Learning and Teaching in the 21st Century

How do you describe yourself as a learner in the 21st Century?

I would describe myself as a sponge. I soak in so much information daily, and some of it I have trouble retaining. For me, learning needs to have some sort of structure so that I can anticipate what will happen next. I am an avid reader, but when it comes to learning new information, I am such a visual learner. If all my learning could come through watching and doing, I would be so much more successful. Thankfully for me, we are in the digital age, where there are information videos that are accessible so easily. I think sometimes I do find myself afraid to learn because there are so many new things to learn when it comes to digital literacies. After watching Mattan Griffel give a crash course in coding, I truly had a freak out moment. I was like, “I am so behind! I don’t know how to do any of that!” but it immediately followed with, “I can learn! It just takes time and practice…” I am so quick to reuse what has worked well in the past that I don’t always jump to branching out to something that could be even better. I am eager to learn more about different tools that I can learn to use that will help me become a more efficient teacher in the digital age.

How do you describe yourself as a teacher in the 21st Century?

As a teacher in the 21st Century, I feel as though I am flexible to the changes that come via technology. I work at a school that is technology based. Students use chromebooks in each classroom and have access to ipads if specific projects call for their use. I have met many teachers who are afraid to use technology because they feel that their students know more than they do. I will be honest, they probably do! I think it should be embraced, I think that it’s okay to learn from your students about different new technologies. However, I also feel that it is important to help our students become digital citizens. Even though we may be learning new technologies from our students, we need to learn and know enough about the even changing technological world so that we can teach them to be smart online. I enjoy using technology tools to enhance learning in the classroom. Sometimes when I get nervous about learning something new, I remind myself about the last technology that I used and how I didn’t know how to use it at first, but now I am proficient. The same thing applies with anything new. Say, “I am not good at this YET.” A growth mindset is very important when its comes to learning and teaching in this era.

Teaching Plan for Differentiating in Social Studies

Teaching Plan for Differentiating in Social Studies

I spoke just today with a science teacher about how to differentiate in science and how to move away from the “lesson, lesson, lesson, multiple choice test” pattern. From this conversation, I noted some key ideas that could be used in other subjects as well, in this case Social Studies. With so many learning styles, abilities, and personalities that come with each new class, it is important to make sure your teaching plan is set up in a way that can reach every student in the class. Below you will find by teaching plan outlined for the content area of social studies.

Pre-Test:

I used to think it was strange to pretest in this area, but you can never assume that you will have a classroom full of students who know nothing about the material. Some may surprise you, and know a great deal! Pre-testing in this subject, can simply be done in a KWL Chart either individually or as a larger group discussion. Students can discuss/write what they already know about the content and what they would like to know and follow it up at the end of the lesson with what they learned. This is a great way to see which areas need to be more heavily discussed than others, or if you need to have a separate assignment for those that demonstrate mastery of the standard.

Lesson:

During the lesson portion in social studies, it can be easy to just have students read the textbook to themselves. The problem with that, is that while independent reading is beneficial for some, it does not benefit ALL. I would provide an opportunity for students to “choose their own lesson” (Similar to the chose your own ending books). I would create teaching stations around the room:

1. Individual reading/Note taking or drawing (Intrapersonal, Linguistic, and Spatial Learners)
1. Students can sit/stand alone to read content and write and draw what they learn
2. The Listening/Recording Center (Musical, Interpersonal, and Bodily-Kinesthetic Learners)
1. Students can use the audio textbook to learn content and record themselves or their peers talking or acting out what they learned
3. The Research Station (Mathematical/Logical Learners)
1. Students can read content and ask follow up questions and research new information
4. The Mini-Lecture Station
1. Students meet in a small group to read with the teacher or Instructional Aide and to discuss/write/draw what they learn (ELL, Special Needs)

Closure:

To close the lesson, students should be given an opportunity to share what they have learned either through discussion, acting out their skit, or posting written work or drawings for others to see. A closing discussion where students can share difficulties, successes, and what they learned would be a great progress monitoring tool.

