3 Hashtags for Authentic Learning: Thank You Twitter

Confession:

Four years ago I didn’t own a smart phone and I wasn’t on social media. Fast forward to 2017 and not only do I own a smartphone, but I’ve fully embraced Twitter for professional development and as a way to connect with educators and their classrooms globally.  

Social Media on the Rise:

PEW Research began tracking social media use in 2005, when just 5% of adults were connected; today 69% of the public uses some type of social media.  Social Media is here to stay. Check out how powerful social media is by going to the Internet in Real Time which actively documents a variety of social media platforms.

Authentic Learning Via Twitter:

Eden Prairie Schools ties Authentic Learning to the following four tenants: task, purpose, resource and audience.  Utilizing Twitter I have found what seems like a limitless number of possibilities in implementing the tenants. What follows below are three authentic learning opportunities (thank you Twitter) that are currently resonating with me:  

#MysterySkype

Invented by teachers, Mystery Skype is an educational thinking challenge played by two classrooms using a video conferencing software/app such as Skype or Google Hangout.  The aim of the challenge is to determine the location of the other classroom by asking each other yes/no questions and completing research. Mystery Skype is engaging and inspires learning through the use of authenticity, the 4C's, speaking and listening, technology, research, geography standards and more!

A few resources to explore in order to start your own #MysterySkype journey:

• Paul Solarz’s Website for Mystery Skype by Paul Solarz's @paulsolarz
• Roles for a MysterySkype and Questions to Get You Started in MysterySkype by Pernille Ripp @pernilleripp
• Mystery Skype - Microsoft in Education

#QuadBlogging

Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano @langwitches in an blog post title Blogging is NOT Analog Writing in Digital Spaces, shares the following:

“Blogging in education is about quality and authentic writing in digital spaces with a global audience, while observing digital citizenship responsibilities and rights, as on documents, reflects, organizes and makes one’s learning and thinking visible and searchable!

Blogging is not analog writing in digital spaces.

Blogging is not an activity, but a process. The process includes reading, writing, commenting and connecting. It is about reciprocating and an emphasis on quality, not just publishing.”

With #QuadBlogging your class is collaborating with three other classrooms over the course of a month. Each week a different classroom’s writing is in the spotlight and the other classes are leaving quality comments. Quality (thoughtful) comments include the following:

• Make a personal connection, i.e. what resonated with you and why?
• What question(s) do you have about what was shared?
• What can you add-on that is relevant to what has already been written.
• Provide a sincere compliment.

A few resources to explore in order to start your own #QuadBlogging journey:

• Quadblogging:  offers the why and how to quadblogging, support, free registration for your class, and more
• 10 + 1 Steps to Meaningful Blogging and How to do Student Blogging by Blogging Through the Fourth Dimension by Pernille Ripp (@pernilleripp)
• 10 Ways that Social Media (aka blogging) can Improve Writing in Your Classroom: the Innovative Educator, by Lisa Nielsen, guest post by Vicki Davis

#GRA17

Looking towards the 2017-18 school year?!?  Global Read Aloud 2017 #GRA17 is currently signing up classrooms.  This opportunity runs for six weeks from early October to mid November of 2017 and the idea is quite straightforward.  Classrooms all read the same book and then connect with other classrooms around the world to share learning.  The Global Read Aloud has been taking place since 2010 and has reached more than 2 million students.

Call to Action:

Make a commitment to authentic learning via twitter in your classroom!  The three suggestions above are only the tip of the iceberg for options using twitter to connect. Share your favorite authentic learning experiences using twitter or other types of social media in the comment section below.

Laurie

@ljcallies

Instructional Excellence Coordinator

Department of Personalized Learning and Instruction

Instructional Strategies for Differentiation

"Differentiation is not really one entity, but rather synthesizes a number of educational theories and practices. Bringing those theories and practices together helps teachers address their classroom activity in a manner that is more holistic than fragmented...In the end, classrooms are complex and messy places. Research that tells the full story about any classroom, school, district, or approach to teaching is also predictably messy, complex, difficult to come by, and nearly always equivocal. Such is the nature of the teaching-learning enterprise." 

Carol Ann Tomlinson and Susan Demirsky Allan, Leadership for Differentiating Schools & Classrooms, 2000.

