The document camera revisited - thanks to Barry B.

After posting about my new toy - the ELMO document camera - Barry gave an excellent source for many applications within the classroom called "~Document Camera~Rave reviews from
KENNEWICK TEACHERS". The pdf file includes 101 ways that teachers at the Kennewick School District in San Diego use the document camera and many testimonials about how it has changed teachers' instruction.

Some new ways of thinking about the ELMO for me:

• it allows for toggling between laptop, document camera, and video (VHS/DVD).
• teacher models, student and teacher collaborate, student models (gradual release of control)
• has applications for reading strategies: text preview becomes very visual
• seems to increase test scores according to these CA teachers

Part of the reason that I think the ELMO may truly increase test scores is because it is very visual. Coupled with auditory modeling by the teacher, visual representations (a key component of differentiated instruction) can enhance student learning.

ELMO: What is it and what are its applications in my classroom?

Today I received another piece of technology for my classroom - without training of course. The piece of technology is an ELMO, a document camera. So, I did a little research to find out what it is and does and came across this video produced by the manufacturer's of the equipment. I found it interesting that as part of the sale's pitch, the advertisers threw out a few terms in education lingo (NCLB, EETT, test scores, comprehension ) but really did not give concrete examples of applications to really achieve increased test scores, comprehension or NCLB compliance.

At any rate, I do see some applications in my science classroom. When completing class demonstrations that are very small and difficult for students to see, the Elmo would be able to project the demo so that all students could get the same view.

To focus all students on a specific part of text or a particular point in a figure, the Elmo offers tools in its software package that would allow me to circle particular areas on the document. Additionally, I could capture that picture and save it to my computer so that I could later use it for review, for assessment, for students who are absent...

One application that the video did address is the ability to project microscope slides. As a biology teacher, this will be very useful when I want to show the entire class a particular specimen but do not want to take the scopes out or when I do not have enough specimens for the entire class. It also will have good application when the entire class is doing microscopy and a student has a particular specimen that would be good for the entire class to see. Also, it will be helpful to introduce good and bad wet mounts.

Now to apply this technology to help differentiate instruction - it does seem to have a lot of potential for visual learners especially. The sale's pitch on the product is solely for whole class instruction. Although necessary in all classrooms, it is not the hallmark of DI.

However, having students share work they have done using the ELMO may have some merit, particularly in a centers approached classroom in which students are grouped and working on different activities. Using the ELMO with a small group of students as they discuss their work may be one application of a student directed activity.

Like with all new technology, there exists a learning curve - I expect as I begin to "play" with the ELMO, I will quickly progress to the exponential growth period in my learning and see a multitude of applications in science.

Differentiated Instruction or DA - "Differentiated Assessment"

After reading Barry's post on Google Reader as an RSS feeder, I decided to check it out. I found it easy to use, as I too utilize Google for my bookmarks and as my homepage. So I wanted to see what other people (bloggers) were talikng about with regard to DI. One blog that I found timely and interesting was Teachers Using Technology. One subscriber discussed how he utilizes PowerPoint as a form of assessment in place of a traditional test. Unlike the typical use of PowerPoint to make a presentation on some topic, this teacher actually schedules time in the computer lab on test day and has students create a PowerPoint that illustrates what they have learned about a particular unit. The teacher asks a few open-ended questions to guide students as they create their PowerPoint. The students have one class period to create their presentation.

An important component of differentiated instruction (DI) is differentiating the assessment, giving students alternative methods (from the traditional paper pencil assessment) to show what they know. Students like to create PowerPoints. Since PowerPoint includes the note view, it could easily be used to include extended responses about a particular slide.

I am giving a plate tectonics test next week. I am going to utilize this teacher's idea and see what happens. More later...

Differentiated Instruction, Data-Driven Decision Making and Turning Point Software

Turning Point software is another option that can be used by teachers to pre-assess the readiness of students on a particular unit. The software allows each student to enter his/her response for a particular question and it is completely compatible with PowerPoint software. Students are assigned a particular wireless response card and all responses are recorded so that teachers can evaluate whole-class and individual student responses through various pre-made reports.

Besides being used for pre-assessment, Turning Point software can be utilized during instruction to see that each student is comprehending new material.

