Latest from Tech & Learning in Differentiated-learning

Top Sites for Differentiated Instruction

Diana Restifo — Thu, 21 Nov 2024 10:16:06 +0000

Teachers have always known their students aren’t all working at the same level. Yet for teachers to adjust lesson plans manually for each child seems a daunting task, given that there are only 24 hours in a day. Here’s where education technology tools really shine. Using online digital platforms that combine formative assessment, lesson plans, quizzes, progress tracking, and artificial intelligence, educators can easily adjust instruction for an entire classroom of kids at once.

The following websites for differentiated instruction offer a wide variety of methods to differentiate teaching and learning for any budget.

Top Free Sites for Differentiated Instruction

Readworks
An award-winning platform that provides free literacy resources for learners of any age. But “resources” does not do justice to ReadWork’s breadth of research-based, standards-aligned literacy content, which is buttressed by robust guidance for teachers. Create your free account and then explore features including lesson differentiation, assignments, assessment and progress monitoring. Integrates with Google classroom.

SplashLearn
A free-for-educators game-based platform teaching math and English, SplashLearn offers thousands of preK-5 curriculum-aligned English and math games, as well as differentiated practice goals, lesson plans and comprehensive progress reports. The website features a well-designed interface, allowing users to easily search for content by grade and topic. Compatible with most devices.

For the Teachers: Differentiated Reading Lessons
A step-by-step guide to creating differentiated reading lessons for students in grades 3-10 based on a selection of articles written at three levels of literacy. Detailed PDF lesson plans, ideas, and charts provide strong direction for implementation in the classroom. Suggestion: Ignore the balky heading links at the top of the article in favor of simply scrolling down the page.

Differentiated Instruction Strategies and Examples
After a brief discussion of differentiated instruction strategies, this article from HMH examines in detail 20 diverse ways teachers can differentiate instruction. With methods ranging from choice boards to tiered assignments to flipped classrooms, there’s something for every style of teaching.

Read Write Think Differentiating Instruction
Read Write Think has developed a comprehensive series of guides detailing strategies for differentiation in the classroom, from assessment to cooperative learning to the think-pair-share technique. Each guide includes the research basis for the strategy, how to implement it, and lesson plans. A must-have for your differentiated teaching.

Classtools.net
The brainchild of educator Russel Tarr, Classtools.net allows teachers to create games, quizzes, activities, and diagrams for creative differentiated learning. Don’t be fooled by Classtools.net’s simple layout -- this site is a powerhouse of free, fun, and easy-to-use tools for teaching and learning, many of which are not found elsewhere. Try the Tarsia Puzzle Generator, Dice Roller, or Turbo Timeline Generator. Don’t worry: “Fling the Teacher” is all in good fun.

Breaking News English
A remarkable free site that transforms current events into rich classroom lessons for learners of any ability. Each news article is written at four different reading levels and accompanied by online grammar, spelling, and vocabulary activities as well as printable worksheets. Students can also listen to audio at five speeds for each article. Ideal for ELL students or simply differentiating English lessons.

Rewordify.com
Very cool free site that “rewordifies” by simplifying difficult text, from classic literature (Lewis Carroll, William Shakespeare, Harriet Beecher Stowe, e.g.) to historical documents and modern internet articles. Users can upload their own text or URL, or browse existing content. Be sure to check out the printable vocabulary exercises and quizzes, and the Educator Central department, which allows teachers to add student accounts and track progress.

Top Freemeum Sites for Differentiated Instruction

NoRedInk
An ELA platform designed to build writing and critical thinking skills, NoRedInk allows teachers to build engaging personalized exercises, scaffolded writing activities, and standards-aligned assignments. The free version includes a teacher dashboard, text-to-speech function for students, and limited scalable lessons and activities. The premium account allows for thousands of skill practice activities, writing prompts, and hundreds of guided draft prompts.

