Spring Semester

May is in sight…

This week the content was focused on three main topics and here I will define them and also provide an example.

Firstly, differentiated instruction which is when you teach with ‘multiple options for taking in the information and making sense of the ideas. These means that you are giving students different activities to teach one lesson/concept. I think of it with what is fair isn’t equal. Students receive and learn information in different ways and you need to think of the lesson objective. If the objective is to write an argumentative essay, you can ensure students are interested in the lesson by allowing them to chose the subject. You can also use educational websites that cater to the speed and area of learning the student needs, such as IXL for math.

Secondly, universal design for learning, which means that you provide access to all. It stems from when building had to become accessible to all, providing ramps or automatic doors for those what disabilities. By catering to the margin, it generally benefits or can be used by everyone. When applied to education if means you have broader goals and flexible methods of presentation, engagement and expression within you plans for your diverse class of students. You need to think about the goals and what barriers are in the way and provide the students with example and opportunities for practice. An example of a technology you could use is putting hyperlinks into the work so that they can watch videos or play games to provide a visual example and for them practice the skill.

Finally there is Assistive Technology (AT), and this is a device, software or technology that assists a student with a challenge. It can be as simple as a pencil grip for those that struggle to hold a pencil, glasses to help correct a vision problem or a software that can change speech in to written word for those who are deaf.

Reflecting on the video on exceptional learners, my main three take aways were that assistive technology can be in expensive, it just needs to appropriate to the situation and may require a lot of trial and error, that there is a common misconception that universal design is a special education incentive and is time consuming when in fact you just have to recognize that you have differences in the class and finally that you can teach children that different people need different things to get to the same goal and that its ok, because fair is not about all being equal and getting the same thing, know that as a teacher I plan to give you what you need to succeed!

I am not even sure what week it is… The assignment says Module 9. I am so grateful to have something to focus on, although it has got harder to carve out time for school work with everyone else in the house. We are finding quiet spaces around the house to try and create the right environment for everyone to be able to concentrate, although the smallest thing takes me away from my desk. This week I found it interesting to understand the difference between formative and summative assessments. My two children at high school use those terms all the time, but I could never grasp which was for a grade and which wasn’t… Now I know! Go me! I did know that you should use regular small assessments to ensure that they class was staying on track with achieving the standards, and that you should adjust your lesson planning if the concept has or has not been grasped.

I was amazed at how many apps there are available to help with this and I wonder how you ever begin to choose as a teacher.

My quiz question would be name three apps available to help with formative assessment

Stay safe and well!