Would you be able to do a better job implementing RTI if you understood exactly how it is supposed to work? Response to Intervention is a focus on implementing a solution for all students to be successful. What we are currently doing in U.S. schools isn’t working. Current data shows that the United States is … Read more
Response to intervention is data-driven instruction that is implemented to maximize the achievement of all students. Just be sure you are prescribing the right medicine to fix the problem. RTI is data-driven instruction that is implemented in both the general education classroom and specialized resource rooms. It is designed to maximize the achievement of … Read more
Assessment rubrics need to be made before instruction begins. The best ones are clear, easy for students to use drive instruction as part of a formative assessment. What is a rubric? It is essentially a scoring guide that is a working document meant for both students and teachers. Harry and Rosemary Wong state in their … Read more
Assessment in education is meant to inform us about student progress and needs. Too often though, teachers miss out on using this valuable information to guide their instruction. Educators should use differentiated assessment tools. This means that teachers use different types of evaluations to determine background knowledge, current understanding, and overall learning. Classroom assessment techniques … Read more
What is reciprocal teaching? This is a reading instruction strategy that teaches the students to monitor their understanding of a text and develop meta-cognition. The idea of using a reciprocal method of instruction has been floating around for at least 30 years, but the term has really come into mainstream education in the past decade. … Read more
Integrating Benjamin Blooms taxonomy questions into your lessons provides a way to differentiate and extend student learning. Using higher order thinking skills and questioning is at the heart of truly differentiated instruction. For some of us, it takes a concerted effort to implement this into our daily lesson plans. Over time, it becomes a natural … Read more
What is Blooms Taxonomy? How does it apply to using higher order questions with differentiated instruction? Benjamin Bloom was an educational psychologist. He was particularly interested in the cognitive domains. After conducting research on how students think and make meaning, he published the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives in 1956. This is now called Mastery Learning. … Read more
Best teaching practices are core to a student centered classroom. The classrooms with an ideal learning environment are the ones that use research based teaching methods that get results. A student-centered classroom has an environment that includes culturally responsive teaching to reach ELL/ESOL populations. It also takes into account differences in learning styles, home situations … Read more
Top ten things you need to know about teaching gifted students. These kids are special and we have to do a better job in educating them. The research on teaching exceptional students is clear: we aren’t doing a very good job of it. Federal funding for education statistics shows that unless a state or district … Read more
Gifted characteristics are often mistaken for poor behavior in the classroom. The traits of gifted students actually creates unique differentiated instruction opportunities teachers can build and extend on. These unique kids tend to drive many teachers and parents crazy. They can be highly emotional, have very strong feelings without the maturity to appropriately display … Read more
Remember the bell curve? There are so many levels of intellectual giftedness, but we have to be very aware of exceptionally gifted kids so we don’t lose them. There are certain gifted characteristics some children have that certainly put them on a different academic level than others. As well, current studies on brain research and … Read more
What does differentiation in the classroom really look like and how can teachers make sure they are growing all students? Differentiated instruction is done by recognizing that students have a variety of background knowledge and experiences, interests, and readiness, and then reacting appropriately. That sounds easy, but it isn’t. Like anything else, using differentiated instructional … Read more
Teachers who consistently use differentiated instruction produce students with greater academic gains. These 4 differentiation strategies work because one size does not fit all. Using a variety of instructional strategies is nothing new. Great teachers have always done this (that’s part of why they are so good). Now that Value Added scores are being … Read more