.
CLICK HERE to use my Chrome PD Tic-Tac-Toe template. On mobile? CLICK HERE to make a copy of the template.
Other Types of Learning Menus

As I said, a tic-tac-toe is just one type of menu. It happens to be a favorite of mine because they are easy to design and are not too overwhelming. But I have used many other types of menus, and I have been curating ideas on this Learning Menu Pinterest Board.

Digital Menu for Student Creation with Google Slides by Tommy Spall

Below is a Google Slide example of a learning menu that takes on the look of a restaurant menu from my friend, Tommy Spall. Follow him @TommySpall. (You can thank me later!) Click here to make a copy of Tommy's template that includes linked slides to lots of Googley projects and room for you to make it your own. (If you are on mobile and having trouble with the template link, try this make a copy link.)

Professional Development BINGO Board by Amber Teamann and Melinda Miller

Another option is to make it a full out BINGO board, like in this example from my friend Amber Teamann and her collaborator Melinda Miller. (Follow them at @8Amber8 and @MMiller7571, and yes, you will thank me for this one, too!)

Amber and Melinda are both elementary school principals. They issued this BINGO PD Challenge to her teachers over the summer, and I thought it might inspire you with some other options for choice and challenges in your classroom or professional learning. You can learn more details about PD Bingo in Amber's blog post.

Using G Suite to Create Learning Menus

The possibilities are truly endless! Consider all the ways you could use G Suite to create learning menus and the extended activities and links. Try thinking of the ways you could create menus using these G Suite tools:

Google Docs

Google Slides

Google Drawings

Google Sheets

Google My Maps

Google Sites

How to Use Google Templates and Assign in Google Classroom

If you enjoyed this post, you will love the more in-depth look at the power of choice boards and more examples in this post and podcast episode.

© Shake Up Learning 2023. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog's author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Kasey Bell and Shake Up Learning with appropriate and specific direction to the original content on ShakeUpLearning.com. See: Copyright Policy.

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Interactive Learning Menus (Choice Boards) Using Google Docs

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I love learning menus, and it is one of my favorite ways to incorporate student choice and to differentiate learning. And with digital tools like G Suite for Education, it's super easy to make menus interactive, digital, and more dynamic! Digital Differentiation offers teachers and students many ways to reach all learners.

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Special Education Catogories

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SafeYouTube lets you share videos on YouTube easily, without distracting third-party content or advertisements.

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Speech to text real time transcription.

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Otter.ai uses artificial intelligence to empower users with real-time transcription meeting notes that are shareable, searchable, accessible and secure.

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A customizable color filter applied to webpages to improve color perception.

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Millions trust Grammarly's free writing app to make their online writing clear and effective. Getting started is simple - download Grammarly's extension today.

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Kami provide users with the essential tools to create an engaging and collaborative learning environment.

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Your classroom PDF annotator. Students stay engaged with accessible annotation tools. Teachers save time with streamlined instruction and assessment.

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Change or invert the color scheme to make webpages easier to read.

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Read Aloud uses text-to-speech (TTS) technology to convert webpage text to audio.  It works on a variety of websites, including news sites, blogs, fan fiction, publications, textbooks, school and class websites, and online university course materials.

Read Aloud allows you to select from a variety of text-to-speech voices, including those provided natively by the browser, as well as by text-to-speech cloud service providers such as Google Wavenet, Amazon Polly, IBM Watson, and Microsoft.  Some of the cloud-based voices may require additional in-app purchase to enable.

Read Aloud can read PDF, Google Docs, Google Play books, Amazon Kindle, and EPUB (via the excellent EPUBReader extension from epubread.com).

Read Aloud is intended for users who prefer to listen to content instead of reading, those with dyslexia or other learning disabilities, and children learning to read.

To use Read Aloud, navigate to the web page you want to read, then click the Read Aloud icon on the Chrome menu.  In addition, the shortcut keys ALT-P, ALT-O, ALT-Comma, and ALT-Period can be used to Play/Pause, Stop, Rewind, and Forward.  You may also select the text you want to read before activating the extension.  Right clicking on the selected text will provide you with yet another option to activate Read Aloud via the context menu.

