Differentiation ... Trying to put some thoughts together

I am making my way through the readings given to our group (many thanks for those!) and I have come across the following ideas that are really standing out in my mind:

• meaningful participation of students
• student ability to access the curriculum
• active engagement in the curriculum
• all students do not learn in the one way
• active learning
• student connection with the subject matter

Much of what I've read reinforces the Quality Teaching Model and it's associated merits. I believe that many of us as teachers have in fact operated within a differentiated model of instruction for many years. However, the difference is that we have not had a model or concrete structure on which to base our work. What I would like to achieve throughout this project is not only an improvement in student outcomes but also a structure or model of differentiation that might be applied at the local level. This obviously means that we would need some sort of research base from which to operate and the collective wisdom of the group may enable this to be achieved. It would be good for us, once this project is completed, to have some model out of which we could operate and continue to improve learning outcomes for other students. Am I on a similar track of thinking to the rest of the team?

A Complete Turnaround!

I think I am going to have a complete 'turnaround' with the direction of my project! I still will focus on differentiation, but after attending a very interesting inservice on Monday, I think I'll try a different approach to the one I was going to take!

The inservice was on audio books & the methods a school has used for distributing these resources through their library. After hearing some of the teachers discussing the educational advantages of such a program, & realising that the cost and 'set up' are relatively 'cheap', I think I'll investigate the impact that such a system might have on improving student outcomes.... on students identified as reluctant readers (& most likely strugglers in this area).

For our school, I've been thinking of the best possible set up & so I purchased an MP3 player today & recorded a story myself. I also set up a 'Box.net' account & loaded the story onto the site. I'm thinking that if I can set it up so that the students can access the files as easily as possible, then some of the 'administrative' problems, (that generally take time), might not surface & the program will be off to a good start.

I think I'll only focus on a small group, maybe those seen to be most needy & I'll target boys as I have background research that supports the use of technology in Literacy activities, especially for boys.

What does the team think?
Frances

Differentiation

It was good brainstorming ideas this morning. Some professional reading in this area should clarify some issues for people. The 2 books I showed the group this morning I will leave on my desk and if anybody wants to borrow them feel free. This is my first attempt at posting a blog so I hope it works!!!!!!
Moira

Let's get started!

This blog is a way for our Project Team A to post and discuss the work we are doing for Professional Development in the area of Quality Teaching -specifically looking at differentiation. I think there will be a lot of overlap with the other Projects our staff are involved in and that's great.
After all, aren't we all simply working towards the same ultimate outcome....to improve student outcomes in their learning?

For myself, I'm struggling with what specifically I want to achieve. Working so closely with technology, and aware of it's possibilities in education at this time, I want our technology based lessons to be more relevant to individual students...and yet authentically addressing syllabus outcomes that the class are exploring.
Presently I'm still in the air...How do I do this? What direction do I take?

I watched a great video from Greg Whitby's 'Bluyonder' blog.

I put it on HFSconversations-it is worth a look...
I liked the way the groups in the class went in their own directions & used technology to both assist their discussions/ learning...and then it helped them to 'show' or present their learnings at the end. I'm really swayed towards this type of model....
What does the team think?
Frances