CommonLit
A research-backed, tiered program from the non-profit organization CommonLit that provides reading lessons and assessments for students in grades 3-12. The robust free account option offers the entire digital library of books as well as the CommonLit 360 curriculum for educators, who must sign up with a school email account. Teachers can differentiate lessons by text selection, annotation and/or by varying assessments. Three other packages designed for entire schools add rostering integrations, professional development and other features.

Quill
The not-for-profit Quill is dedicated to providing free tools to help students improve their reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. Start with the diagnostic tests to assess your students’ learning. A strong set of tutorials will guide teachers and students in making the most of Quill.

Arcademics
K-8 game-based learning across a wide range of subjects. The educational portal allows teachers to track and monitor students, generate detailed reports, and assess student learning.

ClassroomQ
This easy-to-use, innovative platform acts as a digital hand-raising device, making it easy for kids to ask for help and for teachers to provide it in a timely fashion.

Pear Deck
A Google Slides add-on that allows educators to create quizzes, slides, and presentations with their own content or using templates. Students respond via their mobile devices; teachers can then assess student understanding in real time.

Actively Learn
Educators can make any reading material their own by adding questions and annotation. The “Extra Help” features supports differentiated learning by offering explanatory text when needed. Integrates with Google Classroom and Canvas.

Top Premium Sites for Differentiated Instruction

Membean
A popular digital vocabulary teaching tool that includes built-in differentiation, Membeam takes an uncommon approach to vocabulary memorization, emphasizing practice via memory retrieval rather than memory encoding. In addition, Membeam focuses on spaced practice (in contrast to “cramming”) as well as promoting higher-order thinking. Pricing ranges from $6-$20 per student, depending on the number of students. Free trials are available.

Renzulli Learning
Founded by education researchers, Renzulli Learning is a learning system that differentiates instruction for any student through careful assessment of student learning style, preferences, and creativity. Integrates with Clever, ClassLink, and other SSO providers. A generous 90-day free trial makes it easy to try it yourself.

IXL
A popular site for English language arts, science, social studies, and Spanish that allows student progress tracking with detailed reporting. Educators can monitor areas in which students struggle, and then adjust instruction accordingly.

Buncee
A blended interactive learning tool for creating shareable presentations or digital stories, Buncee includes an extensive multimedia library to enrich your slideshows. Teachers can also flip a classroom by assigning quizzes, plus track and monitor students. 30-day free trial, no credit card required.

Otus
A one-to-one learning management solution and mobile learning environment through which educators can differentiate instruction based on detailed real-time analytics.

Parlay
Teachers can use Parlay to build a classroom discussion on any topic. Browse through a robust library of discussion prompts (with resources), facilitate online round tables, or create a live verbal round table. Use the built-in tools to provide feedback and assess student progress. Free trial for teachers.

Socrates
A standards-aligned, game-based learning system dedicated to differentiated learning that automatically adjusts content to student needs.

Top Sites for Differentiated Instruction

Diana Restifo — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 10:24:27 +0000

The following websites for differentiated instruction offer a wide variety of methods to differentiate teaching and learning for any budget.

Top Sites for Differentiated Instruction

Top Free Sites for Differentiated Instruction

How to Differentiate Instruction in the Classroom
While it’s simple to say, “Educators should differentiate instruction,” the reality is more complicated. How exactly can differentiation be accomplished in a classroom with 20-30 kids of varying temperaments and development? This article takes a look at the definition, origin, and implementation of differentiated instruction, offering specific methods and examples for classroom teachers.

Best Free Formative Assessment Tools and Apps
First things first: Without formative assessment, there’s no differentiation. Explore 14 of the best free sites and apps for helping teachers gauge their students’ skill level in reading, math, science, or any subject.

Top Freemeum Sites for Differentiated Instruction

Arcademics
K-8 game-based learning across a wide range of subjects. The educational portal allows teachers to track and monitor students, generate detailed reports, and assess student learning.