Testing:

When it comes to testing, this can be in various forms. Rather than a multiple choice test on the content, giving students an opportunity to write what they have learned, or share verbally will give the teacher a better understanding of their true knowledge. A rubric would need to be used.

PBL and Differentiation

Below I have outlined a lesson plan that shows how Project Based Learning (PBL) allows for differentiation in the classroom.

1. Description

Subject: History/Social Studies

Topic: Colonial America

Grade: 5th

2. Learning Objectives

By the end of the lesson students will be able to

• Locate all 13 colonies and American Indian nations.
• Describe the influence of location and physical setting of each colony.
• Identify and explain the important leaders and figures for the colony’s foundation as well as the religious aspects of each colony.
• Understand the government, slavery, and economic differences between each colony.

3. State Standards

5.4 Students understand the political, religious, social, and economic institutions that evolved in the colonial era.

1. Understand the influence of location and physical setting on the founding of the original 13 colonies, and identify on a map the locations of the colonies and of the American Indian nations already inhabiting these areas.
2. Identify the major individuals and groups responsible for the founding of the various colonies and the reasons for their founding (e.g., John Smith, Virginia; Roger Williams, Rhode Island; William Penn, Pennsylvania; Lord Baltimore, Maryland; William Bradford, Plymouth; John Winthrop, Massachusetts).
3. Describe the religious aspects of the earliest colonies (e.g., Puritanism in Massachu­setts, Anglicanism in Virginia, Catholicism in Maryland, Quakerism in Pennsylvania).
4. Identify the significance and leaders of the First Great Awakening, which marked a shift in religious ideas, practices, and allegiances in the colonial period, the growth of religious toleration, and free exercise of religion.
5. Understand how the British colonial period created the basis for the development of political self-government and a free-market economic system and the differences between the British, Spanish, and French colonial systems.
6. Describe the introduction of slavery into America, the responses of slave families to their condition, the ongoing struggle between proponents and opponents of slavery, and the gradual institutionalization of slavery in the South.
7. Explain the early democratic ideas and practices that emerged during the colonial period, including the significance of representative assemblies and town meetings.

4. Materials/Tools
• Cardboard trifold (similar to what is used for science fair)
• Paper, scissors, glue, markers, pens, etcs.
• Textbook (physical or online)
• Chromebook
• Printer

5. Instructions/Procedure

1. The teacher will introduce the standards and objectives for the PBL.
2. The teacher will give an overview of the project and explain the guidelines.
3. Students will be divided into groups based on strengths or multiple intelligences, making sure each group has a variety of strengths in different areas. (13 groups total; some pairs, some trios). Students will be able to find jobs that cater to their strengths (drawing, music, writing, research, etc.)
4. Each group will be given a different colony to research and explore through their textbook or online research.
5. Students will create a sales booth to try to get people to come live in their colony. Students must practice sales pitch, motto, and jingle. Students can use online resources to find pictures and information and use the computer to type, print, etc.
6. Students will showcase their sales booth to the class. Students will take notes while others present. The class will vote for best sales pitch, best government, best climate, best board, etc.

6. Assessment/Evaluation
• Students will be evaluated by rubric on their presentation, creativity, board, information, teamwork, etc. (See previous blog post about rubrics). Students will play a Kahoot! in their teams against the other colonies. The Kahoot will be a mashup of all the content information on all the colonies.

Cooperative Learning

Grouping when Writing

Writing can often seem like it is solely an individual task, but it can often be a great way for students to collaborate and think about the content together. I have seen success in writing collaboratively in the Social Studies/History content area. I have observed students work together to develop a script, and record a portion of a unit. For 5th grade, students were divided into groups to create movies about the thirteen colonies. Each group was to work on a script together before recording. Each student had a expert topic that they had to make sure the script covered such as government, religion, important figures, climate, etc. In this situation, each student had to contribute something important that they learned into the writing. I found it amazing that students were able to work on one script together through google doc sharing.

