Webinar: Building Your Bag of Tricks

8

Webinar: Building Your Bag of Tricks

Making a Difference: Meeting Diverse Learning Needs

with Differentiated Instruction

Part 2 – Diverse Learners

General Synopsis:

This webinar highlights information for teachers working with students that have specialized needs, specifically those with behavioral challenges. Joni Turville, Carol Knott and Dorothy Arts each infuse their educational experiences and effective strategies throughout this session.

Webinar Outline
Time / Clip Information and Key Ideas
0:00 / Welcome, how to use Elluminate
0:56 / Introductions
4:17 / The Inclusive Educator Creed
·  “whatever works”
6:01 / Goals
·  Building relationships, working with diverse learners, importance of reflecting and providing resources.
7:05 / Warm Up - Brainstorm
9:25 / Why warm up?
10:57 / Warm Up resources and Intro to Carol
·  Books: Summarization in Any Subject
·  Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites
15:24 / Section I: Building Relationships
17:05 / Relationship Activity
·  Two Truths and a Lie
20:21 / The Odd Whisperer example
24:30 / Don’t Make Assumptions
·  Don’t assume anything
·  Tell students you trust them and mean it
·  Private 1:1 discussions
·  Reinforce the positive
·  Look for successes
25:38 / Positive Phone Calls Home
·  First contact with parents should be a positive and welcoming introduction
27:52 / Three Bad Days example
30:22 / Taking Risks, Accepting Challenges
37:57 / Environment and Dorothy intro
·  Create a healthy learning environment
40:03 / Cartoon
40:35 / Bag of Tricks
·  Many strategies
·  Flexibility required
·  Be a good role model
44:28 / Section II – Top Strategies
·  What effective strategies do you use already?
47:05 / Strategies
·  4 domains: physical, behavioral, instructional and technological.
48:28 / Behavioral Strategy
·  Resources from Alberta Education
53:11 / Instructional strategy
·  Differentiated Instructional Strategies
54:32 / Technology strategy
·  Various software, hardware and online tools
57:41 / Cartoon
58:10 / Physical strategy
·  Variety of resources
1:05:34 / Diversity Definition
1:06:30 / So What?
1:08:20 / Welcome to the profession
“You have the opportunity to change a child’s life forever!”
1:08:55 / ATA supports
·  http://www.teachers.ab.ca – great library
1:09:56 / Specialist Council Memberships
·  One annual complimentary membership
1:11:11 / SpEd Council
·  Annual Conference in October (Kananaskis)
·  BOATS resource document – free download
1:11:44 / Thank you
Time Code / Clip / Clip Information, Key Points & Suggested Activities to use this Webinar for your own PD Sessions / Questions for Extended Learning Opportunities
0:00 / Welcome, how to use Elluminate
0:56 / Introductions
4:17 / The Inclusive Educator Creed / ·  “whatever works” – need this mindset
6:01 / Goals / ·  Discuss strategies for building relationships
·  Discuss top strategies for working with diverse learners
·  Consider the importance of reflection in differentiating instruction (DI)
·  Provide resources for further study
7:05 / Warm Up - Brainstorm / Ask participants:
-  Describe in general terms the kinds of diverse learning needs you have in your classroom. / 1)  Online brainstorming tools that could be used for the first activity: www.Titanpad.com, http://todaysmeet.com, GoogleDocs open to all participants, IWB that everyone goes up to or use of an Airliner wireless slate or even a http://www.wallwisher.com/build.
9:25 / Why warm up? / Why is warming up important?
-  Access prior learning
-  Retrieving info
-  Map to where we’re going
-  Anticipatory
-  Sometimes forget about this and closure especially to make connections
10:57 / Warm Up resources and Intro to Carol / Resources:
-  Wormeli, R., (2007).Summarization in Any Subject. City: Hawker Brownlow Education Pty Ltd.
-  Tate, M., (2003).Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.
Presenter: Carol
15:24 / Section I: Building Relationships / Ask participants:
-  How do you get to know your students and build relationships? / 1)  Bumper Stickers – create one that describes themselves.
2)  Vanity License Plate
3)  Class Résumé – on a sheet of paper, word processing document or poster paper, have students and teacher input: their background, interests/hobbies, and surprising things. Have everyone sign the bottom of the résumé and post.