Chronicle Cloud
An all-in-one platform for taking notes, assessing students, providing feedback, and more, Chronicle Cloud helps teachers differentiate instruction in real time.

ClassroomQ
This easy-to-use, innovative platform acts as a digital hand-raising device, making it easy for kids to ask for help and for teachers to provide it in a timely fashion.

Edji
Edji is an interactive learning tool that engages students through collaborative highlighting, annotation, comments, and even emojis. The detailed heat map helps educators to gauge student understanding and personalize lessons. Still not sure how it works? Try the Edji demo – no sign up required!

Top Paid Sites for Differentiated Instruction

Renzulli Learning
Founded by education researchers, Renzulli Learning is a learning system that differentiates instruction for any student through careful assessment of student learning style, preferences and creativity. Integrates with Clever, ClassLink, and other SSO providers. A generous 90-day free trial makes it easy to try it yourself.

BoomWriter
A unique site that lets students express their creativity by adding their own chapters to an initial story prompt. Classmates can anonymously vote on which ones should be included in the final story. BoomWriter then publishes these stories as softcover books, and can personalize each one to include the student's name on the cover and their final chapter as an alternate ending. Other tools support nonfiction and vocabulary-based writing activities.

Education Galaxy
Education Galaxy is a K-6 online platform that uses gameplay to engage and motivate students to learn a wide variety of subjects. The site also supports assessing student needs and integrating self-paced learning.

Otus
A one-to-one learning management solution and mobile learning environment through which educators can differentiate instruction based on detailed real-time analytics.

Socrates
A standards-aligned, game-based learning system dedicated to differentiated learning that automatically adjusts content to student needs.

Edulastic
An innovative online assessment platform that makes it easy for teachers to differentiate instruction through timely detailed progress reports.

Best Sites for Genius Hour/Passion Projects

Diana Restifo — Wed, 17 Aug 2022 09:53:09 +0000

In the age of standardized testing—and teaching to that very test—both teachers and students can be reenergized by a different way to teach and learn. Whether it’s called Genius Hour, Passion Project, or 20% Time, the principle is the same: Students learn more and benefit in multiple other ways from pursuing their own interests and taking charge of their own education.

Yet students still need the guidance and support of their teachers to embark on such projects. That’s where the diverse Genius Hour guides and videos below can help. Most are free and created by educators with experience designing and successfully implementing Genius Hour in their classroom.

Start planning your Genius Hour today with these outstanding methods and resources.

The Research Behind PBL, Genius Hour, and Choice In The Classroom
If you’re thinking about trying Genius Hour in your classroom, you may be interested in what the research says. Educator and author A.J. Juliani compiled, sorted, and analyzed a broad array of studies and surveys about student-directed learning.

Gold Standard PBL: Essential Project Design Elements
Do you know the seven essential design elements of project-based learning? Start planning your next Genius Hour with these helpful PBL resources, including video examples of actual student projects in architecture, chemistry, and social studies.

Teacher's Guide to Passion Projects (Genius Hour)
A fine handbook for teachers who want to understand, design, and implement Passion Project/Genius Hour, this guide includes topics such as Why work on Passion Projects, Getting Started, Assessing Progress, Example Lesson, and much more.

Building a PBL Culture Right from the Start
More than a lesson plan or curriculum, project-based learning is about classroom culture. Does your classroom culture support and encourage genuine inquiry, student-directed learning and working independently? If not, try these four simple ideas to change the culture and expand learning.

You Get to Have Your Own Genius Hour (A Video for Students)
Educator John Spencer’s video serves as an enthusiastic introduction for students new to Genius Hour, as well as a prompt for passion project ideas.

What is Project-Based Learning?
John Spencer compares and contrasts project-based learning with traditional education and explains how two teachers sparked a life-long passion for learning through PBL.

Passion Projects Fuel Student-Driven Learning
Middle school teacher Maegan Bowersox provides a step-by-step template for a complete six-week passion project, from the initial setup to a sample weekly learning plan to the final presentation. Although she designed this plan for students bored by pandemic restrictions, it applies equally well to students back to the usual classroom.

