Differentiate: verb; 1. recognize or ascertain what makes (someone or something) different 2. (technical) make or become different in the process of growth or development.
"There is the world inside the brain and the world outside the brain. We must bring them to terms with each other if we are to learn." (Zull)
Twenty-three years ago, I became a teacher. I jumped into the classroom to work with children and help them in their quest for knowledge. I was provided curriculum, text books, and a grade book and attempted to teach students what was in the books. I felt stifled and controlled, so that didn't work so well. Fast forward a few years, now I'm teaching 6th grade. I'm having a great time with students, creating a curriculum based around a common theme and I see all sorts of new learning and leadership taking place in my room, however I wasn't able to aptly define what it was we were learning and stay within the confines of a pre-conceived curriculum. I was a teacher who was able to differentiate, and did so unconsciously; the problem was I didn't have a way to record the learning and growth occurring with the students in my room. My own personal quest was to find a way to maintain the flexibility I needed to allow my creativity to flow as I saw fit, honor and respect each learner in their freedom to grow and explore at their own pace, and still find a meaningful way to document and communicate that growth to the student and their family. Enter the rubric! Ahhhhhh... I thought my problems were solved, only to discover that students and families still wanted a letter grade to let them know how they were doing. Additionally, I still had to place a single letter grade in a small space that indicated a student's achievement on a report card. While I am content to live with the rubrics and forgo the letter grades, clearly their is still a large population that places a whole lot of meaning on those letters. Thankfully, the work Rick Wormeli has done helps to seal that gap. Not only does he express in depth much of the reasoning and explanation about the role of differentiation that I couldn't put into words, but he offers creative options and out of the box formats that bring sense and order to my quest for documentation. Over these past years, I have been able to further develop and fine tune the use of rubrics with my ELL learners. Rubrics allow for differentiation to happen naturally in the classroom and provide the scaffolding for students to demonstrate their progress at their own pace. Additionally, scaffolds and rubrics provide a way to communicate with other teachers abilities and goals of the students we share. When both students and teachers are able to document and experience progress in a way that is clearly defined; our common purpose has been validated.
Summative Level 1 and +Level 3
(This is a joint project)
Summative Level 1
video clip
Formative Level 1
Formative Level 4
Student Feedback: With the small groups I work in, student feedback is immediate and specific to the students' needs. Feedback may be in the form of a rubric filled out, but is most likely a handwritten note on a writing piece the student handed in or a paper with specific English corrections or in direct conversation with me. Students also have access to their portfolios and are able to view the progress on their learning targets.
"There is the world inside the brain and the world outside the brain. We must bring them to terms with each other if we are to learn." (Zull)
Twenty-three years ago, I became a teacher. I jumped into the classroom to work with children and help them in their quest for knowledge. I was provided curriculum, text books, and a grade book and attempted to teach students what was in the books. I felt stifled and controlled, so that didn't work so well. Fast forward a few years, now I'm teaching 6th grade. I'm having a great time with students, creating a curriculum based around a common theme and I see all sorts of new learning and leadership taking place in my room, however I wasn't able to aptly define what it was we were learning and stay within the confines of a pre-conceived curriculum. I was a teacher who was able to differentiate, and did so unconsciously; the problem was I didn't have a way to record the learning and growth occurring with the students in my room. My own personal quest was to find a way to maintain the flexibility I needed to allow my creativity to flow as I saw fit, honor and respect each learner in their freedom to grow and explore at their own pace, and still find a meaningful way to document and communicate that growth to the student and their family. Enter the rubric! Ahhhhhh... I thought my problems were solved, only to discover that students and families still wanted a letter grade to let them know how they were doing. Additionally, I still had to place a single letter grade in a small space that indicated a student's achievement on a report card. While I am content to live with the rubrics and forgo the letter grades, clearly their is still a large population that places a whole lot of meaning on those letters. Thankfully, the work Rick Wormeli has done helps to seal that gap. Not only does he express in depth much of the reasoning and explanation about the role of differentiation that I couldn't put into words, but he offers creative options and out of the box formats that bring sense and order to my quest for documentation. Over these past years, I have been able to further develop and fine tune the use of rubrics with my ELL learners. Rubrics allow for differentiation to happen naturally in the classroom and provide the scaffolding for students to demonstrate their progress at their own pace. Additionally, scaffolds and rubrics provide a way to communicate with other teachers abilities and goals of the students we share. When both students and teachers are able to document and experience progress in a way that is clearly defined; our common purpose has been validated.
Summative Level 1 and +Level 3
(This is a joint project)
Summative Level 1
video clip
Formative Level 1
Formative Level 4
Student Feedback: With the small groups I work in, student feedback is immediate and specific to the students' needs. Feedback may be in the form of a rubric filled out, but is most likely a handwritten note on a writing piece the student handed in or a paper with specific English corrections or in direct conversation with me. Students also have access to their portfolios and are able to view the progress on their learning targets.