To change the voice, reading speed, pitch, or enable text highlighting, go to the Options page either by right clicking on the Read Aloud icon and choose Options, or by clicking the Gear button on the extension popup (you'll need to stop playback to see the Gear button).

Read Aloud is an open-source project.  If you wish to contribute bug fixes or translations, please visit the GitHub page at https://github.com/ken107/read-aloud.

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Read Aloud: A Text to Speech Voice Reader

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Read aloud the current web-page article with one click, using text to speech (TTS). Supports 40+ languages.

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Allows the adjusting of the font size and line spacing of the main content.

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Adjust the font size and line spacing of the main content of a webpage automatically based on your preference.

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A variety of Chrome Extensions that support accessibility.

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Boom Cards are gamified self-grading activities for students

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Boom Learning | Empowering teachers and students

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Boom Cards transform the classroom into an interactive, gamified learning experience with data to track progress and identify learning gaps.

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@dianasoriat and @sam_hh to help users begin to feel comfortable with sketchnoting.
Right-click and download the ilinked file or click on it and drag it to your desktop or tap on it to save it to the Camera Roll on your tablet.
​Use it as a background in your favorite drawing program or screencasting program or print it off to use the analog version!

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Sketchnoting, in its purest form, is creating a personal visual story as one is listening to a speaker or reading a text. I also believe the interactive notebook, which includes the process of taking...

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What is a HyperDoc?
It's an innovative way to put an entire interactive digital lesson into your students' hands. If you're looking for something to replace boring worksheets with something more exciting that allows students to collaborate, think critically, combine information from multiple sources, and create through technology, then HyperDocs is right up your alley. HyperDocs allow you to create and package a lesson plan tailored to fit the needs of your students. Plus, it is inherently engaging! Each lesson includes all the elements you would typically include in a successful lesson: engage, explore, explain, apply, share, and extend. While students are busy collaborating and reflecting on their learning, you are free to connect with students!

​ The term HyperDocs was coined by Lisa Highfill, Kelly Hilton, and Sarah Landis. When I first heard about HyperDocs, I thought it was simply a Google Doc with hyperlinks on it. Don't be fooled! It is SO much more complex and meaningful than that. Read about what Lisa, Kelly, and Sarah have to say about HyperDocs on their website here.

Many HyperDocs follow this basic template that takes students through six steps of a lesson:

1. Engage: Hook your students, get them engaged, and activate prior knowledge. You might use a fun video, interactive website, or audio recording.

2. Explore: Link resources, such as videos or articles, for students to explore more information.

3. Explain: Clarify the learning objective for your students. This is where you could teach a whole group lesson with direct instruction, or add additional resources for students to explore.

4. Apply: What do you want students to create to demonstrate their learning? Give instructions for the assignment.

5. Share: Provide a way for students to share their work and receive feedback.

6. Reflect: Pause for reflection (whole class, think-pair-share, etc.) or link them to a digital way to share their thoughts.

7. Extend: This portion is great for early finishers. Provide extra activities, additional online resources, or challenge them with an extension assignment to extend their thinking.

Of course, not every lesson follows the same format. For a variety of templates to meet your needs, head over to this Padlet where educators are sharing templates for all types of lessons. In addition to the Basic six step HyperDoc lesson plan outlined above, there are also templates for close reading, historical biographies, and for workshop lessons. There is also a more basic template that only involves three steps: Explore, Explain, and Apply. That shortened HyperDoc templates is great for beginners that are feeling overwhelmed with creating their first HyperDoc.
If you're unsure of what types of resources to include for each section of the lesson, take a look at this helpful Google Doc template created by Sarah Landis. It's packed full of ideas for each step of the lesson. Popular apps and websites used with HyperDocs include YouTube, Google Forms, Kahoot, Storybird, Padlet, Wordle, and of course Google Docs.

​ The best way to understand HyperDocs is to see an example. Luckily, educators have been creating and sharing HyperDocs for all grade levels and subjects. A typical lesson that follows a template will look similar to the images below. Of course, not all Hyperdocs follow a template, and you are free to customize your lesson to suit your needs. To use a template for your classroom, simply open it in Google Docs, click "File" and "Make a Copy" to save it into your Google Drive. Then you can open your own copy, make any changes, and then share it with your students via Google Classroom!

