Category Archives: Differentiation
Ramping up the Common Core Transition
The goal of the CCSS is to ensure no student is “crippled by their zip code” (Tony Dunn, Future Shock, p. 13). For most educators, vacation begins after sometime after Memorial Day and lasts somewhere between one and three months. … Continue reading
Filed under Common Core State Standards, Curriculum, Differentiation, Literacy, Pedagogy
Common Core Literacy Standards: Reading and Writing Intersections
Over the last eighteen months, I’ve built scaffolds for hundreds of educators in various roles to better understand the Common Core Literacy Standards. I have explained and modeled instructional methods for implementation to teachers at all grade levels and in … Continue reading
Filed under Common Core State Standards, Curriculum, Differentiation, Literacy, Pedagogy
Differentiating Instruction at the Middle School
Check out the slide show from the Differentiating Initiative at Glenview Middle School in East Moline. The principal and I designed a series of half-day professional development workshops introducing teachers to practical and effective differentiation strategies. The first session centered … Continue reading
Filed under Differentiation, Pedagogy
Matteson Illinois School District 162: Making a Difference
Last Monday and Tuesday, I worked with the Matteson District 162 teachers at Huth Middle School in Matteson, Illinois. Matteson is a large elementary with a sixty-percent low income demographic among an enrollment about 3200 students. However, the seven schools … Continue reading
Filed under Differentiation, Pedagogy
I’m still here: Writing Middle-School Reading Curriculum
I know it may seem as though I’ve “gone away” but I’m still here. I have been busy updating my webpage (but my webmaster has gone on vacation), finishing the last couple of weeks in my stats class, and trying … Continue reading
Filed under Differentiation, Pedagogy
Response to Intervention: A Call for Educational Excellence
If you teach, you have heard of RtI: Response to Intervention, the most recent initiative or call to action on the educational front. Although a succinct acronym, the evolving concept of RtI is all encompassing. Initially, RtI was a practical … Continue reading
Filed under Differentiation, Pedagogy, Rti
New Year–New Approach for Assessment
Many educators feel under pressure to provide daily grades for students, but is that kind of pressure conducive to evaluation? I don’t think so…not for teachers and not for students. I don’t want to be measured or evaluated everyday, and … Continue reading
Filed under Assessment, Differentiation, Pedagogy
Technology and Understanding
Checkout Wordle! This website is an easy way to create a visual representation of words through “clouds.” I tripped over this website while reading Jan Hart’s blog, E-Learning Pick of the Day (check this blog out!). Once I had … Continue reading
Filed under Assessment, Differentiation, EdTech, Pedagogy, Rti
Let’s Get Critical!
I have discovered my new favorite literacy workshop: Critical Literacy!! The idea of critical literacy is to read between the lines, to look for alternative points-of-view, to identify who is left out of text, to consider multiple perspectives; that kind of … Continue reading
Filed under Differentiation
Connecting to Make a Difference
I can’t believe how fast the time passes! I have been taking my camera to this month’s workshops, intending to capture the work teachers are doing, but on too many occasions, the workshop ends and I haven’t taken the camera … Continue reading
Filed under Differentiation, EdTech
