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Troy Patterson

Differentiation Doesn't Work - Education Week - 0 views

www.edweek.org/...fferentiation-doesnt-work.html

msm294 differentiation education

shared by Troy Patterson on 06 Jan 15 - No Cached
  • Let's review the educational cure-alls of past decades: back to basics, the open classroom, whole language, constructivism, and E.D. Hirsch's excruciatingly detailed accounts of what every 1st or 3rd grader should know, to name a few.
  • Starting with the gifted-education community in the late 1960s, differentiation didn't get its mojo going until regular educators jumped onto the bandwagon in the 1980s.
  • Differentiation is a failure, a farce, and the ultimate educational joke played on countless educators and students.
  • ...16 more annotations...
  • In theory, differentiation sounds great, as it takes several important factors of student learning into account: • It seeks to determine what students already know and what they still need to learn. • It allows students to demonstrate what they know through multiple methods. • It encourages students and teachers to add depth and complexity to the learning/teaching process.
  • Although fine in theory, differentiation in practice is harder to implement in a heterogeneous classroom than it is to juggle with one arm tied behind your back.
  • 'We couldn't answer the question ... because no one was actually differentiating,'
  • "In every case, differentiated instruction seemed to complicate teachers' work, requiring them to procure and assemble multiple sets of materials, … and it dumbed down instruction."
  • It seems that, when it comes to differentiation, teachers are either not doing it at all, or beating themselves up for not doing it as well as they're supposed to be doing it. Either way, the verdict is clear: Differentiation is a promise unfulfilled, a boondoggle of massive proportions.
  • The biggest reason differentiation doesn't work, and never will, is the way students are deployed in most of our nation's classrooms.
  • It seems to me that the only educators who assert that differentiation is doable are those who have never tried to implement it themselves: university professors, curriculum coordinators, and school principals.
  • Differentiation is a cheap way out for school districts to pay lip service to those who demand that each child be educated to his or her fullest potential.
  • Do we expect an oncologist to be able to treat glaucoma?
  • Do we expect a criminal prosecutor to be able to decipher patent law?
  • Do we expect a concert pianist to be able to play the clarinet equally well?
  • No, no, no.
  • However, when the education of our nation's young people is at stake, we toss together into one classroom every possible learning strength and disability and expect a single teacher to be able to work academic miracles with every kid … as long as said teacher is willing to differentiate, of course.
  • A second reason that differentiation has been a failure is that we're not exactly sure what it is we are differentiating: Is it the curriculum or the instructional methods used to deliver it? Or both?
  • The terms "differentiated instruction" and "differentiated curriculum" are used interchangeably, yet they are not synonyms.
  • Differentiation might have a chance to work if we are willing, as a nation, to return to the days when students of similar abilities were placed in classes with other students whose learning needs paralleled their own. Until that time, differentiation will continue to be what it has become: a losing proposition for both students and teachers, and yet one more panacea that did not pan out.
Troy Patterson

A surprising new argument against using kids' test scores to grade their teachers - The... - 1 views

www.washingtonpost.com/...scores-to-grade-their-teachers

msm286 teacherevaluation

shared by Troy Patterson on 14 Oct 14 - No Cached
  • This dispute is just one example of the mathematical acrobatics required to isolate the effect of one teacher on their students' test scores, when so many other factors inside and outside the school's walls affect how students perform.
  • When a teacher whose students do well on tests moves to a school where test scores were improving the previous year, and average scores continue improving after that teacher arrives, it is hard to know how much of that continued improvement is due to the new teacher and how much to other factors.
Troy Patterson

Annotating PDF's is a Bad Lesson Plan | Teacher Tech - 0 views

www.alicekeeler.com/...ting-pdfs-is-a-bad-lesson-plan

techcoach msm314

shared by Troy Patterson on 31 Oct 15 - No Cached
  • I am constantly asked how to annotate PDF’s. This is flat out a question I refuse to answer. Annotating PDF’s is not an engaging lesson plan. Trying to fill out a PDF on a computer is WORSE than just filling it out on paper. We should not be using tech for the sake of using tech.
Troy Patterson

How to Make a Quiz Work Harder for You | Cult of Pedagogy - 0 views

www.cultofpedagogy.com/aggregate-test-scores

msm317 quizzes grading

shared by Troy Patterson on 06 Dec 15 - No Cached
  • Assessments should give us loads of information about what our students understand, what they don’t understand, and how well we’ve taught them.
  • It took me years of teaching before I realized I was using my tests and quizzes to sort out, reward and punish my students, rather than measure and inform my teaching. I needed to make my assessments work harder for me.
  • I could identify specific misconceptions students had about the material and get better at addressing those the next time around. I also became a much better test maker.
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  • The best part about this system is you only need a pencil, an answer key, and a few extra minutes.
Ron King

3 Steps to Implement Data-Driven Instruction (Part 3/3) | Blended Learners - 0 views

www.blendedlearners.com/?p=281

steps instruction part blended learners

shared by Ron King on 08 Mar 16 - No Cached
  • Ron King on 08 Mar 16
     
    In parts 1 and 2, we looked how to get started collecting data for DDI and then how to use that data to plan for whole and small group lessons. In this third and final section, we’ll consider…
Ron King

Welcome to Formative! - 0 views

goformative.com

assessment formative assessment online assessment formative polling formative_assessment ipad tools_list

shared by Ron King on 21 Apr 15 - No Cached
  • Ron King on 08 Mar 16
     
    Similar to Kahoot or Socrative in that you can ask multiple choice, T/F, or short answer questions (Socrative) except students can use the drawing tools to visualize their solutions to questions.
Troy Patterson

Students 'Self-Assess' Their Way to Learning - Education Week - 0 views

www.edweek.org/...ess-their-way-to-learning.html

msm316 studentinvolvement

shared by Troy Patterson on 24 Nov 15 - No Cached
  • Tacyana will be asked to determine how her own work stacks up to a model.
  • Gust is one of a growing number of schools across the country where student self-assessment is one type of formative assessment that is woven into the school day.
  • 'Hey, wait a minute, kids have to be involved, too.'"
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • Learning is much deeper if the student is thinking, 'I am doing this because it will help me learn this.'
  • actively judging their work and progress toward a goal, and determining what steps to take to reach it.
  • "The expectation is that not only are teachers using data, students are owning data,"
  • Padilla said it takes time to teach students how to read rubrics or use systems to track their progress. But, she said, the shift is worth it. "I think students tracking their own data is key to getting students invested in their education," she said. "If they don't see the direct results in that moment, it's hard for them to know where to go."
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