What is Genius Hour? Introduction to Genius Hour in the Classroom
A forerunner of Genius Hour, Google’s 20% passion project policy allows employees to work on side projects that have special interest for them. Gmail, one of the most successful email programs ever, was such a project. Award-winning science educator Chris Kesler explains the connection between Google and Genius Hour, as well as his method of implementing Genius Hour in his classroom.

How to Plan & Implement Genius Hour in your Elementary Classroom
Elementary STEM teacher and edtech coach Maddie brings her high-voltage personality to this well-organized Genius Hour video. Watch the entire video or select time-stamped chapters of interest such as “Just Right” questions or “Research Topics.” Either way, you’ll find plenty of ideas to create your own Genius Hour.

Building Student Agency With Genius Hour
Third-grade teacher Emily Deak shares her strategies for Genius Hour preparation and implementation, from brainstorming with students to identifying relevant standards to criteria for the final presentation.

Engagement Strategy Toolkits
There’s no single way to construct a Genius Hour program, but engaging your students is a must. Each of these six diverse toolkits—Internships, Citizen Science, Tinkering & Making, Games, Problem-Based Learning, and Design Thinking—includes a detailed guide, standards citation, and examples of implementation.

The Passion Project: Free Online Activities
A remarkable, unique organization founded by two young women, the Passion Project pairs high school students with younger kids to create a mentoring relationship from which both learn and benefit. Students can sign up for fall classes or apply to become a student leader now.

Cama School District Passion Project Rubrics
Everything needed to plan and execute their own Genius Hour is within this document and the linked action plan, assessment rubric, presentation rubric, and Common Core standards. Ideal for educators who are ready to implement one this semester.

Teachers Pay Teachers Passion Projects
Explore hundreds of passion project lessons, classroom-tested and rated by your fellow teachers. Searchable by grade, standards, subject, price (nearly 200 free lessons!), rating, and type of resource.

Micro Lessons: What They Are and How They Can Combat Learning Loss

erik.ofgang@futurenet.com (Erik Ofgang) — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 09:00:19 +0000

Micro lessons seem like a simple educational concept: Targeted lessons for students based on their knowledge of the subject matter rather than grade or age.

“It sounds very obvious, but it almost never happens in education,” says Noam Angrist executive director and co-founder of Young 1ove, a Botswana based organization that implements evidence-based health and education policies in Eastern and Southern Africa.

Micro lessons, often called teaching at grade level or differentiated learning, can help students who have fallen behind catch up rather than continue to fall further behind.

“When children are behind, a lot of instruction tends to be over their head,” says Michelle Kaffenberger, a RISE Research Fellow at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, who has studied teaching at grade level. For example, a teacher is teaching division to children who haven't mastered basic addition yet, so they may not learn anything from that lesson. “But if you instead adapt the instruction to teach addition, and then move them up to subtraction, and then multiplication, and then division, then by the time you get there, they're going to learn a lot more,” she says.

Kaffenberger recently modeled how these types of strategies could be used to overcome learning loss that occurred as a result of disruptions caused by COVID-19 in a paper published in the International Journal of Educational Development.

Other research also supports the practice.

Using this educational strategy in low-income countries was pioneered in the early 2000s by Pratham, an Indian nongovernmental organization, that formalized what became known as Teaching at The Right Level (TaRL) and it has proven successful in many instances.

“It is probably one of the most well-studied education interventions and reforms in low- and middle-income countries,” Angrist says. “It has six randomized control trials showing it's one of the most cost effective ways to improve learning.”

But the strategy can also work in high-income countries.

“It's translating across contexts very well,” Angrist says.

What Micro Lessons Look Like In Practice

In the division example above, what the teacher or instructor would do is first administer a simple, kind of back-of-the-envelope assessment across a certain set of skills, Kaffenberger says. From that, they could determine which level each child is at and group them accordingly.

