Managing Differentiated Assessment

In todays class we discussed how to most effectively manage the differentiation of assessment in our future classrooms. In this blog I intend to summarize the eight components in order to organize the concept in my own words.
1. Be realistic: As teachers we only have so much time and energy, it is important therefore to ensure that we only do what we are capable of taking on.
2. Content: We must have a strong knowledge of the curriculum, this will assist in focusing our attention soley on the type of instruction we are using and not the materieal that we are trying to convey.
3. Process: This refers to the classroom management techniques that we will employ to ensure that the environment in conducive to learning for all students.
4. Product: as teachers we must provide access to many different resources for our students to use, in order to support their learning.
5. Ensure students are equipped to deal with choices: If we are providing options to our students in terms of differentiation we must be sure that they have the tools to make effective decisions about what will work best for them.
6. Consider strengths and weaknesses of the student: Although playing towards student strengths will guide them to success it is also important to build upon their weaknesses to help them grow and develop as learners. Use Vygotskys zone of proximal development as a guideline to push students further in their learning.
7. Consider your comfort level: Only implement the amount of differentiated assessment that you as a teacher are capable of dealing with in the classroom.
8. Push students: It is our job as teachers to ensure that we push our students outside of their comfort zone and encourage them to set their goals higher then what they already know they can achieve.
I think that these points are comforting as a future teacher, because although they promote the use of differentiated assessment they recognize that it is only effective when both the students and teacher are on board and understand what they can take on and how to properly manage the process.

Shyness Video.

In Thursday`s class we viewed the video Shyness, which is produced by the National Film Board of Canada in 1953. I really enjoyed viewing the video and although it definitly provided perspective in terms of the progress that special education has made in the past 60 years it also provided great insight into the concept of differentiating instruction for students. It was interesting to see that the concepts that are being implemented into education today were known over 60 years ago and in a primitive sort of manner they were also implemented. Something that I found really interesting about the video was that it was difficult to see through the stereotypes biases that were presented. The fact that the video was made in the 1950`s contributes to the flawed views of gender discrimination, but the important concepts, such as differentiation were definitely present in the video. Shyness provided a cases study of three children, each exhibited different characteristics of a shy child. The first child was Anna, she was described as a child that wanted to participate but was constantly excluding herself. Anna was described by the video as a typical shy child. It was discovered in school that Anna had a gift for dancing, the teacher used Anna`s gift to differentiate her instruction and allowed her to use dance to overcome her shyness and build confidence. The second child in the video was Jimmy, he was constantly excluding himself and would run away scared when confronted by his peers or the teacher. The video described Jimmy not as shy but rather as being mentally ill. They proceeded to state that there was no cure for Jimmy`s condition but instead that he needed strong support for his condition. the third and final child that was decribed in the video was Robert. Robert had a strong desire to be alone and he enjoyed the time that he spent on his own, and had high self esteem despite his lack of communication with other children. The video gave a desciption of the home lives of each of the children and it was clear to see that it had a profound effect on the personality of the children. I think that it is important as a future teacher to remember that where a child comes from has a great effect on the disposition of a child and as a teacher it is vital that we do our best to educate the child based on their needs. Differentiation can be instrumental in reaching the needs of all students and ensuring that they each recieve a valuable learing experience in the classroom.

Differentiating Assessment



Differentiation of assessment can have tremendous benefits for the students in a classroom. Research strongly suggest that there are many different types of learners that possess various strengths and weaknesses in terms of the methods in which they retain information most effectively. Blooms development of the multiple intelligences is a great example of a framework showing the various ways that educators can convey concepts so that the students are most likely to have a clear understanding of the material being presented to them. It is important to use the strengths that the students possess in order to help them achieve at the highest level possible. But as educators, we must also recognize the importance of developing the students weaknesses and building them into strengths as well. Giving students options and choices in the classroom can act as a huge motivator. If the students in our classroom feel that we as teachers take the time to create an assessment that is tailored to their individual learning needs, they are likely to feel empowered by their success and accountable for ensuring that they achieve further successes in their learning career. Differentiating assessment is very supportive of the process of assessment for learning also known as formative assessment. The intention of formative assessment is to provide feedback to the student that lets them know what progress they have made and where improvement is still needed in their work. Formative assessment is also a tool for teachers to see what strategies they are using that are helping the students to grow and learn and which are ineffective with the students. By using differentiated formative assessment teachers are far better able to pin point the strengths and weaknesses that their students possess and work toward using their strengths to build and develop their areas of need.