Heterogeneous/Homogeneous Grouping

Heterogeneous: Mix groups by making sure that there are a mixture of not only a range of learning levels (High, average, low, GATE, Special needs, ELL) but also a mixture of various strengths and interests.

Homogeneous: Mix groups by similar learning ability and differentiate by giving each group a different type of activity/project. For example, advanced learners/GATE may have a more challenging project than that of a group of students who are English Language Learners. I would use this grouping method for the above project.

Gardner’s Intelligences

Before I describe various group configurations, let us first review Gardner’s Intelligences:

(Infographic Credit: http://leoniemathilde.weebly.com/gardners-mi.html)

Now let’s discuss some various grouping configurations based on these intelligences:

1. Whole Group: With whole group instruction, alternating or using more than one intelligence at a time during instruction would be beneficial to the students. If content needs to be reviewed using a different intelligence to review, will help those students whose intelligence wasn’t used in the first go around. An example might be playing an audio version of the textbook for students to either listen or read along with and then having students take notes by writing or drawing. By doing this you would be involving spatial, musical, intrapersonal, and linguistic. For review, having students role play what they learned would involve interpersonal and bodily/kinesthetic intelligences.
2. Small Group: Small groups are a great way to cater to the strengths of students. They can be divided so that each student has a role that suits their intelligence. Alternatively, you could group students with similar intelligences together, and have each group create different projects, each one based on the same content, but with different end products. For the writing/movie project mentioned earlier, small groups would be best. You can assign students different roles such as director (Interpersonal), Writer (Linguistic), Recorder (Spatial), Editor (Musical), Actor (Bodily/Kinesthetic), Researcher (Intrapersonal/Mathematical).
3. Pairing: Pairing students that have opposite/different intelligences can help students find strengths in their peers and learn to work together for a common purpose.
4. Individual Design: Giving students individual learning activities that cater to their strengths inside and outside a collaborative group, will keep students motivated and engaged in the learning process.

Cooperative Learning as a Benefit

Grouping students can have many benefits on their learning. Cooperative groups allow teachers to teach grade level content creatively while differentiating to each student. It also allows students to learn the content by using their learning strengths and to become more engaged in the learning process. In simplistic terms, it allows teachers to teach and students to learn.

Differentiation Real Life Example

Fifth Grade: Figurative Language

Sometimes it can be easy to talk about differentiating, but when it comes to actually doing it in the classroom, it becomes more challenging. Hopefully by sharing my experience, it can help you to discover new ideas for differentiating or maybe you can suggest some ideas to me! I had the opportunity to teach a figurative language lesson to a fifth grade class. The students were to read an article about volcanoes, find figurative language within the article, and given one of two activities (create a brochure/pamphlet that would help people know what to include in a  survival kit if they lived near a volcano or create captions for the photos in the article). There were so many different learners in this class! There were English Language Learners, GATE students, a student with a health condition, a student with an Emotional Disorder, and array of various learning abilities. When working with so many different learning styles, my lesson plan need to be flexible and ready for quick changes. Let me explain some ways that I was able to differentiate this lesson for various learners.

English Language Learners:
1. Prior to reading (or listening to) text, the class will preview the article, looking at photos, captions, and key terms.
2. I was able to find the audio file of this article and allow the class to listen to it while following along with the text.
3. Instead of having the students write down each evidence of figurative language onto the worksheet, I had the students highlight the examples of personification, similies, and metaphors in three different highlighter colors (this helps the students find the examples without the added frustration of the time it takes to write, and the learning concept is the same)
4. Students worked with partners that fell into the middle range academically. This allows them to have some support without a) having the work completed for them by advanced learners or b) being overwhelmed and confused by working with low achieving students.
5. Students were given the task of creating captions for the 2 pictures in the article (using figuartive language) and creating their own third visual for the article including a caption. This narrows the amount of work into three smaller sections rather than overwhelming a struggling reader/writer with the task of creating an entire pamphlet.

