PLE at Your Fingertips
Personalizing Learning at Lincoln Academy/Hairston Middle
Highlights in this month's issue!
cheerPLEF's Pep Talk
Teacher Features
Web 2.0 & App Cheat Sheet!
cheerPLEF's Pep Talk
“This time of year I know you are tired, hopefully this will give you encouragement to keep going. During the next few breaks please be reminded why we are here and why what we do is so important … our students. DEspite what some may think, we ARE making a difference in the lives of our students! These are words teachers never get tired of hearing. It is why we do what we do!
Hang in there. These kids that you are teaching today, they are going to think back on middle school,“I remember all my teachers’ names. I remember them all. Your kids will remember you too. They will look back on this time and think it was one of the best times in their life. They will want to thank you for the time you invested in them. I just want to encourage you. You are part of a noble profession. Hang in there. Hey, you are winning the game. It’s halftime. Don’t grow weary in well doing. Keep at it.”
Can we do it? YES - WE - CAN!
PLE / IGS of the Month: Differentation
As introduced during PACE Summer Training in the IGS (Instructional Grouping Strategies) we will spend time focusing on each of the 9 strategies. We will not move to next strategy as a school until we see 70% percent mastery with teachers. The fist strategy of focus is differentiation. Did you give your learning inventories? What did you with the data? Who are you going to differentiate for? These are just a few questions to answer before we get started.
At its most basic level, differentiation consists of the efforts of teachers to respond to variance among learners in the classroom. Whenever a teacher reaches out to an individual or small group to vary his or her teaching in order to create the best learning experience possible, that teacher is differentiating instruction.
Teachers can differentiate at least four classroom elements based on student readiness, interest, or learning profile:
- Content – what the student needs to learn or how the student will get access to the information;
- Process – activities in which the student engages in order to make sense of or master the content;
- Products – culminating projects that ask the student to rehearse, apply, and extend what he or she has learned in a unit; and
- Learning environment – the way the classroom works and feels.
Learning Environment
Examples of differentiating learning environment at the elementary level include:
- Making sure there are places in the room to work quietly and without distraction, as well as places that invite student collaboration;
- Providing materials that reflect a variety of cultures and home settings;
- Setting out clear guidelines for independent work that matches individual needs;
- Developing routines that allow students to get help when teachers are busy with other students and cannot help them immediately; and
- Helping students understand that some learners need to move around to learn, while others do better sitting quietly (Tomlinson, 1995, 1999; Winebrenner, 1992, 1996).
References:
Excerpted from: Tomlinson, C. A. (August, 2000). Differentiation of Instruction in the Elementary Grades. ERIC Digest. ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education
Websites to help with differentiation:
http://daretodifferentiate.wikispaces.com/http://www.readingrockets.org/article/what-differentiated-instruction
edUcated Jaguars' Teacher Feature
"Making It Personal" Hornets' Teacher Feature
This month's Making it personal spotlight goes to Kimberley Sanderlin. She is currently in her 8th year of teaching and her 1st year at Lincoln and she is LOVING IT! Her previous instructional experience came from teaching at Jackson Middle School for the prior seven years. Sanderlin enjoys coaching (currently basketball, but also boys volleyball and softball at last appointment). She is a UNC Alum and Fan"Go Tar Heels" as she states. Before the deployment of the tablets you could find her in the computer lab integrating technology. She says she LOVES technology integration! Students started the year with I-Research unit, which helped get them acclimated to the high-tech classroom setting (QR codes, tinyurl, independent web search skill development, etc). Remnants of first project can still be found on her door :)
Sh says that she has found a new love in her life with Edmodo... just began dabbling with Schoology (any pros out there; she would like anyone to share! Using platforms such as Edmodo and Schoology has forced my learners to COLLABORATE and to DEPEND ON EACH OTHER! zShe goes on the share how the use of a LMS (Learning Management System) has also made assignment organization/submission- in and out of school- much more efficient.
She LOVES spending time with her 2-year old prince (Chauncey) and my husband, Kentraille Sanderlin, who teaches 6th SS at Hairston Middle.
Student reviews about the tablet!
"This is going to replace the iphone for the most useful device ever."
"This is actually really cool."
"They just need to replace the stylus with something skinnier, then it'd be perfect"
The Backup Plan
Feel free to contact me!
I am truly passionate about this thing called Persoanlize Learning, if you truly want to get there, I can help! Let me know what and when and I'm there!
Email: bellglw@gcsnc.com
Website: ple.gcsnc.com
Facebook: facebook.com/theplefs
Twitter: @cheerplef