Tomlinson's Elements of Differentiation!

Tomlinson created a framework to identify the elements of differentiating both instruction and assessment. The basis of his work is described in the following sentence: The teacher modifies content, process and product, through student readiness, interests, and learning. The sentences implies that the teacher has control over three factors, the first is content, content refers to the what or the materials of learning, this can include the curriculum, textbooks, or movies to be viewed. The second factor is process, this refers to the activities through which the students will learn and could include such things as group work, individual work, or teacher directed lecture. The final factor is product, this refers to what the student produces and is the vehicle by which the student will demonstrate their knowledge. Beyond these factors which the teacher has full control of is the characteristics of the students they are as follows. Readiness refers to where the student is currently achieving in terms of knowledge skills and attitudes. The teacher must provide the student with a challenge by providing the students with task that are just beyond the point where the student currently is, Vygotsky termed this concept, the zone of proximal development. The second characteristic is the students interest this simply reders to the topics that the student is curioous or passionate about, by incorporating these into the lesson student engagement increases. The third and final characteristic is the learning profiles of the student, it is important for the teacher to consider as many different features of how a student learns and incorporate them into the lesson that you are creating.
By using Tomlinson's framework teachers are provided with a sort of guideline that can assist them in beginning to better differentiate both instruction and assessment. differentiation can be extremely beneficial in meeting each individual students needs in the classroom.

Link to Richard Lavoie Fairness Video Clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G9--hUQDwY&feature=related

The above video is a clip from Richard Lavoie's movie, F.A.T. City. I chose to post this short video on my blog because it was a part of the movie that really opened my mind to the true meaning of the word fairness. Lavoie expresses common sense knowledge in the clip but until I stop to think about what was being said I failed to see how logical the sense behind his definition of fairness really is. I think that to understand the logic behind what Lavoie is saying I had to seperate the entities of fairness and equality in my mind, fairness is indeed exactly what Lavoie describes it as, whereas equality refers to the concept that everyone gets the same.

The IPP!!



Today we had yet another group meeting to discuss the collaborative IPP project that we have been working on. Although we are making great progress with the project, I can clearly see that coordinating an IPP team and ensuring that all members are on board with the decisions that are being made is a difficult task. This is not to say that I am having anything other then a positive experience with my group. But rather that it is difficult to work in everyone's opinion and still consider the best needs of the hypothetical student while creating the IPP. I think that so far the process of creating the IPP has been enlightening. I am learning alot about the effort that goes into ensuring that all students recieve a quality education that meets their needs. One observation and question that I have about the IPP process is the reasoning for limiting the number of goals to just three. I understand the importance of being concise and ensuring that the IPP is a workable document for all parties. Having said this, when reflecting on our finished IPP I felt that some of the student's areas of need were not being directly met through the goals that we set. This is not to say that the goals that we set were ineffective. Rather I felt that the student had so many weaknesses it was difficult to incorporate each of them into the three goals that we set. I think that in a real life situation I would have incorporated a few more goals into this specific student's IPP in order to better reach all of the students individual needs. Overall I am proud of the finished product that we created as a group and I sincerely feel that if it was used for Danny in a real life situation it would be instrumental in helping to further his education.

Observation Week

After being at Mother Theresa Catholic School in Sylvan Lake for a week, I observed a great deal of inclusive classrooms. The students with learning disabilities in this school did not experience full inclusion, but rather they used a resource room approach to inclusion. Prior to this experience I did not support the concept of the resource room. I felt that by pulling students out of class to get special help they would feel stigmatized and embarressed in front of their classmates. In my opinion the resource room approach attached a prominent label to the children with learning disabilities. After spending time in a school that used this approach it became clear to me that this is not the case at all. The students that need extra help with specific subjects were recieving the help that they needed to feel successful. The resource room had the opposite effect that I had anticipated, rather then feeling stigmatized the students had the self confidence to contribute in their regular classes without feeling inadequate. This experience has shown me the importance of seeing a theory in practice prior to making a judgement as to whether or not it is effective.

