Term 2 Week 10 - how can I meet different learning needs in my classroom?

This Week and Upcoming Events
4 - 10 July - Maori Language Week - “Manaakitanga” as the theme for Māori Language Week 2011. According to the Chief Execuative of The Maori Language Commission, Glenis Philip-Barbara, "Manaakitanga is a very important tenet of Māori custom and identity - how we make people feel welcome when they are in our company, and how we give regard to and care for others when hosting visitors."

8 July - Red Socks Day - Red Socks Day will be held during Leadership Week on Friday 8th July – to encourage schools, organisations and individuals throughout New Zealand to celebrate leadership in action and to remember a great New Zealand leader, Sir Peter Blake.
11 July - World Population Day

Professional Readings

• Dealing with low level disruption in your classroom

Differentiation Readings and Strategies

• Still a long way to go on inclusion of pupils with autism, says report (UK)
• A short article - How can I meet differing learning needs in the classroom?
• Autism NZ website - The estimated population of people with Autism Spectrum Disorders in New Zealand is approxiamately 40 000. This website has information about Autism Spectrum Disorder including videos.
• Tools for Teachers of children with autism - According to recent studies the current prevalence for children on the autism spectrum stands at about 1 in 100 which equates to just under 134,000 children in the UK. This means that if you are not already teaching a child on the autism spectrum you are very likely to do so at some point in your career. As such it is important to have an awareness of autism spectrum disorders and how to implement strategies to enable children on the spectrum to access all aspects of school life and to reach their full potential. This toolkit is also saved on the T Drive (T:\Reflective Practice Group\2011)

General Strategies

Paula (PC) sent me the link to this blog by Jerry Webster, which summarises 49 Techniques from the book Teach Like a Champion: Instructional and Classroom Management Strategies for Academic Success. The strategies are divided into sections:

• Setting High Academic Expectations
• Planning that ensures academic achievement
• Structuring and delivering your lessons
• Engaging students in your lessons
• Creating a strong classroom culture
• Building and maintaining high behavioral expectations
• Building character and trust

Each week I will include a link on this blog to one of the strategies. Teach Like a Champion — Technique Number One: No opting out. Teachers with high expectations don't accept "I don't know," but expect students to be engaged and "give it a shot."

Term 1 Week 5 - differentiation

Upcoming Events
3 March World Book Day - http://www.worldbookday.com/
6 March National Children's Day - www.childrensday.org.nz

Professional Reading

PISA 2009: Our 21st century learners at age 15
This report published in December 2010 provides a picture of New Zealand’s 15-year-old performance in reading literacy (main focus), mathematical literacy and scientific literacy. It compares New Zealand’s results with other top- and high-performing countries. In July and August 2009 4,643 New Zealand 15 year-old students from 163 New Zealand schools took part in PISA 2009.

Positives:

• New Zealand 15-year-old students’ overall reading performance was substantially higher than the average for the 345 OECD countries.


• There were Asian, Māori, Pākehā/European and Pasifika students who performed at the highest level of reading literacy.


• New Zealand students’ overall mathematical literacy performance was significantly higher than the average for the OECD countries.


• New Zealand students’ overall scientific literacy performance was substantially higher than the average for the OECD countries.

What we need to work on in NZ:

• While Pākehā/European and Asian students were more likely to be at the higher end, Māori and Pasifika students were over-represented at the lower end.

More complex than skills: Rethinking the relationship between key competencies and curriculum content - Dr. Rosemary Hipkins, New Zealand Council for Educational Research
I have been thinking about how I can encourage my junior students to goal set and reflect on their use of the Key Competencies during learning in English. This conference paper gave me some ideas to get me started.
Abstract: Drawing on the New Zealand experience, this paper outlines two possible implementation pathways. The “skills” pathway could lead to modest improvements in teaching and learning. It is, however, unlikely to achieve longer-term goals such as strengthening citizenship, enhancing creativity and fostering lifelong learning. Such goals have future-focused and dispositional components. The “participatory” pathway could support these longer-term goals. Students are challenged to use knowledge, not just get it. However following this pathway requires a rethinking of how curriculum content is used, with implications for what is seen as evidence of learning. The presentation will draw on several common science topics and two of the key competencies as they were developed for the New Zealand Curriculum (Thinking; Using Language, Symbols and Texts). These will be used to illustrate possible changes in teaching and learning approaches. Implications for curriculum support processes will be raised.

Differentiation Strategies

This article ("Defining Differentiated Instruction") expands on Edutopia's definition of differentation. It covers:

• Starting with the student


• A classroom example


• A matter of fairness (using sentence starters, graphic organisers with some students)

Pre-assessment: A Differentation Power Tool

Pre-assessment is often the first step to differentiating in our classrooms. This document goes over some of the ways that you can pre-test students - academically and in terms of their interests.

General Resource

"Becoming a master asker" - this article explores the question what makes a good question? Very helpful tips for us teachers.

Term 1 Week 2

The Font Debate
I belong to a couple of teacher litserves and over the last few weeks there has been much discussion about the use of fonts and in particular which fonts are best for our students. I have my favourites and find Times New Roman and Comic Sans especially revolting to read. However, according to The Times Educational Supplement Comic Sans may just help our students to remember what they read. Read all about it here.

This website (http://www.comicsanscriminal.com/) looks at the use of comic sans and typography (briefly) from a design point of view. There is also a link to a dyslexia website (http://www.dyslexic.com/fonts) which explains which fonts are better for students with dyslexia - which is useful for the many of us who teach dyslexic students.

Lesson ideas:

• Try out this puzzle generator at Discovery.com


• Do you teach your students about Fairtrade? The TES has some fairtrade resources which may be useful.

If you want to access any resources about setting up for learning at the beginning of the year, check out this post from the beginning of 2010.

Term 2 Week 2 - Teaching Tips and a video on Autism

Two Hot Management Tips: Triggering & Bite-Sized Instruction
Dr. Spencer Kagan & Laurie Kagan
Provide crisp instructions with these two management tips. Triggering will keep attention high and interruptions low. Bite-Sized Instruction breaks long instructions into manageable pieces so no one gets lost and everyone's on the same page. Two great tips, especially for teachers who use active teaching strategies.

Secondary Special Needs - Understanding Autism (video)
Twenty-year-old John Simpson, who himself is on the autistic spectrum, guides us through the theory and reality of life for many ASD pupils at secondary school. John is keen to help raise awareness to ensure future generations of pupils with ASD get more from a mainstream school environment. As well as sharing his own story, he speaks to Autism West Midlands' Sue Hatton about the condition, and Mike Collins from the National Autistic Society, who reveals the terms used to describe people on the spectrum. We hear from the parents of an autistic child about their day to day life, and we hear ideas from the experts about how teachers can further include ASD pupils.

I know that last week a few people had trouble viewing the video due to it buffering and not playing. Generally if you try to stream a video from the internet at busy times (e.g. lunchtime) it may be very slow.