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"Last month I shared some of the great features from News-O-Matic's new update and there is one more you are sure to love.  Teachers using this app can choose between different reading levels for students.  Each article is adapted by News-O-Matic's editorial team to fit three reading levels (400L-600L, 600L-750L and 750-1050L).  These categories are connected to ranges of Lexile levels - a readability measure that helps measure text complexity. Teachers can assign different reading levels to each student in their class so they automatically receive news articles on their tablet that are the right level for them."

"Imagine a world where resources were limited to what was found in the classroom or the school closet known as the "Curriculum Materials Room." Picture a world where students wrote letters with pen and paper to communicate with other students and adults outside of the building. Due to postage costs, the teacher either sent the letters in bulk or paid for stamps out of his or her own pocket. Can you recall a time when student interests like skateboarding or video were never used as part of learning curriculum because the tools needed were either too expensive or not yet conceptualized? Do you remember a time when non-traditional learners struggled, and absenteeism meant a high likelihood of students doing poorly in school, and possibly having to retake the course?"

"Recently, we discovered a feature of Google Drive that has changed how we prepare and access materials and resources for our students. As we attempt to make all curricula digital and thus make it available to all students, the idea of using PDFs was always a problem. PDFs are just not editable in most situations, and this was an issue when it came to modifying and differentiating documents. Adobe Acrobat was our "go to" application for this type of conversion, but it was costly and often hard to come by in an educational setting. Note: We still use Adobe Acrobat for complex projects or documents that do not convert well in Google Drive. With the most recent update to Google Drive, OCR (Optical Character Recognition) capabilities are better and easier than ever."

"Even after teaching for a decade, Pamela Baack found herself battling the calendar as she tried to keep her students on track. She's the first to admit it wasn't easy to change the way she had been teaching for a decade. "We were always on someone else's pace, not our kids' pace," says Baack, who teaches at the Bella Romero Academy of Applied Technology, a K-8 public school in Greeley, Colorado. Most lessons were taught to the entire class, requiring Baack to constantly search for opportunities to help the students who struggled. "It was hard to differentiate, because it was hard to find the time to go back," she says. Today, students in Baack's third-grade classroom work through addition, multiplication, and division activities at their own pace. Some progress through lessons quickly, while others get the opportunities they need to relearn and practice key concepts until they are ready to move forward. Importantly, Baack says, even the students who struggle the most are at grade level. "They're still doing what every else is doing, but at a different pace," she says. "They're exposed to grade-level standards and content and will be able to move up." "

"This week, we completed our 10th Annual Summer Teaching with Technology Workshop Series. During that time, we taught five iPad workshops ranging from Leveraging iPads, Laptops, and other Digital Tools to Create Differentiated Learning Environments to The iPad Classroom to iPads, ePubs, & iBooks Author. We often say that we learn as much from our participants as they learn from us. To prove it, we've compiled a Top 10 List of what we learned this summer."

"As our 1:1 initiative moves forward, I see that there are three kinds of teachers that are part of the process: 1. The teachers who are ready for change (!!) 2. The teachers who are willing to change 3. The teachers who just want to get by I wish someone would have told me about this! But, I'm glad I had the chance to be a teacher before becoming an Instructional Technologist. That background has led me to approach the teachers as students first & teachers second. I pondered and pondered how 1:1 should be implemented (after I had also read some literature on it). I came up with the idea that because I target three different groups of teachers, my sessions need to be differentiated to meet their needs."

"To help her students understand and be able to analyze the apps they come across online, Mutt Susan from Digital Divide and Conquer has created this wonderful rubric. The Student App Review Rubric, features five sections ( or criteria) that students can grade when assessing an app. Each of these criteria can be graded with a numerical number from 0 to 4 with 4 as the top grade. The five criteria included in this rubric are : Looks and sound Engagement and motivation User friendly directions and instructions Performance and ease of use Differentiation in learning."

"In the first installment of Rick Wormeli's homework advice, he made the case for take-home assignments that matter for learning and engage student interest. In Part 2, Rick offers some guiding principles that can help teachers create homework challenges that motivate kids and spark deeper learning in and out of school. These articles are adapted and updated from Rick's seminal book about teaching in the middle grades, Day One & Beyond: Practical Matters for New Middle Level Teachers. Rick continues to offer great advice about homework, differentiation, assessment and many other topics in workshops and presentations across North America. Check back in Part 1 for some additional homework resources."

"Pre-assessment is a powerful instructional tool. Conducted prior to new learning experiences, the process empowers students as much as it empowers teachers. I became acquainted with pre-assessment during the early years as a classroom teacher. This was when differentiated instruction felt new to everyone. In those days, we used pre-tests, anticipation guides, and student work samples from previously taught units to identify what kids knew, what they were already able to do, and where we should invest our greatest energies. Our pre-assessment practices have evolved quite a bit since then. Many teachers have come to understand that assessment in any context rarely requires testing, and data isn't just a simple set of numbers, and defining strengths and needs serves learners in more ways than we previously understood. Sure, we still pre-assess to compact the lessons we teach, but engaging learners in this sort of reflective work helps them carve productive pathways through student-directed learning experiences as well. Consider some of these approaches as you design learning experiences for your students or prepare to engage them in self-directed projects:"