This typically results in three or four groups. “The children who can't recognize numbers yet, they're going to be together and you're going to focus on recognizing numbers with them,” she says. “And for children who can recognize numbers, but can't do addition and subtraction, you're going to focus on those skills with them.”

Many of these programs focus on reading and math, two subjects in which knowledge is cumulative. While there are edtech tools that give children exercises that are at their level, Kaffenberger says those programs tend to work best when they are employed by good facilitators and teachers.

Angrist has been working to implement teaching at grade level strategies in Botswana where many students are not at grade level; for instance, only about 10 percent of fifth grade students can do two-digit division. “That is the bare minimum expectation at grade five,” Angrist says. “Yet you're teaching a grade-level curriculum, day after day, year after year. So of course, that's flying over everyone's head. It's a very inefficient system.”

Schools that have implemented teaching at grade-level strategies have seen tremendous results. “We have not yet run a randomized control trial, but we collect data actually, every 15 days, to really see learning progress,” Angrist says. Before the teaching at grade level program was implemented, only 10 percent of students were at grade level with math. After these programs were implemented for a term, 80 percent were at grade level. “It’s extraordinary,” Angrist says.

Implications for The Start of Next School Year

In high-income countries, this style of teaching, with some variations, is often called differentiated instruction, Angrist says. “But it doesn't get as much attention any more. And I'm not entirely sure why.”

Kaffenberger says educators across the globe should be aware of the potential of teaching at grade level. She worries that in the upcoming school year teachers will just assume students are fully prepared for their new grade level despite the pandemic learning losses. “I think that would be really devastating for a lot of children, because they missed out on material,” she says.

Her advice: Teachers need to take seriously that many children will likely be behind. “Start the school year, armed with some basic assessments,” she says. “Then do some grouping by learning levels. And then focus on getting the children that are most behind caught up.”

The research indicates that doing this could make a huge impact on student achievement.

IXL: Excellent Platform for Practicing Skills,Tracking Progress

Tech & Learning — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 11:14:39 +0000

(Image credit: IXL Learning )

IXL

Immediate feedback and breadth a major plus, despite emphasis on drills

Pros: Tool helps students develop confidence and clearly track progress.
Cons: Drilling limits opportunities for kids to apply skills in real-world ways
Bottom Line: Students can improve targeted skills with tons of practice modules and visually appealing tasks.

ACT Academy: Top Resource for the Technology-Driven Classroom

TL Editors — Mon, 19 Aug 2019 10:11:48 +0000

ACT Academy

Personalize and differentiate with expansive multimedia resource library

Pros: With nearly a half-million free resources of all types, teachers will easily be able to find plenty of ways to differentiate instruction.

Cons: Kids of all ages will likely be exposed to advertisements, and school or district filters might block some content.

Bottom Line: Whether it's skill-building, test prep, interactive lessons, or games you're after, this extensive site has it all in an easy-to-use platform.

App of the Day picks are selected from the top edtech tools reviewed by Common Sense Education, which helps educators find the best ed-tech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly.

By Common Sense Education

(Image credit: Common Sense Media)

Five-Star Platform for Differentiating Learning Goals

TL Editors — Fri, 09 Aug 2019 10:42:42 +0000

(Image credit: Common Sense Education)

Goalbook Toolkit

Set tailored targets with pricey but worth-it kit of tools, strategies

Pros: The extensive database of specific learning goals (and well-explained interventions) will wow any teacher hoping to differentiate.
Cons: It doesn't connect to student information/management systems, so goals created for students aren’t automatically, easily accessible to all involved.
Bottom Line: You pay for quality with Goalbook Toolkit, including access to clear, well-crafted learning goals and strategies that allow for far easier differentiation.

ISTE NEWS: Achieve3000 Introduces Original Differentiated Fiction Collection

TL Editors — Mon, 24 Jun 2019 12:00:41 +0000

Achieve3000® today released details about its forthcoming collection of original, differentiated fiction. Designed for K-8 students, each fictional story is differentiated and contains five to seven engaging “episodes.”

