I'm super excited to tell you that I revamped my book A Common Sense Approach to Differentiation (A Teacher in the Trenches). I updated it with new information and feel honored that my idea in the book was implemented school wide this past year. PIE-Practice Intervention Enrichment. I also gave the book a fresh new cover.
To celebrate the start of the new school year, my book is offered FREE on Kindle this week. It's a short read with simple ideas to differentiate your lessons. Check out the contents list below.
Differentiate Your Classroom-Materials Needed to Set up your Classroom for Differentiation
Catch Them at the Core-Differentiate your Core Lessons
A Week of Math Differentiation-An inside look at a week of math in my classroom
Begin with the End in Mind- Concept is illustrated with a Writing Unit
Reading Differentiation in Action- Another look at a week in my classroom
Wrap it Up- Recap of my main points.
One of my favorite quotes from the book.... "The means by which each student accomplishes the outcome may look different, but my goal is to get everybody there." Tammi Booth
I’ve learned the best way to differentiate, in order to reach all learners, is to do it right at the core of every lesson. I’d love to individualize instruction for every student, but with twenty-five to thirty children in the classroom it’s next to impossible. Catching as many learners as I can at the core of each lesson is my solution. The Merriam Webster definition of core is: a central and often foundational part usually distinct from the enveloping part by a difference in nature. The core of your lesson is the foundation upon which everything else is built. It makes sense to deliver each lesson with a conscious awareness of the different learning modalities. I keep the following learning modalities in mind when teaching my lessons…auditory, visual, tactile, and kinesthetic. When teaching new concepts, I begin with direct teaching of the concept. This method tailors to the auditory and visual learners, however I need to begin with a hook to grab the attention of everyone before I move onto direct teaching. I also have to be aware of the time span before boredom sets in. Attention span can be calculated by subtracting two from the age of the children. My kiddos are eight turning nine during the school year. Nine minus two equals seven. I have six to seven minutes to introduce the new concept directly before I need to change it up. Let’s look at a math lesson on subtracting two digit numbers with regrouping. Hook: I review the concept of regrouping from our previous lesson using base ten models by calling students to the front to help me.(visual, auditory) Direct Teaching: I demonstrate subtraction directly with a problem on chart paper that will later become an anchor chart in the classroom for reference. I color code the ones and tens places. The students use the same colors to write the example in their Math Notebooks.(visual, auditory, kinesthetic)After a couple more demonstrations, my attention span time limit is up. So I have the students use wipe off boards with color markers for practice. They use the different colors for tens and ones places just like the examples in their notebooks. I give a couple of problems orally to the class. Students write the problems down. Next, I tell them to turn and talk through the process with “elbow partners”. (auditory, visual, kinesthetic) Assess on the Spot: I circulate around the classroom to get an idea of who is grasping the concept and who is struggling and then I call the group’s attention back to me. At this point, I assign some problems from the math book for the students doing okay with the concept. I call the students that were struggling to the table with their wipe off boards to practice with me, using base ten models as necessary.(visual, auditory, tactile) Further Differentiation: Something I need to mention is that I scrounge old math workbooks from the grade ahead of me to use for my students that need challenged, I assign problems from the corresponding lesson in the workbook from the grade ahead for those students in place of the problems assigned to the rest of the class. Did you see all of the ways I differentiated in one lesson? It doesn’t take tremendous amounts of time to pre-plan. I’ve already made sure my classroom is stocked with the supplies needed. I didn’t plan an extravagant lesson. It was pretty simple and easy to implement and met the needs of all of my learners. Read Teachers in the Trenches free on Kindle November 2-7
"To
those whom much is given, much is expected." Luke 12:48
My passions drive me; teaching children and writing stories. God
blessed me with gifts and avenues to do both things. Twenty-three years in
education has allowed me to contribute to the shaping of precious children.
Nothing makes me smile like looking inside the mind of a child. So innocent,
honest, and each one unique. I love it!
God recently opened doors
for me to pursue my passion of writing. Writing stories was always my means of
an escape. When being creative, I haven’t room in my mind for the stresses of my
career in which I have no control…state mandates, home environments of my students,
The Third Grade Guarantee, push of new ideas to implement into an already
overflowing schedule, and so on.
Although writing
fiction, specifically teen & young adult is my preference, I’ve felt a push
over the last year to write nonfiction in my field. Why? Teaching in the thick
of it all forced me to take a step back and look at teaching with a new
perspective. If I didn’t do this, I would’ve drowned. In all my years of
experience, I can honestly say I’ve never seen things so out of our control. By
“our” I mean us, the teachers in the thick of it. The teachers in the trenches.
As a means to survive,
yet maintain my effectiveness in the classroom, I had to approach everything
new with three questions.
What form
of this new concept am I currently implementing in my classroom?
What from
this can I add to my toolbox? Not overflow it so that I’m overwhelmed.
How does
this idea or concept fit into my teaching style? I refuse to
change who I am as a teacher. I’m more effective when I’m her.