4)  Specific strategies for teaching students with specialized learning needs found on p.120, Making a Difference.
17:05 / Relationship Activity / Share:
-  Two Truths and Lie (or Two Facts and a Fib)
Teachers: be a part of extra-curricular activities and lunch activities. Be willing to step out of your comfort zone to participate with students. Students need to see this.
20:21 / The Odd Whisperer / An example: this was a parent compliment. Overall, Carol was saying to let the child be themselves and then there would be less stress in his/her/parent/teacher life.
24:30 / Don’t Make Assumptions / ·  Don’t assume anything
·  Tell them you trust them and mean it
·  Have these discussions in private
·  Reinforce the positive
·  Look for successes
Ask:
Imagine that you’re being watched, would you be proud?
25:38 / Positive Phone Calls Home / Share:
-  Make sure your first contact is positive.
-  Try to have this done first week of school. Keep discussion on topic.
Continue throughout the year (one a day). / 1)  Phone Guidelines
Sometimes, as a new teacher, it's difficult to make the first call to a parent or guardian. Preparing for the call will make it easier. Before making a call, write down the reasons for the call. One reason can be simply to introduce yourself to the parent or guardian. Here are several guidelines you can use as you prepare:
·  Introduce yourself
·  Tell the parents what their child is studying
·  Invite the parents to an open house and/or other school functions
·  Comment on their child's progress
·  Inform them of their child's achievements (e.g., "Student of the Week")
·  Inform them of their child's strengths or share an anecdote
2)  Positive Phone Calls Make a Difference – template
27:52 / Three Bad Days / Share:
-  Bad Day Coupon.
This is an idea from Dorothy which is part of her first day package. Students (and her) receive 3 freebie ‘bad day’ coupons to use during the school year. These coupons give students time to judge if they really are having a bad day or could change it around. Or have a day to not talk or participate in class and hand in the coupon.
30:22 / Taking Risks, Accepting Challenges / ·  Help students take risks, move outside of comfort zone, nudging them forward. Acknowledge even small steps. “I know that was hard for you, but you did it.” Fair is not always equal – talk with the class – give good examples at their level and they WILL get it. Do whatever works.
Ask:
-  Think about a situation where you needed to accommodate a student. What did you do?
Share:
-  Certain considerations, criteria need to be established, focus on BIG picture. Think about the request from the student. Trust is owned slowly and students will move forward when listened to (perception).
-  Report card on the teacher – set up a survey for students to give you feedback on your teaching/learning experiences with them.
-  Look for the funny in every situation. Keep your sense of humor! / 1)  A good resource as well is Rick Wormeli’s book Fair isn’t Always Equal
2)  Use different strategies for group work like those from Laura Lipton – Groups at Work
37:57 / Environment and Dorothy intro / Create a healthy learning environment.
“Our environment, the world in which we live and work, is a mirror of our attitudes and expectations.” Earl Nightingale
Dorothy’s background explained. / 1) Discuss with students: “This is your classroom and your responsibility to change your behavior in order to create the environment that makes you successful. I am here to help you….”
2)Flexible groupings ideas found at pp.121-122, Making a Difference.
40:03 / Cartoon /
40:35 / Bag of Tricks / ·  You aren’t expected to know everything!
·  One strategy does not fit all - adapt, modify, reflect
·  Flexibility isn’t just for yogis
·  “Fair is not always equal”
·  Model what works for you as a learner
“Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm” – Winston Churchill / 1) If you have a problem – look for a few solutions. Bounce your thoughts with colleagues/mentors, then adapt, modify and reflect.
2)How do you want your students leaving your classroom door at the end of the day?
44:28 / Section II – Top Strategies / ·  What is in your bag?
·  What are your biggest challenges?