The terms "differentiation", "rigor", "depth", complexity" and even "personalized learning" are used so often in educational literature that a few things can happen:

1. The definition of the terms and how to apply the concepts to the classroom can feel overwhelming and complicated 
2. The definition of the terms and how to apply the concepts to the classroom are made to be too simplistic.  How many times have we heard, "Differentiation is just good teaching." So... now if I am not sure how to carry out some differentiation I am embarrassed to ask for help because I have just been told "it is just good teaching".
3. The terms become minimized due to overuse and lack of definition that teachers ignore the concepts and/or hope the terms are just a fad that will just go away with time.

With this in mind, the Eden Prairie gifted specialists reviewed numerous articles/research on differentiation and rigor. We spent time synthesizing the work from various authors and leaders in the field. We developed common definitions and rubric for our use.  Our hope is that these would be common definitions for all teachers in the district to use with all students, not just gifted learners.  

• A Definition of Differentiation
• Differentiation IS and IS NOT
• A Definition of Rigor
• Rigor IS and IS NOT

"DI is mostly about what we do ahead of time, not how we interact or conduct the lesson at the time. There are some good aspects going on in the classroom, but that facilitation can only occur with purposeful and thoughtful planning. I can make flexible decisions because I've already prepared the resources or other avenues in anticipation of student needs. Am I always prepared for everything? No way. I get better with time, however." 

Rick Wormeli, MiddleWeb List Serve Response, "Getting Started with Differentiation", 2003.

Differentiation and adding rigor can feel daunting...so many methods...what to choose...how to do it. Quality differentiated instruction is rooted in meaningful curriculum. It is very hard to differentiate or add rigor if the content is very basic - not every piece of content could be or should be differentiated. Does the content have concepts worth exploring at a deeper level? If no, then make sure the students know the basic elements and move on. If yes, then this is where you will have fun with differentiated instruction and rigor.

Ask yourself:

• What is the essential learning? What do I want the students to be able to know, understand, and do as a result of interacting with the curriculum? Quality differentiation “teaches up” and ensures “respectful tasks” (based on essential understandings, equally engaging, requiring high level thought for all students).
• If you use a pre-assessment what is it showing you about each learner and what do you do next with that information? How does this information inform your instruction? Flexible grouping strategies are heavily used in a differentiated classroom.
• If you do not have a pre-assessment - why not and can you develop one? Not using a pre-assessment or not using the information from the pre-assessment can be one of the biggest barriers to being able to differentiate the content. When we don't find out what the students already know how can we ever expect to bring forward meaningful content they can learn.
• Are there other resources - text or online - that might enhance the content you use? It is hard to differentiate if you "run out of content"; if you have limited content and some students show you in the pre-assessment they already know it ...now what? With online resources (for you and the students) this should be less of an issue as it has been in the past but you still need to think this through as you are planning the lesson/unit. Again, not having enough sources of content or knowing how to expand the content you have is a barrier to rigor and differentiation. Being prepared ahead of time with your content options saves scrambling in the middle of a unit or lesson for "more stuff" to support the struggling learner or the advanced learner...or worse ignoring that some students need the content in a different way altogether.
• What strategies/tools can you use that will push you to use your content in a deeper way? These resources include many familiar strategies used in EPS: Low Prep and High Prep Differentiation Strategies and Differentiated Instruction Strategies for Teachers
• Assessments both formative and summative must always connect to the goals and objectives of the student learning. "Differentiated assessment is an ongoing process of evaluation where the teacher gathers information and data before, during, and after instruction to better facilitate the learning. This process ensures success for all students in the differentiated class with data provided from a variety of sources assisting in giving an overall view of student achievement. It is essential that when assessing students in the differentiated class, assessment is authentic meaning it offers students a variety of tasks demonstration real-life skills, tells the educator if the student has acquired the skills or concepts, is based on standard criteria to achieve validity, and guides students for roles in adult life (Chapman & King, 2012).”  Differentiated Strategies Wikispaces. http://differentiatedstrategies.wikispaces.com/Differentiated+Strategies+for+Assessment

“Differentiation is making sure that the right students get the right learning tasks at the right time.  Once you have a sense of what each student holds as “given” or “known” and what he or she needs in order to learn, differentiation is no longer an option; it is an obvious response.”