There are three fiction collections in total, tailored to grades K-2, 3-5 and 6-8. Each reading passage is accompanied by an embedded assessment to help build the skills necessary to succeed on state exams and has a Spanish translation option. Teacher support materials include recommended active learning experiences to teach the fundamentals of fiction, and vocabulary-building activities.

Colorful illustrations and other text features accompany each story to engage students and boost reading comprehension. Each week’s episode ends with a cliffhanger as a way to entice students to come back the following week to read the next episode.

The fiction collection will be rolled out to Achieve3000 customers this fall. Learn more at https://ww2.achieve3000.com/differentiatedfiction or visit Achieve3000 at ISTE booth 2207.

BACK OFFICE BUSINESS: West Broward High School Exceeds Goals for Struggling Readers

TL Editors — Tue, 27 Nov 2018 01:22:22 +0000

West Broward High School was looking for a solution to help students who are part of the lowest quartile of learners, with scores of level one or two on the Florida State Assessment, improve their scores and demonstrate growth in reading and English language arts. At the start of the 2017 school year, West Broward began a school-wide initiative with the aim to increase learning gains by 3% as compared to the previous year for the lowest quartile students.

According to Elizabeth Rivero, Literacy Coach and Reading Department Chair, the school started using the Achieve3000 platform in September 2017 as part of its strategy to improve learning gains for the struggling readers. “All of our lowest quartile students were using Achieve3000, and instead of meeting our goal of decreasing the number of students in the lowest quartile by 3% and helping them achieve learning gains, we exceeded it with 10% more of our students increasing their scores and showing learning gains.” Learning gains for the lowest quartile of students went from 39% in 2017 to 49% in 2018. This group included Exceptional Students Learning Supports and English Language Learners. Schoolwide learning gains improved from 56% in 2017 to 59% in 2018. The points gained for Reading/Language Arts towards the School Grade went from 169 points in 2016-2017 to 183 points in 2017-2018, contributing 14 of the 36-total points gained in the School Grade, helping to earn West Broward High School another A.

“I am extremely honored and proud of the instructional leadership provided by Ms. Rivero and the implementation of Achieve3000 by the West Broward Reading Teachers," said Principal Brad Fatout. "Not only did West Broward show gains for the lowest 25% of readers, 96% of our seniors who were enrolled in a Reading course met their graduation requirement for reading. Achieve3000 was an integral part of the remediation process of West Broward's blended learning model.”

West Broward High School is one of the newer schools in the district, with a forward-thinking approach to technology - in the Reading Department, every student works on a laptop - and the Achieve3000 platform was adopted as part of this blended learning culture. Even so, the faculty experienced more than the typical challenges when trying to integrate new technologies and curricula into an existing school culture. With Hurricane Irma hitting South Florida, the staff persevered to support students.

After the first 9 weeks, Ms. Rivero started sending the reading teachers data on student growth, which encouraged both students and teachers to renew their commitment.

Rivero went on to say that she understands that Achieve3000 was one part of the multiple of initiatives used at West Broward High School to improve reading and that they use other programs to support teachers. Although “It is a part of a bigger team effort," she thinks that Achieve3000, “was the thing that gave the students who were struggling with reading the stamina, confidence, and endurance to compete and succeed on their end-of-year state tests.”

