Professional Development

I am at the ASCD conference this week in Orlando. Actually, I am at one of the pre-conference workshops. This one is on differentiation taught by the guru herself, Carol Ann Tomlinson. Geek that I am, the coolest thing is to go to something taught by the masters. I love to sit at their feet and drink in their wisdom.

The coolest thing about this workshop so far is that from the first minute, they were differentiating for us. We could see it in action without having to do anything but sit there. They offered us choice. They gave writing prompts in Sternberg's Intelligences, they had think-pair-share activities. At one point, Tomlinson said, "If you feel comfortable enough to ratchet it up a bit, come up here and we'll talk up front." Many of us did, while others stayed on another task. She sat down on the floor and we did too. She talked and we listened and questioned. We got the little extra something we wanted. Then, we got up and went back to the whole group. How cool it would be if a teacher were comfortable enough with instruction and planning to make her classroom like this. Wait...that's what differentiation is all about. LIGHTBULB!!!!!!!!

Differentiation is not another thing to do. It's a lifestyle, a thought process, a way of life. It is the best way to meet the needs of all your students all the time. It becomes natural if you do it long enough. It is hard, but it is worth it.

I have been working as a member of our district's differentiation team all year. We have been training to be experts in our content area that other teachers can use as a resource when wanting to differentiate in their own classrooms. We are a work in progress. It is due to my school district I am here.

What a way to spend the week before spring break!

Last Week in MJ's Class

Last week, as a part of our Media Literacy unit, we watched the Super Bowl ads and analyzed them for a number of elements. Actually, we started on Sunday. My school's tech coach helped me set up a live broadcast during the Super Bowl. I was live online with a webcam, and kids could come to my wiki and chat with me live about the ads as we watched them. Mostly they tuned in to see me watching the game, but they also commented on the game and the ads. It turned out to be a pretty cool exercise because we could talk about the ads right then instead of having to wait until school the next day. The best part about the entire thing is that I had kids check in who hardly ever "check in" during the school day with traditional instruction. Some of my most struggling readers were the first to visit the wiki and stayed the entire game. We discussed the ads, coaching strategy, and, during the last five minutes, had some pretty firey discussion as the lead changed back and forth.

This was the first time I did anything like this, and I was nervous. The cool things about it were as follows:

• I said, "Wouldn't it be cool if..." and my tech coach made it happen, giving me no time to reconsider or back out.
• Kids who usually do not participate in class discussions logged in and conversed online and gave voice to a whole different side of themselves.
• I could actually have teachable moments DURING THE FACT, rather than afterwards.
• It was a more relaxed atmosphere than the classroom, so everyone was more willing to share comments.
• I discovered an entirely new way to review, reteach, or reinforce concepts outside of the regular school day.

Wouldn't it be cool if I had "office hours" where kids could tune in, ask questions, get answers, and I could provide direct instruction where needed? I think so, and I am anxious to try it. My plan is to do an online review session before the next test to see if I can get some of my more reluctant students to tune in for a review. Often, it is those students who will not come to an early-morning or after-school review session, but if it were online...

A survey of my students reveals 99% of them have internet and computer access at home, so the fairness and equity problem is virtually non-existant. I think it would give kids another option for review that allowed real-time questions WHEN they were studying instead of having to wait until the next day.

This is all still in the planning stages, but I am going to give it a go in the next month or so. I can't wait to blog the results.