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The attached PDF has links to all of the resources we used throughout our session
-Elizabeth & Heather

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Exploring ways towards Wait time and Think Time

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Giving students several seconds to think after asking a question—and up to two minutes for some questions—improves their learning.

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Student lives needs a big toolbox to rummage through to find what they need that fits what they need to demonstrate.

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100+ Tools for Differentiating Instruction Through Social Media

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Social media can enhance differentiated instruction if the tools are selected with a careful eye on individual students’ readiness, interests, and learning profiles.

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Use constructivist learning strategies that allow Students to share how they want to explore and demonstrate learning. Teacher can apply the standards after students map their direction.

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When I attend yoga classes, the instructor guides participants through a series of poses. An outsider unfamiliar with yoga might think the class was instructor-directed, with everyone moving through poses as they are called out. The truth is that people add or subtract movements based on their comfort, drive, and current capabilities. (My favorite is Child's Pose to catch my breath before rejoining the flow of movements.) This culture where participants shape the class along with the instructor is something I've found in every yoga class that I've attended.

Education culture can be just as powerful when students, like yoga class participants, are encouraged to help shape what and how learning takes place every day. It requires teachers to view what students can do alongside us. I already explored this in Student-Centered Learning: It Starts With the Teacher.

There are many tools for establishing a culture of student voice. Here are some that are easy to implement as you launch your students' journey.

Develop Norms Together

Norms are something different from the classroom rules that are meant to establish order. Norms provide students and teacher with a shared understanding of how they can best support each other in the learning process. Norms are behavior guides that can help the teacher and the other students in mentoring classmates who struggle with following the norms.

Norms exist whether or not they are addressed. A common unspoken norm for students is that when a teacher asks a question, if no one responds in one to three seconds, the teacher will cajole the class or answer the question him- or herself. Or maybe Sam in the front of the room will answer the question as usual. Norms go underground if students are not included in forming them. Consider these steps for creating classroom norms:

1. Students reflect and share examples of environments that they feel were positive, such as a sports team, church or scouting group, or family ritual.

2. In small groups, students unpack the examples for the behaviors that made the experience or vibe positive.

3. Use Think-Pair-Share to create a list of positive behaviors that would support a learning environment where everyone feels successful and supported.

4. Use team builders to identify behaviors. After each team builder, students reflect and share what skills were needed to be successful at the task.

5. The class collectively reduces the list to 4-7 norms, framed in positive, student-friendly language. Some examples might include:

All voices need to be heard.

Talk after two. (Translation: Each person must wait until two others say something before they can speak again.)

Presume positive intent. (In student-friendly language: "Would you say that to your mother?")

Here are helpful resources for further exploration:

Practice Reflection and Feedback

Coach and provide opportunities for students to reflect and give feedback about curriculum, classroom culture, and classroom systems. Spending time on reflection and feedback sends a signal about what's valued in this academic setting. Students need airtime about how the classroom operates if we expect them to care. Once they do engage, their ideas should be implemented. Otherwise, student culture will go underground where no teacher authority can reach.

Here are strategies that promote student reflection and feedback. The key is having them share in the determination of topics as the focus.

Question Formulation Technique: Coach students on how to ask good questions and which to use depending on the circumstance and need. Use the Right Question Institute's rich resources, or start with these these articles from Opening Paths.

Morning Meeting: Dialog provides a powerful voice for students reflecting on the current climate and needs. It's also good for reviewing their shared experiences at the end of the day, or for celebrations and concerns. The experience is valuable for all ages.

Journaling: Writing reflections can be a tool for students to work through their thoughts and emotions before sharing a distillation to groups and/or the teacher.

Surveys: Individual and anonymous feedback enables students to give focused responses to classroom culture concerns. It's important to give the class opportunities for reviewing and analyzing the results together. For quick turnarounds, use social media survey tools.

Protocols for Reflection and Feedback: There are many protocols that help students work on active listening and ensure that every voice gets airtime. Using protocols creates a safe environment for students to express their thoughts and suggestions in constructive and supportive language. Some examples to explore are:

Valued Culture = Student Engagement

Students value a classroom or school culture where they feel cared about. Ask any student, "Who did you have your favorite learning experiences with?" It's always with a teacher about whom they'll eventually say, "She believed in me," or "He listened to us." When students want to spend time in a classroom after school or during lunch, something positive is going on. Using the above strategies for norms, reflection, and feedback can help create a culture where students want to be included because their voice matters.

What firmly establishes a culture of student voice is giving them charge of how they learn, including development of assessments and products for learning outcomes (the focus of my next post). It's similar to those yoga classes where participants craft their own movements that, while different from the instructor's directions, achieve the common need of maintaining the breath and self-challenge. Teachers who co-create a culture of student voice are setting the foundation for students owning their own learning.

Namaste.

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When I attend yoga classes, the instructor guides participants through a series of poses. An outsider unfamiliar with yoga might think the class was instructor-directed, with everyone moving through poses as they are called out. The truth is that people add or subtract movements based on their comfort, drive, and current capabilities.

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We (NewTech Network) are currently trying to bring the best aspects of personalized learning to our current PBL practices.

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We work to provide teachers with tools and training to help them manage student learning in ways that allow them to make individualizing learning for children as easy as possible

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Rebranding our instructional model to a learning model.

