Monitoring my GAME plan…

I am continuing my journey to “address the diverse needs of all learners using learner-centered strategies providing equitable access to appropriate digital tools and resources,” pursuant to ISTE Indicator 4(b). It seems that I am constantly on the lookout now for ways to address this goal. As this year was coming to a close, I stumbled upon a valuable resource that allowed me to tackle my goal head-on. My final unit of the year was a review of the historical events alluded to in the movie Forrest Gump (1994). When reading a non-fiction article on the Kent State Tragedy, it came to my attention that many of my Inclusion students were unaware of the controversial 1960’s and 1970’s; therefore, I decided to end the year centered around this once very popular film. I had students conduct research on ten historical events; while my grade level students conducted their own search, my lower-level students were sent on a Webquest. As we watched the movie, students were impressed with Gump’s fictional role in these events. Just today, I prompted them to write a persuasive letter to our principal trying to convince him of the value of movies in the classroom. With this letter, I was able to incorporate digital tools that provided a scaffold for my lower level students. Using resources from the website ReadWriteThink, found at http://www.readwritethink.org/, my students were able to create a Persuasive Map and later use a Letter Generator to assist them in completing the writing assignment. I found these two digital tools to be extremely engaging and helpful for my students, and I plan to begin next year using these to help students stay organized. On a side note, I did have one student who has obsessive compulsive disorder and hates to work with computers; they are very dirty, you know. So, I was able to print out the map and letter form for him to complete with his pencil; he and I were both quite satisfied.

My main concerns right now is finding different leveled online text centered on a common theme. Typically I teach units based on genre and theme. For example, I do two short story units: suspense and relationships. Ideally, I want to find short stories at different levels that address these themes. Honestly, I am under time constraints as I finish up the year, so I have not exactly sifted through the gazillion online resources. Does anyone have any suggestions?

So far, I feel that I have simply become more aware of the option to differentiate with technology. It seems to be a much more practical way to meet the needs of students – partly because it avoids the copying and organization of the traditional classroom. Also, I felt that Dr. Ross made a good point when he said that in reality it is only small numbers of students who will need that extra support with any given lesson (Laureate Education, Inc, 2009). In other words, educators will not have to differentiate for every student, but they should know their students well enough to see when modifications and accommodations need to be made.

Right now, I do not feel the need to venture away from this particular goal. As Dr. Ross suggested, the main reason kids do not use Assisted Technology is because their teachers either do not know they exist or do not know how to use them (Laureate Education, Inc, 2009). I want to know. Therefore, I will continue down this journey of trying to find ways in which technology can be used to meet the needs of my students. It’s an exciting venture.

Lori
9th grade English

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Meeting students’ needs with technology, Part one. Baltimore: Author.