I have used Turning Point software in the past. Although it is compatible with PowerPoint, the questions must be made well before class time - it is not something that can be easily done while teaching class. However - students LOVE using the response cards and get very excited when they see the case holding the response cards.

Differentiated Instruction and Measuring Readiness

I have been wondering what kind of easy to use, relatively inexpensive software is available that could help a classroom teacher measure the readiness of students on a particular subject. As a classroom teacher, we are expected to give pre-assessments on each topic (unit) that we cover and use these assessments to tailor curriculum for students. Unfortunately, designing pre-assessments and analyzing the results and finally tailoring curriculum for students based on their readiness is kind if overwhelming. Formative evaluation - what does this really look like in the classroom?

So, I hunted for software that would aid the teacher (me) in at least completing pre-assessment and data analysis of readiness relatively quickly. I found Quia, an online tool that allows me to make different activities for students to complwte online. Each activity will track student performance - so this may be a starting point for determining readiness, a key component of differentiated instruction.

I will be trying it for 30 days and then reevaluate it after this time. The price for a 1-year membership is only $49.00, a reasonable amount if it works for what I need - formative assessments. So here is the email response that I received after signing up for the free trial:


With this trial, you will be able to access all of Quia's features, including:

• Create 17 types of games and learning activities
• Create your own quizzes using any (or all) of Quia's 10
  question types
• Track quiz results
• Create class Web pages for communicating with students
• Maintain an online schedule and calendar
• Upload images and audio clips
• Share your activities with students, friends, colleagues,
  anyone in the world!
  

I wonder if anyone has used this web-based service.

Using PowerPoint to Differentiate Instruction

PowerPoint Menu-Driven Assessment

As I completed the PowerPoint assignment, I began wondering how PowerPoint could be used in the classroom to differentiate instruction. As I completed my assignment, I made a "From Genes to Proteins" stand-alone PowerPoint that I am going to use with my Biology students to review protein synthesis via transcription and translation. Besides in a review or introducing new materials, I wondered in what other ways PPT could be utilized by my students without me in the picture. I found another stand-alone PPT about western geography which is being used as a readiness pre-assessment. I like the idea of using PPT for a pre-assessment of seeing readiness of students on a particular unit.

However to use it as a readiness pre-assessment tool, somehow someone needs to track what questions students know and what questions students do not know. One way is having students self evaluate and track what they get correct/incorrect. I wonder if there is a way for PPT to track the number of correct/incorrect responses and make a report for each individual child. Sounds like a possible "redesign" project.

Differentiating Instruction - An Overview

Differentiating Instruction: Meeting Students Where They Are

I thought as I embark on how to integrate educational technologies into differentiated instruction (DI), I really need to clarify what DI is. After all, it seems that educators carry very different ideas about what DI is. In our last Critical Friends Group (CFG) meeting, we had all participants fill out an "entrance slip".

The entrance slip read: “What does differentiated instruction mean to you?”

The responses that we received:

• Providing instruction at the level of each student.
• Reaching all students, success for all.
• To each according to his ability……
• Instruction that focuses on needs of individual learner needs and strengths and weaknesses.
• Teaching that recognizes individual differences between students. Tries to address different learning styles, levels of background knowledge, motivation, etc.
• It means different ways to teach children. Different levels, different concepts, high level of organization, individualized instruction.
• Having curriculum that meets the needs of every style of learner in the classroom.
• Instruction that meets different learning styles, skills and likes.
• Different levels of challenge within the same classroom.
• Teaching so that students of different abilities/experiences/stuff can learn what they are ready for. Those who have ears, let them hear.

Although the responses varied among our 6-12 teachers, one strand that pervaded all entries was differentiating instruction depends upon a learner's readiness, interest, or learning style.

Now I know that there are many critics of textbook publishers; however, I believe that many products produced by textbook companies do have merit. One publisher, McGraw-Hill, made an excellent online overview of DI. The article was written by Jennipher Willoughby, a freelance writer and former science and technology specialist for Lynchburg City Schools in Lynchburg, Virginia. She has background in both science (my chosen field) and technology.

Ms. Willoughby writes, "Differentiated instruction is an instructional theory that allows teachers to face this challenge (students are expected to master the same concepts, principles, and skills despite the fact that no two students enter a classroom with identical abilities, experiences, and needs) by taking diverse student factors into account when planning and delivering instruction. Based on this theory, teachers can structure learning environments that address the variety of learning styles, interests, and abilities found within a classroom."