Special Needs Students: (This one can be difficult because they may need specific modifications based on their IEPs)
1. Prior to reading (or listening to) text, the class will preview the article, looking at photos, captions, and key terms.
2. Allow students to choose their partner so they feel comortable (as long as it does not become a distraction). The student in this class would only work with one other student.
3. Give the students the choice of creating the pamphlet or creating new captions. Giving a choice may help with the student who refuses to work.
4. If a student is unable to write, give them the option of recording themselves talk about new captions, or what their advice would be for a survival kit (making sure they are using figurative language).
5. If students are working independently and you can help a specific student (or if they have an aide), the student could dictate their response to you.

Advanced or Gifted Learners*:
1. Students may come up with a varition on the assignment, if their variation still helps them accomplish the task, let them try it out. (Such as creating a powerpoint or poster)
2. Have a task ready for early finishers. (a few examples include a) having students try to find or use a different type of figurative language b) having students research a different volcano and share out fun facts with the class at the close of the lesson or c) have students come up with their own learning task!)
3. Challenge students to find ALL the figurative language used in the article
4. Give students the option to complete both activities or challenge them to think of a way to create one product using both activities.
5. Have students work in a group to complete a depth and complexity chart about the article, and give them an opportunity to discuss and ask questions in a groups with other advanced/gifted learners.

*Not all advanced or gifted learners are advanced/gifted in all subjects, keep that in mind when differentiating in various subjects

I hope this guide is helpful as you differentiate for your own set of unique learners! Remember, we all learn differently and what may work for one child may not work for another so it is good to have a toolbox fullof ideas ready to go prior to teaching a lesson. If you have any suggestions, please comment below!

Differentiating in Rubrics

How do I grade when I am differentiating?
Sometimes it can be difficult to develop a rubric for an assignment when differentiating takes place within a classroom. With so many various learning styles, teachers come up with various projects and assignements for one concept to help students to learn in the best way they know how. This, however, can make grading difficult for the teacher. How do you grade a project when they all look different? The answer is SIMPLE. That's it, that's the answer. When building your rubric, break it down, into it most simple form. Dr. Cindy Steury breaks it down in her video Rubrics to Simplify Grading asking, “What are the elements that you are going to evaluate?” She was talking about Chocolate Chip Cookies, but it is relevant to anything that is being evaluated. What elements are you looking for when you are checking to see if your students understand the assignment/project and the concept behond it? Below, I have built a simplified rubric that could be used whether a student was creating a rap, a play, an essay, a poem, a painting, etc. If the assignment was to show that you understand the causes of The American Revolution, students can show you that they understand by using a style that is best for them, while you can use one simple rubric to grade the various projects.

SIMPLE RUBRIC	Excellent (4)	Fair (3)	Good (2)	Needs Improvement (1)
Follows directions and includes all components	All components of the assignment have been fulfilled	Most elements of the assignments have been fulfilled	Only half of the assignment has been completed	Only a few steps of the assignment have been completed
Time Management	Student used class time efficiently	Student got distracted during class, but was able to refocus	Student was off task for most of the class, had some difficulty refocusing	Student was continuously off task during class, could not refocus
Creativity	Student used original ideas and was imaginative on assignment	Student used his/her own ideas most of the time	Student had difficulty using his/her own ideas	Student was unable to use his/her own ideas.
Conventions	Correct spelling, punctuation, grammar, and capitalization was used	Student used correct spelling, punctuation, grammar, and capitalization most of the time	Student used correct spelling, punctuation, grammar, and capitalization half of the time	Student had difficulty using correct spelling, punctuation, grammar, and capitalization
Appearance	The assignment looks professional, organized, and well put together	The assignment looks professional, organized, and well put together a majority of the time	The assignment needs organizational help but looks somewhat professional	The assignment needs organizational help and does not look professional