BACK OFFICE BUSINESS: Number of States Reporting Lexile and Quantile Measures Doubles

TL Editors — Mon, 26 Nov 2018 10:38:58 +0000

Last school year, 15 states and US Virgin Islands used Lexile and Quantile measures to support student learning. And in the 2018-2019 school year, that number is expected to double as more than half the nation are projected to report Lexile and Quantile measurements from their state assessment systems. These frameworks place both students and instructional materials on the same developmental scale to match the learner with appropriate math and reading resources at each student’s ability level. The increase in state adoption of Lexile and Quantile measures is due to several factors including new tools and resources to support students form the level of beginning readers all the way through to planning for college and careers.

https://tinyurl.com/y85tac6l

BACK OFFICE BUSINESS: Chicago Public Schools Prepares Students for Life after Graduation with Achieve3000

TL Editors — Mon, 02 Jul 2018 19:02:01 +0000

Despite obstacles, students and teachers at Chicago Public Schools (CPS), the third-largest school district in the US, are determined to become college and career ready with the help of Achieve3000, the leader in differentiated instruction. Together, CPS and Achieve3000 are removing barriers in order to ensure all students graduate with skills for success.

Ninety-two schools serving more than 23,000 students are currently using Achieve3000 to help improve students’ reading and understanding of complex text, to improve PARCC and IL-SAT performance, and to prepare them for college and the workforce. Data from the 2017–18 school year demonstrates that CPS students using Achieve3000 are experiencing accelerated growth. In August 2017, fewer than one percent of students using the program were “meeting or exceeding,” and only 6.1% were “approaching” college and career readiness. Nine months later—in April 2018—18% of students using the program are “meeting or exceeding,” and 32.7% are “approaching” college and career readiness. To supplement the regular school year, Achieve Intensive was implemented in 2017 as part of CPS’ Summer Bridge program for students who are especially at risk for summer reading loss. The 3,590 students in grades three, six, and eight who participated in the five-week program experienced Lexile growth equivalent to one-fifth of a school year for students in grade three, and one-half of a school year for students in grades six and eight. Approximately 4,300 CPS students are registered for Achieve Intensive this summer.

The Key to Differentiated Learning - Develop Student Experts

Lisa Nielsen — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 08:00:00 +0000

When you enter Dr. Lou Lahana's Tech Cafe at PS/MS 188, you aren't entering a classroom with a teacher preparing students for the future. Instead, you enter a space where social activists are working hard doing the real work of making the world a better place today addressing causes about which they are passionate. Lahana is a self-described passionate educator in search of technology to support talent development and social action in teens.Here is how he does that.

If students aren't sure about which cause they want to address, that's okay. Dr. Lahana has collected research and resources on numerous causes such as those below. The resources are always being updated by Lahana and the students.

Once the issue and tool are selected, students use them to select their own project and tools to make real-world change. But how does Lahana manage to conduct a class where students own and lead the learning? Where every student may be working on a different project, with a different tool?

The Key to Differentiation

Dr. Lahana's key to differentiation is the students. In Lahana's class it is students who rise up as the resident experts. Lahana's job is that of a conductor and environment creator. He points the students to the right resources and experts in coding, jewelry making, clamation, music and movie making and more. Then he ensures students have the environment conducive to learning. This means there is a sound studio to make music, a wood working area, sewing machines to create wearables, a place to bake clay for claymation, 3D printers and more.

[Keep Students On the Cutting Edge of Learning]

In short the students are empowered to own the learning and help one another to make the world a better place.Here are some of the projects students have addressed.

Gun Control

Students organized to march in support of those affected by the Parkland shooting and against the NRA. These 5th-8th grade students created compelling signs, marched, and listened to speeches. This movie which captured the event features a song performance by one of Lahana's students, Kayleen who used Soundtrap to create her song. Her track is available for free download at: soundcloud.com/techbrarian/sets/social-action-1

Building A Greenhouse

This student wanted to address animal cruelty in the food industry by creating a greenhouse that produces fruits and vegetables students at the school can eat rather than meat. He used a 3D printer to prototype the greenhouse. He used the woodworking tools to make planters for the greenhouse that currently stand in the school's schoolyard with plants.

Tolerance for Wearers of the Hijab

This student knew that other students didn't understand her and possibly misjudged her because she wore a hijab. She decided to make a movie inviting others to wear a hijab, explain how they felt, and she explained what it meant to her.