ie. Student engagement, lack of resources, transitions, attention spans, assessment, time to plan/prep, student motivation / 1)  For this year, what have been some of your biggest challenges?
47:05 / Strategies / 4 domains: physical, behavioral, instructional, technology. / 1)  How do you address these domains in your classroom?
48:28 / Behavioral Strategy / ·  Pick your battles
·  Structure
·  Teacher language “I would love to!”
-  Being approachable to ask for assistance.
·  Visual/language supports
·  Consistency
·  Positive Behavioral Supports
-  BOATS
“Think twice before you speak, because your words and influence will plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of another”. –Napoleon Hill / 1)  What can you live with and what can you not live with, in the classroom environment?
2)  What is the root cause of the behavior being exhibited by the student?
3)  Check out these resources at Intervention Central – Great Behavior Game, Behavior Report Card and Defensive Behavior Management.
4)  Go to Ontario’s Teacher Gateway for SpEd resources.
53:11 / Instructional strategy / ·  Differentiated instructional strategies
·  Graphic organizers
·  Thinking Maps
·  Mnemonics
·  Music / 1)  Please share the effective DI strategies that you use.
2)  Making a Difference has some pertinent resources on pp.108–110: the DI Checklist, pp. 122-124: Instructional strategies, pp.124-135: Scaffolding instruction, pp.139-142: tools, pp.150-166: ELL and pp.179-194: Gifted.
3)  Online timers
4)  Graphic organizers
54:32 / Technology strategy / ·  Assistive Technol0gy
·  Audio
·  Tumblebooks
·  Smartboards / 1) Ideas in using technology were shared such as: texting in responses, using Alphasmarts or even LearnAlberta resources and Enchanted Learning.
2)Further assistive technology questions can be answered by the iCan Centre in Edmonton.
3)Good resource: http://daretodifferentiate.wikispaces.com/
4)Audio resources: Voki, Vocaroo, Voicethread, Audacity.
5)Smartboard resources
6)Making a Difference has assistive technology information on pp.136-138 and for ELL pp.167-170.
57:41 / Cartoon / “My teacher isn’t qualified to teach spelling! She spells U ‘y-o-u’. She spells BRB ‘r-e-t-u-r-n’. She spells BFN ‘g-o-o-d-b-y-e’…”
58:10 / Physical strategy / ·  Assessable for all!
·  help them figure out what works for them
·  Move from support to independence
ie. Koosh balls, colored acetate, stickers, stamps, wiggle cushions, highlighters, popsicle sticks (with their names on it to pull out when asking questions), bingo chips (10 for the day to start with individual students who wiggle a lot, keep in pocket to play with and have a certain # left, they get a reward), adaptive seating, stickies, gum/stir sticks/lifesavers (chew quietly and makes them quieter), deck of cards (students have one deck, teacher has one deck; cards assist in answering, taking turns), highlighter tape, music ( teacher choice Mon – Thu, student choice on Fri), binders, headphones, reinforcement charts, equipment at recess, thera-bands, therapy balls. / 1)  Great Koosh ball games for use with the Smartboard – scroll down to Koosh ball games.
2)  Read and Write Gold highlights work very well online. So does Microsoft Word. As well, if your students are social bookmarking their work/websites online, they can use Diigo to highlight specific portions online.
1:05:34 / Diversity Definition / ·  Encompasses acceptance and respect.
·  Everyone is unique
·  Explore differences in a safe, positive and nurturing environment.
·  Celebrating each other.
-  http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~asuomca/diversityinit/definition.html
1:06:30 / So What? / ·  DI is more than just a collection or random strategies.
·  Keep experimenting and reflecting!
·  What is the most important thing you learned today? / 1)  Be: Proactive
Responsive
Flexible
Experiment
Collaborative
Add to your bag of tricks
Ask questions
1:08:20 / Welcome to the profession / “You have the opportunity to change a child’s life forever!”
1:08:55 / ATA supports / www.teachers.ab.ca - great library, online search, ability to sign out books for free and delivered directly to you.
1:09:56 / Specialist Council Memberships / One annual complimentary membership
1:11:11 / SpEd Council / Annual Conference in October in Kananaskis
BOATS document
1:11:44 / Thank you

Created by Parkland School Division, January 2011