When approaching any learning goal, experienced teachers typically know the misunderstandings students are likely to have and the kinds of errors they are likely to make. The key is not to wait for these problems to be verified through an assessment but to build lessons around them.
Regular formative assessments paired with structured, high-quality corrective activities can prevent minor errors from becoming major learning problems and failures.
Finally, we must help our students understand that the conditions for success are within their control and that we will help them remedy their learning errors when they occur. In other words, we, as teachers, must have a growth orientation to learning, and we must help our students develop the same orientation.
Google Apps provides filtered email to individual students in grades 2 and higher (and to classrooms of kindergarten and 1st grade students). Collaboration and other tools that are available that can be used across all subject areas.
I like that the first line is the definition of holistic health. This gives the first message of "understanding" this new material. The article is short, to the point and explains simply what holistic health is all about.
While typically developing children store... memories of experiences where they have met challenges and overcome obstacles, developmentally disabled children are more likely to retain memories in an isolated fashion, small pieces of information that do not provide tools or building blocks for future self-learning.
The RDI Program for ASD is a tailored set of objectives, extending from the Family Guided Participation Program and intended to target the core deficits of individuals with the diagnostic distinction, Autism Spectrum Disorder. Started less than a decade ago the RDI Program for ASD provides a remedial approach to this complex disorder.
Decline of American education system. How can kids be going through high school with"good" grades in core subjects and then fail the regents exam and find themselves unprepared for freshman college classes?
Test scores are an inadequate proxy for quality because too many factors outside of the teachers’ control can influence student performance from year to year — or even from classroom to classroom during the same year.
there’s a far more direct approach: measuring the amount of time a teacher spends delivering relevant instruction — in other words, how much teaching a teacher actually gets done in a school day.
Thirty years ago two studies measured the amount of time teachers spent presenting instruction that matched the prescribed curriculum, at a level students could understand based on previous instruction. The studies found that some teachers were able to deliver as much as 14 more weeks a year of relevant instruction than their less efficient peers.
There was no secret to their success: the efficient teachers hewed closely to the curriculum, maintained strict discipline and minimized non-instructional activities, like conducting unessential classroom business when they should have been focused on the curriculum.
A focus on relevant instructional time also implies several further reforms: Lengthening the school day, week and year; adopting a near-zero-tolerance policy for disruptive behavior, which classroom cameras would help police; increasing efforts to reduce tardiness and absenteeism; and providing as much supplementary and remedial tutoring (the most effective instructional model known) as possible.
From a parent's perspective (and sometimes from the child's), this can seem like we are "de-gifted" the child.
The most important thing is that you have the "data" that shows what the student needs and that you are matching this with an appropriate service.
Be very explicit with what the differentiation is and how it is addressing the needs
A major shift with RTI is that there is less emphasis on the "label" and more on the provision of appropriate service.
When a child has met all the expected benchmarks
independent reading
reading log
small group for discussions using similar questions.
long-term solutions might include forming a seminar group using a
program like "Junior Great Books."
Ideas for differentiating reading for young children can also be found at:
http://www.k8accesscenter.org/training_resources/readingdifferentiation.asp
http://www.appomattox.k12.va.us/acps/attachments/6_6_12_dan_mulligan_handout.pdf
enrich potential
to plan appropriate instruction, based on data that show the learners' needs.
additional enrichment and challenge in their area(s) strength.
Tiers 2 or 3
As the intensity of the needs increase, the intensity of the services also increases.
our ability to nurture potential in students prior to formal identification
appropriately scaffolded activities through Tier 2 support.
, with high-end differentiation and expectations, we are able to support the development of potential in all students.
This body-of-evidence can be used to support the nomination process and formal identification when appropriate.
likely to be of particular benefit for culturally and linguistically diverse, economically disadvantaged, and twice exceptional youngsters who are currently underrepresented within gifted education.
Tier 1 include:
Tier 2 include:
Tier 3 include:
universal screening
Aspergers
gifted children with learning disabilities?
If we provide enrichment activities for our advanced students, won't that just increase the acheivement gap?
Educational opportunities are not a “zero sum” game where some students gain and others lose.
the needs of all learners.
One is focusing on remediation, however the second approach focuses on the nurturing of potential through creating expectations for excellence that permeate Tier 1 with extended opportunities for enrichment for all children who need them at Tier 2. With the focus on excellence, the rising tide will help all students reach their potential. This is the goal of education.
make sure that the screener is directly related to the curriculum that you are using and that it has a high enough ceiling to allow advance learners to show what they know.
recognizing that students who are above grade level, or advanced in their academics, also need support to thrive
all students deserve to attend a school where their learning needs are met
seek out ways to build the knowledge and skills of teachers to address the range of needs
This includes learning about differentiated instruction within Tier 1and creating additional opportunities for enhancements and enrichments within Tier 2.
first
This often means that the district views the school as a “high-needs” school and does feel that many children would qualify for gifted education services (thus no teacher allocation is warranted). If this is the case, then this is a problematic view as it perpetuates the myth that some groups of children are not likely to be “gifted”.
These five differentiation strategies are as follows:
Curriculum Compacting (pre-assessment of learners to see what they know)
The use of Tiered Assignments that address: Mastery, Enrichment, and Challenge
Tiered Learning Centers that allow children to further explore skills and concepts
Independent and Small group learning contracts that allow students to follow area of interest
Questioning for Higher Level thinking to stretch the minds of each child.
RTI was,
first proposed as a way to help us better identify students who continue to need additional support in spite of having appropriate instructional opportunities to learn.
The primary issue is the need for measures of potential as well as performance.
an IQ measure
portfolio
that sometimes occur outside of school
children with complex sets of strengths and needs require a comprehensive evaluation that includes multiple types, sources, and time periods to create the most accurate and complete understanding of their educational needs.
a "diamond" shaped RTI model
confusing
use the same icon to represent how we address the increasing intensity of academic and behavioral needs for all learners.
English Language Learners?
Differentiated instruction is part of a strength-based approach to Tier 1, providing enriched and challenging learning opportunities for all students. However, a comprehensive RTI approach for gifted learners will also need strong Tier 2 and 3 supports and services.
Tracking, or the fixed stratification of children into learning levels based on limited data (placing children in fixed learning groups based on a single reading score), is the opposite of RTI.
off grade level trajectories
this may includ
assess the slope and speed of learning and plot the target from there.
content acceleration and content enrichment.
independent or small group project of their choice.
renzullilearning.com.
additional learning opportunities that both challenge the learner and address high interest learning topics.