Try out some HyperDocs for yourself to see what all the hype is about!

Click here to explore a Padlet where educators are sharing their awesome HyperDocs.

​Click here to find even more HyperDoc lessons through an amazing website called TeachersGiveTeachers.

​Once you start creating your own HyperDocs, don't forget to revisit the Padlet or TeachersGiveTeachers to share your lesson with others!

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What is a HyperDoc? It's an innovative way to put an entire interactive digital lesson into your students' hands. If you're looking for something to replace boring worksheets with something more exciting that allows students to collaborate, think critically, combine information from multiple sources, and create through technology, then HyperDocs is right up your alley.

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Strategies That Support Learner Variability and Engagement

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Differentiate with Learning Menus and Choice Boards

"...at its core, differentiated instruction means addressing ways in which students vary as learners." - Carol Ann Tomlinson

[Tweet "Interactive Learning Menus with @GoogleforEdu #edtech#gsuiteedu"]

What Are Learning Menus?

IT'S ALL ABOUT CHOICE! Learning menus (aka choice boards) are a form of differentiated learning that gives students a menu or choice of learning activities. Learning menus and choice boards can be created in a variety of styles and mediums. They've been around for a long time and originated in a static, paper format. But with digital tools, we can bring the menus to life with interactivity and creation. Menus can be a simple list, a tic-tac-toe or bingo-style game, or get as creative and intricate as you like. Check out my Pinterest board for ideas.

Learning Menus Can Be Used with Any Age Group

I have found that menus and choice boards tend to be more popular among elementary teachers, but I used them in my middle school classroom, and now I use them in professional learning workshops with adults. Any grade level can use learning menus!

Learning Menus Can Be Used in Any Subject Area

Since learning menus are so flexible, they can easily be created and adapted for just about any subject area. So no excuses! Any teacher who is willing to try can make use of this student-centered strategy.

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Are Learning Menus Hyperdocs the Same Thing?

No, but they could be part of a Hyperdoc assignment. I love Hyperdocs! But these two are not one in the same. Keep in mind the definition of learning menus stated above. It is simply a menu of choices from which students can choose. Student choice is the big idea behind learning menus and choice boards.

A Hyperdoc is a complete packaged assignment that also meets some additional criteria. A Hyperdoc doesn't have to include choice, but it could. To learn more about Hyperdocs, visit their site or read the AMAZING book by Lisa Highfill, Sarah Landis, and Kelly Hilton.

Creating a Tic-Tac-Toe Learning Menu in Google Docs

One easy way to dip your toes into the learning menu water is a Tic-Tac-Toe menu. A Tic-Tac-Toe can be used for anything from short activities to more long-term projects, both assessment FOR learning (formative) and assessment OF learning (summative).

Below is an example of a Novel Unit Tic-Tac-Toe menu that I created as a summative project. It was created in Google Docs, nothing fancy, just a table and some color. Depending on how you want to use, you can add links, rubrics, images, video and more. (Click here to use my blank tic-tac-toe template.)
CLICK HERE to use the Novel Study Tic-Tac-Toe template. On mobile? CLICK HERE to make a copy.
Learning Menu Design

Remember when you are creating a learning menu to align it with your learning goals! First, I use the middle square as my non-negotiable, the one activity that I want every student to complete. This could be reading an article, watching a video, or in this case; every student will write a summary and add it to a collaborative Google Slide deck where they will also add links to their other projects. Everything in one place!

Some teachers also make the middle square a free space where students can propose their own ideas to demonstrate their learning. LOVE THIS IDEA!

I had some students who would try to find the easiest or fastest way to complete the tasks. But if you pay attention to the learning design, you can design it so that it gives choice and flexible learning paths, not just an easy completion grade.

I use the color to guide the learning design. Because I use the middle square as a non-negotiable, I control how they make the tic-tac-toe just a little bit more. Every student will do the middle square and one from the blue and one from the yellow. In this summative example, students are mostly creating, but in the example below, you will see how it can also work for activities that guide the learning.

Below is a professional learning example that I designed for teaching Google Chrome. As a trainer, I typically have very mixed groups in my training sessions (multiple grade levels, subject areas, and tech savviness). I usually address general skills, and apps and extensions that are applicable across all grade levels and subject areas as a whole group.

