Fluid Conversations

This is the second entry cross-posted from my Wilkes blog:

With November 3 looming ever closer, I have spent many sleepness nights pondering how I can create a learning experience worthy of the time the participants are willing to give me. I haven’t really started formal planning, although I know these things for sure:

* I will use UbD to help guide my planning.
* I want to inspire.
* I will have two very special “Expert Voices” attend my session virtually. (Elluminate or Skype)
* My district bought copies of “Differentiating Instruction with Technology in K-5 Classrooms” for each participant.
* Although some theory will be shared, I want this to be practical, also.
* I will use a wiki to share ideas, resources and research with teachers.

I want to share the document from our course, entitled, “Synopsis of Differentiated Instruction, its Traits and Elements.” While fairly simple, it has had a profound effect on my understanding of differentiated instruction. Although my prior training used these ideas, visual organization of this diagram helps me see the “whole picture”.

Some questions I need to ask myself as I plan for this workshop include:

* Why am I offering this training?
* What do I want teachers to know?
* What do I want teachers to be able to do?
* How do I assess their understanding?
* How do I turn a one-shot deal into something sustained and embedded?

Obviously I have a lot of work to do. I’m hoping to really dig in this weekend. If you want to follow some of work I’m doing, you can check out my delicious bookmarks here:

http://www.delicious.com/charrod/nov3

http://www.delicious.com/charrod/differentiation

Stay tuned…

This is cross-posted on my Wilkes blog:

On November 3, I will be facilitating a 3-hour workshop on using technology to differentiate instruction to our K-6 teachers. I’ve learned so much through participating in this course and feel there is a need for our staff members to re-imagine what differentiation looks like with the advent of these tools. Most teachers I talk to feel like differentiation is “just one more thing to do”; they haven’t yet seen the power of differentiation to more readily meet their students’ needs.

So what are my goals for the session? Well, for one, I want to help them shift their thinking; instead of seeing differentiation as something we “do” to the students, they need to see it as a way of thinking about learning. If we truly understand and believe that each person comes to us with a unique learning style and differing needs, then the natural consequence is to design learning experiences that reflect that belief. Secondly, I want to re-introduce them to differentiation strategies such as learning contracts, surveys, pre-assessments and compacting. Finally, I want to expose them to some of the tools available to make differentiation more effective and efficient.

That’s about as far as I’ve gotten in my planning. I know I want to “walk my talk” and differentiate the session for my learners. I know I want to bring in some expert voices to bring multiple perspectives to the learning. I know I will create a wiki to house all of the session information. What do you think? If were going to plan a three hour workshop on using technology to differentiate instruction, what might your plan look like? I would love to hear your thoughts.