Thoughts on differentiation

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This is copied from I don't know where, after a Twitter-hosted #edchat.

Can you meet the needs of every single student you teach? If you are teaching 5 kids, 10 kids even, probably. More than likely if you are a middle school or high school teacher you could be teaching over 100 kids. You have to realize that you can't do something different for everyone, no matter what your administration tells you. (I say that because mine always told me I had to provide different instruction for the over 130 students I taught. Oh and I only saw them for 50 mins a day. Yours may be telling you the same.)

So what do you do? Shake things up. Once you understand your students (by connecting with them) you know one day you might need to do an activity that gets them up and moving around. And the next day an activity where the students have to create. And the next day an activity where the students are reading and discussing with their peers.

You can't walk into the classroom day in and day out teaching exactly the same way. First, that's boring. Second, you are going to reach more students when you vary your instruction. Have fun with it! Dress up, sing, draw, kids love it when they see their teacher as human. (And they might just learn lots!)

Thoughts on grading

in

These were some strong points made on a Twitter #edchat revolving around grading and the like.

  • Grading should be based only on learning, not ability, not effort. Students should be required to show learning.
  • When we worry about having enough assignments to justify the grade, instead of focusing on proficiency levels we miss the point.
  • Giving and grading assignments so that one has enough to give a grade is not effective in providing valuable data info.
  • A focus on grades instead of a focus on ability/proficiency level with certain skills or standards is not as effective.
  • Today I realized if grading is based on a rubric then final mark should be calculated based on Mode rather than Mean.
  • My students leave with a portfolio and a grade. Portfolio elements and the quality thereof determine the grade.
  • Will somebody please tell me the functional difference between an 80, a 76, AND A 74.