Lorna M. Earl, Assessment as Learning: Using Classroom Assessment to Maximize Student Learning, 2003

Sue Feigal-Hitch

Resources:

Depth & Complexity on Byrdseed.com

Myth-Busting Differentiated Instruction: 3 Myths and 3 Truths

Differentiated Instruction Resource Roundup

Examples of How to Differentiate in the Classroom

Differentiated Strategies for Instruction

Edutopia video on differentiation

ASCD video on differentiated instruction

The League of Empowered Educators is innovating classrooms!

What is The League of Empowered Educators?

The League of Empowered Educators is a professional learning opportunity where teachers meet monthly to explore, research, and implement an inquiry question or idea that will deepen learning opportunities for students. The League was formed to give teachers a personalized professional development to delve deeper into a topic of their choice and have an opportunity to collaborate with colleagues. Currently, The League of Empowered Educators has 18 teachers from across the district from a variety of disciplines.

What have the teachers done so far this year?

“The League has especially helped me personalize my scripted intervention programs. By incorporating personalized learning projects, I have increased student engagement on the weekends. This is evident in the work being completed by the students outside of the school day.” -Kristen Strauss

“I incorporated a new project where students determine the focus of their learning (within the context of our essential learning targets).  I allow class research time and students complete the project by writing a short paper describing their learning.  Students are encouraged to find answers to something they want to know about careers, college and professionalism.” -Pat Kittock

“Being part of the League of Empowered Educators has provided me the opportunity to meet with other teachers working on improving their craft as a teacher of literacy.  I am now very intentional about providing direct instruction on writing about reading and the importance of metacognition.” -Kadee Ruhland

“Since joining The League of Empowered Educators this year, I have seen a change not only in me but in my kids!   I have been intentional this year at focusing on the 4C’s in all we do and creating a classroom that is learner focused where they can explore their interests and passions with a growth mindset.   After reading “The Innovator’s Mindset” and my time with the league, my focus this year has been on strengthening student voice, choice, time for reflection, time to create and think critically, and connect with others outside of our classroom.  In our classroom, everyone is a teacher and everyone is a learner.  I am excited to see where the remainder of the year takes us and look forward to my continued work with The League of Empowered Educators!” -Jessica Cozza

“The League of Empowered Educators has “empowered me” to try new things in my classroom.  By setting a goal, determining a plan and collecting classroom data, I can see how to improve my teaching and my students' learning.

The support by  my  Instructional Excellence Coordinator has helped me by implementing my plan , encouraging me when it was difficult and celebrating when it is/was successful .  I am not saying that my goal has been totally met, but I certainly know what is working and what I need to continue to work on.  That’s what the League has provided for me, FOCUS!  “ - Jean Tushie

What are teachers saying about The League of Empowered Educators?

“I find the environment to be very collaborative, and I have learned quite a bit through the sharing of ideas with other educators.” -Jeanne Fimmen

"This is my second year being involved with The League of Empowered Educators. A year-long course that is offered by the district. I discovered this was one place I could bring my ideas, and with help, those ideas were brought to life in my classroom.  The instructional coaches are very knowledgeable and incredibly helpful. The structure of our meeting time is we, the teachers, begin with a question we want to answer around teaching. Together with our coaches and the collaboration of other educators, we find answers to what we are trying to discover. We help each other grow. This course allows me freedom to explore without boundaries. I feel motivated, pushed, and supported by the instructional coaches.  I absolutely love it!" -Patti Just

“The League of Empowered Educators has provided a safe space to innovate knowing that some ideas will succeed and some will fail.  There is built-in encouragement because we’re surrounded by colleagues also trying to innovate.  Each term I have introduced activities and lessons designed to be more inquiry-based (“teach less, learn more”) and more personalized (“student voice-choice”).” -Pat Kittock

“The league has helped me to collaborate with other educators to gain insight and encouragement on innovative practices within the classroom.  It has provided a round table for conversation and time to learn new ideas.  It has also provided support for me personally so that I am able to enhance student learning within the classroom.” -Angie Roesner

Do you feel empowered?

   The League of Empowered Educators has been a place for teachers to collaborate and discuss innovative practices they are using in their classroom to enhance student learning. It is truly a place where you leave feeling more motivated and empowered to try new things in your classroom. I encourage you to ask at your site to find those teachers who are in The League of Empowered Educators and hear what they have to say about their experience and all they have implemented this year.  Keep a look out for information for next year’s cohort!