Strategies

Stategies are skills that the students can be taught that will help them to learn in all subject areas. The use of strategies is intended to help the studnets to develop the tools that they need to learn in all siruations. Strategies are not limited to special education students, they are often used by all learners and often without even realizing that they are being employed. When developing a strategy for an individual student it is important to include them in the process, if they can see how the change benefits them then they are more likely to work towards it. Involving the student in the process also encourages meta-cognition. This encourages the student to consider their own thoughts and the way that they learn best. I think that the use of strategies could be very instrumental in the learning process for some students. I think that it would be beneficial as a teacher to share the strategy that one of the students may be using with all students in the classroom. Giving all students the opportunity to use the strategy can help you to see which students feel they need extra help, it can also encourage students to open their mind to strategies and help them to develop their own unique strategy that they could use in the future. I can see great benefits for all students with the use of strategies in the classroom and it is definitely a concept that I will employ in my classroom as a future teacher.

Assessment and the IPP process.

When learning about assessment it is important to recognize the distinction between assessment and evaluation. Evaluation is a tool used to determine a final grade for a students learning. Assessment on the other hand is a research instrument that is employed to help the teacher determine what the student has learned, and what areas they are lacking in. The information that is generated from assessment is also beneficial for the child as it shows them what they are doing well. There are three types of assessment, they are, assessment for learning, assessment of learning and assessment as learning, or self-reflection. Assessment as learning gives the teacher a great sense of what the student feels they know, if the student is constantly reflecting on their work then the teacher is provided with an opportunity to reflect on how effective their teaching style is and change it to meet the students needs.
Classroom assessment can also be very supportive of the IPP process. The assessment that we as the classroom teacher collect can both compliment and supplement the information that is included in the specialized assessment data section. In the past the goals in the IPP were set almost exclusively based on the specialized assessment data that was provided by the psychologist or other trained professional. In the present the goals are also directed to the students curriculum based learning needs. The inclusion of goals based on teacher provided assessment affirms the professional opinion of the teacher and reaffirms the importance of teacher observations and assessments.
This information shows me as a future teacher that the assessment data that I contribute to the IPPs of my future students can have a profound impact on the direction of the goals that are set for them in the IPP process. Ensuring that appropriate goals are set that are tailored to their needs can be instrumental in ensuring that they are developing in the areas in which they need it most.

F.A.T. City.
The video F.A.T. City, featuring Richard Lavoie, raised many thought provoking ideas and theories in terms of understanding the needs and struggles of students with learning disabilities. The ideas in the movie really made me stop and think. I think that this is because the concepts that are presented challenged what exists in my schema and understanding of the world.

The most striking concept that was brought forth in the video for me was Lavoie's alternative take on fairness. He states that a child, when asked to describe fairness, will say that it means everyone gets the same. He challenges us to change our concept of fairness to mean that everyone gets what they need rather then the same. From a logical stand point I believe that everyone getting what they need is a proper method of instruction, but it is not the definition of fairness. In my opinion this adds to the shock factor of some of the messages that Lavoie was trying to convey. He takes a concept or idea that is clear to us in everyday life and redefines it causing us to step back and reconsider the true definition of the word.

Lavoie also talks about the difficulty that some students have with visualizing a finsihed product, thus it is difficult for them to complete a task. The process of learning to read is especially difficult for students with learning disabilities. Lavoie attributes these difficulties to the inability to visualize what a word looks like when it is spelled out. A great example of this that Lavoie uses is the ability of a regular child to clean their room. In order to complete the task the child can mentally visualize what the room will look like when it is clean, from this the child can take the logical steps to change the room in order to make it look the same as it did the last time that it was clean. A child with a learning disability lacks the ability to visualize their room in the same way as the so called regular child. I think that knowing this information can help us as educators to see that if we can understand the disability it is simple to make accomodations for the child so that they are able to learn just as well as the regular children in the classroom. I believe that understanding the root of the disability rather then just the symptoms can be instrumental in implementing inclusion in the classroom. Instead of dealing with the symptoms and the behavioural disruptions that a disability brings about Lavoie encourages us as teachers to make accomodations so that the disability is not detrimental to the childs learning experience.