I have great respect for experts in
their fields or methods of teaching, such as differentiation, RTI, guided
reading, guided math, close reading, etc. The reality is, I am responsible for
teaching common core standards and administering a high stakes state mandated
test. At the end of the day, it’s my name at the top of the list of scores,
whether I agree with it or not.
I can’t possibly implement every concept or
method in the truest form. I need to take a common sense approach to analyzing
it all by asking myself the three questions above. I’ve found if I do that, I’m
more effective because I’ve added to my box another tool to help children
without feeling like I’m a failure because I can’t do it all.
If anything I’ve learned helps even
one teacher, I’ve accomplished what I set out to do. We are in this together. We
are in the thick of it. We need to lean on each other now more than ever.It’s my hope to ease the mind of every
teacher of feeling that we are failures if we can’t juggle everything and
implement all thrown at us the way it’s presented to us.
As I’m finishing up the final edits
of my first book of The Teachers in the Trenches Series, I invite you to sign up
through email to receive a free copy. Book one will focus on my common sense
approach to Differentiated Instruction.
The start of the school year is just around the corner. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of you summer.
Relax. You deserve it.
In the last twenty-three years of my teaching career I’ve witnessed the cycling of ideas and philosophies. I’ve seen teaching methods tweaked and renamed as the latest and greatest. Old thrown out ideas wheel their way back around with a different name. Do I dare say that the majority of the latest buzz words in education are just that....new names for methods or ideas that experienced teachers have used for years? Yes, I said it.
This brings up the topic that disturbs me…the devaluing of experience in the classroom. Education today is being driven by people who have spent little or no time at all in the classroom. The philosophies under which decisions are made are based on studies or politically motivated. Don’t get me wrong, studies in the field of education are important when used in the correct context. That’s all I will say about that.
Over my teaching career I’ve gotten my master’s degree in education, attended many professional trainings, taken extra courses, and so on. All of which I’ve learned things to add to my toolbox. None of which were the “fix all” in any area of education. The most valuable element in shaping me into the teacher I am today is my experience. As were the veteran teachers that mentored me at the start of my career. Nothing can replace the knowledge gained by teachers in the trenches.
The definition of the phrase in the trenches is “working in the most active and difficult parts of a job or business”. Did you catch that? Teachers in the thick of it all, not floating above dictating how to do the job.
The discounting of this experience should not be taken lightly. It’s with this idea in mind that I’m motivated to write this book. Not because I’m a know it all. A teacher knows that he will never stop learning and I’m no different. I want to share my experience in order to arm other teachers with knowledge that I’ve gained in the last twenty years. My hope is that my ideas will ease the burden of having to dive into the latest trend in education head first. My advice to every teacher is to stand back and look at the new concept with your classroom in mind.
Ask yourself these questions:
What from this method or idea am I currently doing in my classroom?
What can I take from this that will add to my toolbox? (not overflow it so that I feel overwhelmed)
How does this fit into my teaching style?
These are the questions I have learned to ask myself when new methods are thrown at me. In book one of my Teachers in the Trenches series I will share with you my experience with Differentiated Learning. I approached this topic with the three questions above when asked to take workshops on the subject. My goal in this book is to share with you the ideas of differentiation that I naturally built into my classroom and tips and tricks I picked up along the way. Differentiation doesn’t have to be a time consuming separate part of the curriculum. Join me in the next eight chapters to learn how you can do this simply and discover ways that you already differentiate that you probably didn’t even realize.
I invite you to subscribed to my Email list to receive a free copy of the book when it's released.
Welcome back great Teacher Ninja Warriors. Last week I introduce my version of what it takes to be a teacher ninja, like a real ninja, teachers are experts in their field. Like real ninjas, we have a sense of values and beliefs that we operate under to make us great warriors in the field of education.
This week I want to connect ninja way #2, Move with Precision. I'll keep it brief and to the point. Here it goes:
Every move of a ninja serves a purpose. A ninja learns to study people. Figure them out, see what makes them tick. This information is valuable for leverage.
The teacher ninja must move with the same precision being a purposeful observant at all times. Pay attention to conversations among the students to understand their interests. A ninja teacher takes surveys in order to learn interests and learning styles. In my opinion the most useful information to learn what makes a student tick is frequent monitoring and note-taking on behaviors.
A had a bright student in my class one year that didn’t work to his potential. I’ll call this student Jerry. Jerry often appeared bored and drifted into “la-la land” during instruction. While meeting with his guided reading group I took notes. A book we read one day sparked conversation from him. He connected with a character who went on fishing trip with his father. Jerry was like a sleeping volcano that stirred to life. He spurted out stories of trips to the lake with his family. You better believe I used this new bit of information for all it was worth. Jerry wrote a personal narrative about one of his trips, made a map of his favorite place to fish, and researched the wild life in the area. From then on, Jerry seemed to pay attention more and noticed other things in class that he could connect with.
This is just one example of many that shows how making each move with precision and purpose can lead you to be a ninja teacher,a skilled teacher that is an expert on his/her students.