Planning for DI requires that teachers look at the individual profiles of their students. These profiles include learning inventories, interests and readiness. Our teachers recognized this aspect of DI.

This article really puts an integral component of DI into perspective - a perspective that many teachers have misconceptions about. What does differentiated instruction mean for teachers? Ms. Willoughby makes a dichotomous table to illustrate:

Teachers DO:

• provide several learning options, or different paths to learning, which help students take in information and make sense of concepts and skills
• provide appropriate levels of challenge for all students, including those who lag behind, those who are advanced, and those right in the middle

Teachers DON'T:

• develop a separate lesson plan for each student in a classroom
• "water down" the curriculum for some students

I point this out because I visualized DI meaning that I would need to develop a separate lesson plan for each student in a classroom. Some of my colleagues too had this misconception. We knew that individualized lessons would be impossible. Yet - that is not what DI is!

To implement DI requires that I know my students, that I look at my curriculum to see what concepts/topics can be differentiated and that I reexamine my role as teacher in the classroom. More on these later...

Presently, my colleagues and I are examining interests of our students based on multiple intelligences' inventories. Based on these inventories, we will develop lessons that appeal to the different strengths of our students.

Complexity of Differentiated Instruction

An expert in the field of DI is Carol Ann Tomlinson, a Professor of Educational Leadership, Foundations, and Policy at the University of Virginia. What better place to start than with an expert in the field. I chose Reconcilable Differences? Standards-Based Teaching and Differentiation, an article written by Tomlinson (Educational Leadership 58 no.1, 6-11 Sept. 2000) I accessed it through my membership at ASCD but also found the article through UF libraries online journal (Wilson Web). I cannot link it since it requires a login to access at both sites.

Tomlinson writes, "What we call differentiation is not a recipe for teaching. It is not an instructional strategy. It is not what a teacher does when he or she has time. It is a way of thinking about teaching and learning." Because DI is a way of thinking about teaching and learning, DI is complex. It is not a skill that can be learned quickly and integrated easily. In fact the recommendation is that DI be integrated slowly, one aspect at a time.

The same holds true for educational technology. Edcuational technology is also a way of thinking about teaching and learning. It is easy for schools to buy the latest and greatest software or the latest and greatest hardware; it is extremely difficult to integrate these tools in an effective way so that teaching is enhanced and student learning (achievement) increases.

Through this blog, I plan to investigate ways in which educational technologies can be utilized to differentiate instruction and differentiate assessment in meaningful ways so that student learning is increased in high school science.

My Teacher Inquiry Project: CFGs and DI

One way in which some schools are providing professional development for its teachers is through Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). Unlike the traditional professional development of "sit and get" via workshops which usually involve paying an "expert" to teach teachers, PLCs involve groups of teachers within a school meeting to discuss topics that affect their work related to teacher practice, student learning and community culture. Typically, PLCs meet regularly over an extended period of time focusing on one aspect of their work. The Anneburg Institute for School Reform out of Brown University published an article called Professional Learning Communities: Professional Development Strategies that Improve Instruction that is an exceptional guide to PLCs.

At my school, I facilitate, with two of my peers, a Critical Friends' Group (CFG). We have been facilitating groups for nearly two school years. Last year we had three strong CFGs. Each CFG consisted of teachers in grades 6-12 and across all subject areas. This year we have two strong groups still made up of teachers in grades 6-12 and across all subject areas.

As a CFG, we have decided to focus our learning on differentiated instruction (DI). DI is a rather nebulous concept that conjures a variety of meanings for teachers. Collectively, we know that we do not know enough about DI and that our learning for this year and into next year needed to center on DI.

We have begun our study of DI by introducing ways to access students learning styles via students' multiple intelligences. We gave a multiple intelligence survey to all students 6th through 12th grade and have placed the information in a spreadsheet so that teachers can access the strongest intelligences for students within a class. Our goal is to have teachers create alternative instruction and alternative assessments that appeal to the intelligences of their students. After developing the instruction and/or assessments, teachers will share their ideas at a CFG meeting to get feedback from colleagues using the "Consultancy Protocol".

As we continue to delve into DI through this year and into next year, I would like to examine how technology can be a tool used to differentiate instruction.