IPPs
In class today we discussed the process of creating an effective individualized program plan. The process is long but when looking at the elements it is clear to see that they all play a role in ensuring that the student experiences a high degree of success through out the school year. As a means to help me to better understand the elements and the process of creating the IPP I will use this blog to briefly list and describe the components.



1. Specialized assessment data: This information is usually collected by a trained psychologist and relates to diagnoses and identification. It helps to determine if the child meets the criteria to be coded.


2. Current level of performance and achievement: gives a general sense of where the child is at. The information source is the assessment that we as teachers give using standardized tests.


3. Identification of strengths and areas of need: The strengths that are identified can be used to help the student reach the goals that are set. There are three kinds of strengths and needs, cognitive, social, physical. These strengths and weaknesses can be found out from the parents because they know their child best.


4. Measurable goals and objectives: The central component of the IPP. Goals are year long and objectives breack down the goal into smaller pieces. It is important to ensure that the goals are SMART and to use ACT How objectives.


5. Procedures for evaluating progress related to goals: The methods that assess whether or not the goals and objectives are being met.



6. Identification of coordinated support services: This section identifies the people involved with the IPP team. These people could include the classroom teacher, the parents, teacher's assistant, psychologist, nurse or anyone else involved in creating and carrying out the goals in the IPP process.



7. Medical Information: It is important to remember that medical information should only be included if it is pertinent to the child's learning needs.



8. Classroom Accomodations: This section discusses how we as teachers will alter the activities that we do in the classroom to make them better fit the needs of the student. There are two types of accomodations and they are environmental and instructional. Environmental accomodations are related to physical things in the classroom, whereas instructional accomodations are related to the way that we teach and present the material in the classroom.



9. Planning for Transition: This section includes information regarding the child's move from one grade to another, or from middle school into high school. In this section a plan is created for helping the student to meet the new teachers and find important places such as lockers, washrooms and classrooms in the new school environment. This process will help to ease the child's anxiety over the change.



10. Review of Progress of IPP Goals: It is important to have regular reporting periods in which the progress that the student is making is recorded. These should occur about three to four times throughout the year.



11. Year end Summary: This is filled out at the end of the year by the IPP team and discusses the progress that the student made in all areas of the IPP goals and objectives. In this space recomendations for the following year are also made.



12. Informed Parental Consent: It is important to have an active relationship with the parents, and it is mandated by the school that parents must know all relevant info that is discussed in the IPP. Parents must grant consent for the IPP.

Service Delivery Models

In class we disscussed three different types of service delivery models. They include special education classes, resource room or withdrawal models, as well as inclusive classrooms. I think that each of these unique models can be effective but none of the above models are without drawbacks. the main goal of service delivery models is to ensure that all of the needs of the student are being met. This includes cognitive as well as behavioural needs that the child is struggling with meeting in the usual classroom setting.

The special education classes service delivery model is divided into three types of classes. Opportunities classes are offered to students with mild cognitive delays. These classes offer students a chance to get the extra help that they need in order to achieve at the appropriate level. Students spend all of their time in the special education class and are not included in the regular classroom. I think that this model is effective in helping the students to recieve the individual one on one attention that they require to be successful in their studies. Although I also believe that it is unfortunate that the students are permanently removed from the regular classroom and therefore lose the interaction and social skills that are built in that atmosphere.
Strategies classes are similar to opportunities classes except that students involved in these programs often suffer from a specific learning disability. The classes are structured towards helping students find their strengths in learning. If they are able to do so they can find ways to work around the learning disability and therefore function at the appropriate level for their age.
The third type of special education classes are behaviour and learning support, they are designed for students with severe behavioural problems and they are typically extremely structured. The program encourages students to recognize triggers and avoid situations that would generally cause them to have an outburst. The curriculum is still taught to the students but with an extra layer, being the behavioural management, added to it. I think that the idea of removing students with severe behavioural problems from the regular classroom definitely has benefits. Implementing the behaviour management layer of the curriculum would be helpful in assisting students to learn skills that will help them not only in school but throughout their entire lives. I think the down side to this method is the stigma that is attached to students that are labelled as having a behaviour problem. When these students are pulled out of the classroom it can often be embarresing and difficult to deal with peers in the regular classroom.
The second type of service delivery model is the resource room or withdrawal method. In this case the student is pulled from the regular classroom throughout the day in order to recieve assistance in areas of need. The down falls of this method include the interuption of routine not only for the student but also for the teacher. The stigma that can get attached to students that have to be pulled out of class to go to the resource room can be detrimental to their self esteem and social connections with the regular class. Despite this there is often progress with the learning of students when this approach is used, which is a huge benefit to the strategy.
The third and final service delivery model is full inclusion. In this instance the primary vision of the classroom is a sense of belonging and community. The main goal in the inclusive classroom is the delivery of instruction and ensuring that all students feel that no one child is intentionally segregated. In my opinion inclusion is an intimidating phenomenon as a first year teacher. I think that having a background in special education would definitely help to ease some of the stress and anxiety that goes along with the prospect of inclusion. Having said this I think that inclusion has some undeniable benefits in terms of helping all students, special needs or not, to prepare for the real world and life beyond the classroom setting.
Analyzing these different models has helped me to see that there truely is no clear cut best way of taking on the challenges of accomodating the strengths and weaknessess of all students. It is clear that all of the methods have merit and knowing which situations require what model is the true art of helping all children to achieve the best that they are capable of.