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Rebranding our instructional model to a learning model.

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Start with readiness, interests, and/or learning preferences. This requires knowing students in all 3 areas.
Such as learning surveys and learning preferences cards (section on chap 4 links) http://johnmccarthyeds.net/soallcanlearn/sacl-practicalresources/

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About | Conceptual Resources | Practical Resources

Here are the resources that are referenced in So All Can Learn. Use the book for context on how to effectively differentiate using these resources.
Chapter 1

1. Take students to a location outside of the classroom, such as the cafeteria, the library, or outside. Any place with much to see while standing or sitting is good.

2. Have students pick a location to observe and write what they see. They should use each sense for details: Sight, Sound, Smell, Taste, and Touch. Give students 7 to 8 minutes.

3. On completion, have students share their writing with a partner. It's an opportunity to revise for additional sensory details. Give partners 6 to 10 minutes. Follow with 5 to 7 minutes for revisions.

Inference Riddles: This is a variation of the Portrait Writing. The difference is that students:

1. Focus on describing 2 to 3 objects, using all 5 senses.

2. Choose three of their details to use as part of their riddle for each object.

3. They share their riddle to a group or the class, without naming the object.

4. The class has to infer from the description the identity of the object.

Chapter 2
Chris Kesler, "What is Genius Hour? - Introduction to Genius Hour in the Classroom"

Chapter 3
Resources for 21st Century Learning Skills (or College & Career Readiness Skills):
Chapter 4

In addition to the strategies in the book, here are more ways for collecting information from and about students

Learning through Choices

Chapter 5 Harkness Discussion video

Chapter 6

There are a range of educational programs and pedagogy that promote some degree of student-led learning:

Frameworks for Instruction that support Differentiation and Student Voice
There are several instructional structures that engage students in deep exploration of content and concepts, provides, sometimes encourages, opportunities for students to take the lead in their thinking and learning in groups and individually. Such structures, when done well, include:

Project-Based Learning

Problem-Based Learning

Place-based Learning

Inquiry-Based Learning

Authentic Learning Experiences

Find a wealth of resources and explanation at these links. Contact me with questions and inquiries, so as to support your learning journey.
1) Authentic Learning Experiences Resource Page

2) Project-Based Learning vs. Problem-Based Learning vs. X-BL

Developing Effective Driving Questions
Chapter 7
Thinkdots can help learners understand a concept by showing it in 6 different ways. Here is an example from pages 118-19 in the book, regarding a writer's voice.

Cloud-Based Tools

There are many useful cloud-based tools that are available to teachers and students. Explore the for meeting your students needs: 100+ Tools - related article. Below are just some of the many tools to be found for use. This just scratches the surface.

Google Productivity Tools:

Drive - storage space

Docs - word processor

Sheets - spreadsheet

Slides - presentations

Forms - surveys

Draw - drawing space or virtual whiteboard

Microsoft Productivity Tools

Office 365 - Online Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and OneNote

OneNote - Virtual Notes and Organizer

OneDrive - Online Storage

100+ Tools - More online tools to explore for meeting students needs (related article).

Ma Pa Kettle "learning" Math

Chapter 8
Useful Protocols to structure thinking through a variety of approaches:

Affinity Mapping (NSRF)

Classroom Platforms that provide spaces for collaboration and guided exploration through pages and links:
Chapter 9
Learning Preferences Cards (formerly Learning Profile Cards)

Collect data on students' self-perceptions about how they learn and interests. These time-saving activities give data that can be used year-round.

Clock Partners ( Handout example from ODE)

1. Provide each student with a sheet of paper that includes the image of an analog clock face.

2. The students meet and schedule each other to partner next to one of the numbers: 1 through 12. For example, two students agree to be 3 o'clock partners, and sign their name on each others sheet, next to the number 3.

3. Continue the process until every student has someone listed on their clock sheet.

4. When forming partners for tasks and paired discussions, the teacher will say something like: "Find your 8 0'clock partners." The students pair up with the person that they signed off on the 8 on the clock.

Paired Verbal Fluency

1. Have students/participants pair up.

2. Each pair decides who is speaker 1 and speaker 2.

3. Based on the provided topic, usually one that has just been taught or explored, each pair will discuss the topic. They may use any notes or other materials available.

4. Speaker 1 talks first, while the partner listens. The listening partner cannot talk.

5. At a signal, Speaker 2 talks and the partner (speaker 1) listens.

6. Repeat the process for 2-4 rounds. Each time, give fewer time to talk. For example:

1. Round 1: 45 seconds each.

2. Round 2: 30 seconds each.

3. Round 3: 10 seconds each

Participants practice listing skills, as there is no cross-talk. The experience is an effective way for participants to summarize their understanding of the topic/content and get another perspective.

National Library for Virtual Manipulatives contains many useful virtual math manipulatives along with other links to resources.

Here's examples and a template for making your own Think Dot: Overview & Template.
Appendices: Resources

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About | Conceptual Resources | Practical Resources Here are the resources that are referenced in So All Can Learn. Use the book for context on how to effectively differentiate using these resources. Chapter 1 Take students to a location outside of the classroom, such as the cafeteria, the library, or outside.

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Our school has started Traveling Advisory to provide stronger intervention practices during the school day. Students are invited to small group workshops to collaborate with each other, re-teach, peer teach, and ask questions...