Deter Cigarette Use with a Smoke Detecting Shirt

This student wanted to address the dangers of smoking. He coded an Arduino to create a shirt that can detect smoke. When it does, it lights up with sayings to embarrass the smoker such as "stinky breath," "yellow teeth," or "lung cancer."

Your Turn

What do you think? Are there ideas here you could consider using with your students? Are you already doing this type of work? What excites you about it? What challenges do you see?

Lisa Nielsen writes for and speaks to audiences across the globe about learning innovatively and is frequently covered by local and national media for her views on “Passion (not data) Driven Learning,” "Thinking Outside the Ban" to harness the power of technology for learning, and using the power of social media to provide a voice to educators and students. Ms. Nielsen has worked for more than a decade in various capacities to support learning in real and innovative ways that will prepare students for success. In addition to her award-winning blog, The Innovative Educator, Ms. Nielsen’s writing is featured in places such as Huffington Post, Tech & Learning, ISTE Connects, ASCD Wholechild, MindShift, Leading & Learning, The Unplugged Mom, and is the author the book Teaching Generation Text.

Achieve3000 BOOST Programs

Joan Gal Peck — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 13:00:00 +0000

https://www.achieve3000.com/learning-solutions/intervention/■Retail price: (Note: A school or district needs to have a subscription to Achieve3000 in order to add the new BOOST programs.) Achieve3000 subscriptions start at $42 per student per year, with additional discounts available depending on a number of factors, including number of subscriptions, length of contract, and number of schools. Adding BOOST costs an additional $2,500 per building or $500 per teacher per year and provides access to expanded routines (vocabulary, discussion, and writing) and additional resources for specialized instruction for Tier 2 and Tier 3 students. As with all Achieve3000 solutions, BOOST can be customized to meet the needs of each school or district.

Products available: KidBizBOOST—grades 2–5; TeenBizBOOST—grades 6–8; EmpowerBOOST—grades 9–12. Each product runs on all platforms.

Quality and Effectiveness: BOOST is an RTI and special education online solution for students who need more targeted, personalized, differentiated instruction. Different state editions are available so that teachers can access their state standards as they use the program.

BOOST contains standards-aligned lessons based on solid current research that use Lexile levels for literacy assessments. Lessons focus on nonfiction reading in science, social studies, and current events, and passages are available with linguistic supports for English language learners. The program also gives teachers access to excellent assessment data.

Ease of Use: Students have their own devices to access customized lessons and to see and interact with supporting vocabulary. The key words in stories are highlighted and vocabulary words are clickable so students can see definitions and pictures with audio support. The program also offers interactive choices for answering multiple-choice questions with the option of a writing page to explain answers. Students receive immediate feedback to interactive multiple-choice answers and are able to save work at any time. There’s also an option to print articles at different Lexile levels—so students can practice independently to build stamina or build strength by reading the same article at a higher level.

BOOST provides teachers simple paths to monitor literacy with easy point-and-click and drop-down menus to access student work or create reports. Choices include user management, customization of instruction, and usage and performance reports. Instructional supports are easily accessible from teacher menus.

Creative Use of Technology: Students can easily access supporting resources such as images, podcasts, maps, puzzles, graphs, rubrics, and audio vocabulary definitions as they use the program. Teacher resources include answer and curriculum keys, graphic organizers, access to state standards, instructional supports, and gifted and talented assistance.

Suitability for Use in a School Environment: BOOST programs are smoothly integrated into the main Achieve3000 program and easily accessible with cloud computing. Content contains 12 levels in English, with optional Spanish-language supports. Informal assessment is embedded in every lesson, with formal assessments up to three times a year.

OVERALL RATING:

For those who have or will purchase Achieve3000, BOOST is a very good, user-friendly option for meeting the needs of students who require RTI intervention for Tier 2 and Tier 3 to build reading strength.

TOP FEATURES

• Fills the need for a literacy program for a specific group of students.
• Easy for students and teachers to use.
• Makes data readily available for a variety of assessments.