Disabilities
After reflecting on our in class discussion regarding disabilities, I came to the conclusion that the word disability is not nearly as clear cut as I once thought it to be. The word disability spans a large field of behaviours and physical limitations. I learned through our discussion that one functional definition of the word does not seem to exist. I felt enlightened by the many different ways that my classmates described the word.
After reading the textbook and examining the many scopes and subfields of the term disability. I came to the realization that the shear broadness of the term is one of the largest barriers to finding an appropriate definition. The textbook breaks down the term disability into five main catagories, they are as follows, communicational, intellectual, behavioural, physical and multiple. It also points out that there are thirteen subcategories under these five main umbrella groups. I think by defining these more specific groups and by categorizing disabilities one can gain a far more precise understanding of the needs and impairments of the children that are labelled as having a disability.
As an aspiring teacher, the concept of including children with disabilities in the classroom is intimidating and anxiety provoking, but having a clear understanding of the implications of the disability that an individual child has helps to reduce this anxiety. This is not to say that I oppose inclusive education. Rather I am concerned about meeting the diverse needs of all students. I think that it would be unnatural for a teacher not to have feelings of anxiety in this regard. I value the philosophy that all children deserve to learn in an environment that is fully supportive of their individual needs. I feel that if I were to focus my attention on the children with disabilities in the classroom, it would leave the children that are seen as average to fall through the cracks and not recieve the proper attention they need to be successful. I believe that everyone has limitations in terms of what they can take on, and I think that the teachers limits must be taken into account when considering inclusion in the classroom.
I think that inclusion of students with disabilities also has benefits for the class as a whole. Inclusion forces teachers to reach out to the individual learning modalities and multiple intelligences. Using well thought out instruction benefits all students even those that are not labelled as having a disability. In this sense inclusion can help teachers strive to accomodate the individual learning needs of all students in the classroom.

What is Inclusive Education?
With all the hype about inclusive education in the educational research world as of late, I think it is important to first have a firm understanding of what is being implyed by the term inclusive education. We often become critics and are prone to pick out the faults and short comings of any system that is implemented, but in order to provide a reasonable analysis of the phenomenon I think that it is important to also give consideration to the positive aspects. Inclusive education can be described as educating all children together well. UNESCO describes inclusive education as providing all children the opportunity to learn together without descrimination. I think that it is difficult to draw the fine line that should exist between the system of coding and the inclusive model. I think the change begs the question of how funds can be properly allocated to ensure that students with disabilities are benefiting fully from the schooling program that they recieve. As a future teacher I also question what supports will be available for teachers working in an inclusive setting. Without the distinction of codes how can we be sure that the individuals who require assistance beyond the reaches of the classroom teacher are being helped appropriately? I think it must also be taken into consideration that the leaarning of the entire class can't be compromised in order to implement and meet the needs of the few students with special needs or disabilities. Having said this, after today's lecture I am curious about the technical aspects that need to be considered when implementing inclusive education. As a future teacher I am concerned about the new classroom dynamic that will become a reality through the introduction of inclusion into classrooms.