Then I move into an activity like the Chrome PD Tic-Tac-Toe learning menu to allow teachers to dig deeper into their own subject areas and grade levels AND move at a pace that is comfortable for their level and learning style.
CLICK HERE to use my Chrome PD Tic-Tac-Toe template. On mobile? CLICK HERE to make a copy of the template.
Other Types of Learning Menus

As I said, a tic-tac-toe is just one type of menu. It happens to be a favorite of mine because they are easy to design and are not too overwhelming. But I have used many other types of menus, and I have been curating ideas on this Learning Menu Pinterest Board.

Digital Menu for Student Creation with Google Slides by Tommy Spall

Below is a Google Slide example of a learning menu that takes on the look of a restaurant menu from my friend, Tommy Spall. Follow him @TommySpall. (You can thank me later!) Click here to make a copy of Tommy's template that includes linked slides to lots of Googley projects and room for you to make it your own. (If you are on mobile and having trouble with the template link, try this make a copy link.)

Professional Development BINGO Board by Amber Teamann and Melinda Miller

Another option is to make it a full out BINGO board, like in this example from my friend Amber Teamann and her collaborator Melinda Miller. (Follow them at @8Amber8 and @MMiller7571, and yes, you will thank me for this one, too!)

Amber and Melinda are both elementary school principals. They issued this BINGO PD Challenge to her teachers over the summer, and I thought it might inspire you with some other options for choice and challenges in your classroom or professional learning. You can learn more details about PD Bingo in Amber's blog post.

Using G Suite to Create Learning Menus

The possibilities are truly endless! Consider all the ways you could use G Suite to create learning menus and the extended activities and links. Try thinking of the ways you could create menus using these G Suite tools:

Google Docs

Google Slides

Google Drawings

Google Sheets

Google My Maps

Google Sites

How to Use Google Templates and Assign in Google Classroom

If you enjoyed this post, you will love the more in-depth look at the power of choice boards and more examples in this post and podcast episode.

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Interactive Learning Menus (Choice Boards) Using Google Docs

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I love learning menus, and it is one of my favorite ways to incorporate student choice and to differentiate learning. And with digital tools like G Suite for Education, it's super easy to make menus interactive, digital, and more dynamic! Digital Differentiation offers teachers and students many ways to reach all learners.

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Teacher Background Knowledge and Preparation

I have big plans for my students this year. We are going to be diving into stories, retelling key details and major events, and sequencing stories. I have to put certain things in place first, in order for my students to be successful. This lesson sets the foundation for future successes. Today we are going to be learning the flow map. A flow map is another Thinking Map that is always used for sequencing events or putting steps of a process in order.

Like this other lessons in this unit, my students would get lost if they needed to use this map for the first time alongside learning how to sequence a rigorous text for the first time. It's early in the year, and they need time to learn the tools before applying them to content. So, today, we are going to be sequencing what the students did that morning in order to get ready for the day. Even though we aren't actually reading a text today, we are building towards standards RL1.2 and RL1.3. Students will have to retell how they got ready for school today and describe the characters, settings, and major events.

This lesson is also setting the foundation for W1.3. In later writing lessons we will be sequencing events by using our flow map and even adding temporal words such as first, next, and last. Today those words are provided on the map and as students read their map to a partner they will need to read their map using those temporal words. So you can see, I have to make sure my students' understanding of a flow map is in place before I can move on to future lessons.

For today's lesson you'll need either your Smartboard Introducing Thinking Maps or Activboard Introducing Thinking Maps lesson. You'll also need to make enough student copies of the flow map Student Copy Flow Map for each student in your classroom.

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In this lesson, the students will learn that a flow map is used for putting events in the correct order. The purpose of the lesson is to learn the map, so we will introduce content about the events of their morning, a concept they can easily sequence.

