Help Sessions Coming!Please make sure that as you are beginning the review process that any reviews given to students are appropriate for their accommodations and are similar to the format of the test they will be taking.
See you at the Help Sessions! Reminders:Paperwork! Please keep in mind that when you are completing forms, whether on paper or digitally, that once you have written it, your responses become open record, meaning that a parent can request to view it. Please make sure that what you are writing is objective and measurable. (ie. do not say "student is lazy," say "student does not turn in work" or even better: "student turns in work without prompts in 4 out of 5 classes per week." Instructional Assistants!
Do you have an instructional assistant in your classroom? When you leave sub notes, please be sure to include information about the instructional assistant's role in the classroom in your sub notes. If you see an area of need in your classroom, you are more than welcome to ask the assistant to work with specific students, monitor the group, etc. Please keep in mind that the role of the assistant is not to make copies, grade, pass out papers, etc. In the classroom, our assistants should be helping students! Quick Tips for Differentiating InstructionAs we all know, differentiated instruction is a must if we are going to teach and reach all of our students. Check out this short video full of quick tips for how you can easily differentiate learning in your classroom! Video Take Home POints:Differentiation provides multiples opportunities for students to explore/learn and to show what they know.
Provide learning materials and tasks at different levels of challenge. Provide different levels of support. Ex. word bank, audio to listen to text, picture supports - what other ways can you think of to support? You can adapt the physical space of the classroom to meet student needs for learning. We must start with knowing who students are as learners. Ongoing assessment is key - assessment should guide instruction, as it shows a snapshot of what students know/can do. After a test, quiz, or assignment, what are you doing with the information provided by that assessment? Utilize flexible groupings - group and regroup students throughout the year to ensure that students needs are being met. Student groups should be comfortable, but should also challenge students at times as well. Regularly use a mix of different types of groupings: - Whole class instruction - Small group instruction - 1-to-1 instruction (teacher and student) - Peer teaching pairs (peers teach each other) - Partner learning (peers learn together) - Independent learning (student learns on own) - Cooperative small group learning (group learns together) Differentiating instruction benefits students with disabilities, English language learners, gifted students, and at-risk students (ALL students!) WHat will you do differently this week to help better meet the needs of all of our students? |