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A Resource for Individuals with Special Needs

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Do2Learn began in 1996 through a National Institutes of Health Small Business Innovative Research grant. Our team searches out the most talented and creative teachers and clinicians across the world. These gifted individuals work with our technical experts to transfer their knowledge into formats that we can make available to you.
Since beginning, we have grown into a world-wide resource with over 11 million hits a month. While based in North Carolina, approximately half of our users are from outside of the U.S. Thousands of sites link to us and we can be easily found on most search engines using topics such as 'picture cards', 'facial expressions', and 'job tips'. We hope you find our resources helpful and pass on our link to others.
We believe that simply telling busy teachers, parents, and professionals what they should be doing is not enough. If we explain how to devise a visual communication system using picture cards, we provide free cards to get you started.

When we present the Teacher Toolbox on how to adapt a classroom for children with special needs, we provide resources for behavior management plans, literacy tools, and the materials to create everything in your classroom.

Our approach is to use the latest technology and expert guidance to create innovative and usable solutions.

Learn about DiagnoseFirst, our newest project to help teachers and clinicians recognize the symptoms of ASD.

Pre-employment screening assessments are online or paper tests that some companies require applicants to complete during the application process. Read more about JobTIPS Student Version!

JobTIPS Toolbox PRO is filled with resources to help you coach your students through the challenges of assessing their skills, finding and applying for jobs, and practicing the social skills needed to do well in the workplace.

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picture exchange communication system cards

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Do2Learn: Educational Resources for Special Needs

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picture communication cards, songs, games and learning activities for autism, aspergers, fetal alcohol syndrome and disabilities

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How Processing Affects Learning

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Explore reading basics as well as the key role of background knowledge and motivation in becoming a lifelong reader and learner. Watch our PBS Launching Young Readers series and try our self-paced Reading 101 course to deepen your understanding.

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What Is “Special” About Special Education? 

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What Is “Special” About Special Education? 

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Specially Designed Instruction for Students With Disabilities Within a Multi-tiered System of Supports

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Professional Development Opportunities

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Our vision is for every student to be educated in an environment that is intentionally designed, equitable and inclusive. SIP hosts and organizes several statewide events each year with the goal of supporting LEA/District to progress on the path of creating inclusive organizations. The events range from in-person training/workshops to webinars designed to ensure access […]

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Ensuring That Instruction Is Inclusive for Diverse Learners

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Ensuring That Instruction Is Inclusive for Diverse Learners

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Using ideas from Universal Design for Learning with all students can make classrooms more welcoming for those with learning disabilities.

©Shutterstock/Monkey Business Images

Humans have a tendency to fall into patterns of behavior. For teachers, that means that if we're not careful, we begin to teach things the same way every year. This is comfortable for us, but it can result in a rigid curriculum that may not work for all students-and traditional classrooms are curriculum-centered already, not easily adapted to the differing needs of individual students. Instead, students are required to adapt to the curriculum.

As a special education teacher, part of my job was helping students who had a diagnosed learning disability access the general education curriculum, so I frequently found myself co-teaching with a math or English teacher. When students with learning differences are placed in the general education classroom, they often receive accommodations and services. However, when those accommodations are paired with-and constrained by-a traditional, rigid curriculum, the result can be the opposite of inclusion, in my experience.

Teachers in this situation may become frustrated because trying to accommodate each child individually creates a lot of stress and often an unmanageable workload. Another issue I saw at the middle school level is that despite teachers' best efforts, students with learning differences often feel singled out, and as they get older they may reject accommodations in order to fit in-even though that means forgoing supports that could help meet their learning needs.

The majority of students need something different, but how can you design a curriculum that works for all students-and for the teacher?

In working together, the general education teacher and I would work out ways to flex and adapt our teaching styles to fit our students' needs. As a team, we modified our instruction based on what worked and what didn't. We used what we learned to design instruction that could change based on students' needs.

All of this work was based on the well-known, flexible model called Universal Design for Learning, which can be used in any classroom to make instruction more accessible.

3 Ways to Implement Universal Design for Learning

1. Teach content in many ways: In a traditional classroom, planning for the lesson is done with the "typical" student in mind. Often, there is one way for all students to learn the material, such as a lecture or a slide presentation.

Instead, try to plan the lesson with all students in mind. Survey students to find out what they already know and questions they have about the new topic. Use that information to scaffold instruction and make lessons more relevant to students. You can also vary the methods that you use to deliver the direct instruction portion of your lesson-try showing a demonstration or video clip for one lesson, and have students participate in stations or listen to a podcast for another.

If possible, use more than one modality within a lesson, and think about supports that students may need for learning. If students are moving around the room, have clearly defined procedures and a goal at each learning center. If they're listening to you or a podcast, it may be helpful to provide an outline where they can add notes or sketch visuals while they listen. If they're reading texts, you can allow them to partner read or use technology to adjust the font and text size.

2. Provide choices to sustain student engagement: Allow students to choose an activity. For guided practice, they could decide whether to answer questions independently and receive feedback, play a game, do a role play, or practice in a group. To demonstrate their understanding of a concept, they could decide whether to create a poster or construct a model, write a paper, make a video or podcast, or do a presentation. Making choices allows them to relate to the content in a way that sparks their interest.

Teachers can often offer students other choices in the classroom, beyond instruction. For example, you may be able to provide flexible seating, allowing students to choose a quiet area of the classroom to finish up an assignment on their own, or to sit at tables for group work, or to grab a seat at a computer to watch a video, print a new worksheet, or read a digital textbook.

3. Provide accommodations for all students: Instead of providing accommodations only to students with an IEP or a 504 plan, think about accommodations that such students frequently need and make them available to all students.

For example, if you often have students who need a copy of the notes, using a site like Blackboard or Google Classroom to post each slide presentation and assignment makes it easier for everyone to access those materials. Students who are absent, lose their copy, or have trouble taking notes can use the online notes and documents. Having documents available online also makes it easier for parents, special education teachers, and paraeducators to help students without making extra work for the teacher.

Another example would be teaching students to use a free text reader like the Read and Write extension for Google Chrome or a voice-to-text tool like those available in Google Documents. Students may choose not to use them, but they're a good option for students who happen to retain information better when they hear it or who have a disability that interferes with writing.

Universal Design for Learning allows instruction to become student-centered by creating a more welcoming and flexible classroom environment and a curriculum that is more accessible to all students. Flexible instruction should lead the student to be more personally accountable for their learning: Instead of the teacher expecting all students to learn in one way, the student sets their own goals for how they will learn the required material.

The student becomes an expert not just on the content but on how they learn. Once the content has faded from their memory, this is the skill that will allow them to acquire the knowledge necessary for whatever endeavor they decide to pursue.

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Ensuring That Instruction Is Inclusive for Diverse Learners

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Using ideas from Universal Design for Learning with all students can make classrooms more welcoming for those with learning disabilities.

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Supporting Inclusive Practices (SIP) Project

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Universal Design for Learning Webinar Series 

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“The learning context exerts very strong effects on whether a particular individual characteristic becomes an impediment to learning.”
― Anne Meyer, Universal Design for Learning: Theory and Practice

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Presented by Katie Novak

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Katie Novak

Assistant Superintendent, Groton-Dunstable Regional School District

Students have different needs and strengths, and each child learns in unique ways. This is especially true for kids with learning and attention issues. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework for designing curriculum (what is taught) and instruction (how it's taught) to meet these diverse needs. UDL uses a set of principles to create flexibility for students.

In this webinar, expert Katie Novak will introduce you to UDL and what it can do for your child. She'll give you concrete ways to support your child's teacher and school as they put UDL into practice.

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Webinar: Universal Design for Learning 101

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Katie Novak Assistant Superintendent, Groton-Dunstable Regional School District Students have different needs and strengths, and each child learns in unique ways. This is especially true for kids with learning and attention issues. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework for designing curriculum (what is taught) and instruction (how it's taught) to meet these diverse needs.

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UDL framework guides the design of instructional goals, assessments, methods, and materials that can be customized and adjusted to meet individual needs.

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Universal design for learning (UDL) is a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn.

UDL at a Glance

See how the UDL framework guides the design of instructional goals, assessments, methods, and materials that can be customized and adjusted to meet individual needs.

Universal Design for Learning: Theory and Practice

Anne Meyer and David Rose, who first laid out the principles of UDL in the 1990s, provide an ambitious, engaging discussion of new research and best practices. This book gives the UDL field an essential and authoritative learning resource for the coming years.

Read the book

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Universal design for learning (UDL) is a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn. UDL at a Glance See how the UDL framework guides the design of instructional goals, assessments, methods, and materials that can be customized and adjusted to meet individual needs.