When it comes to diversity in my school, the focus right now is overwhelmingly on differentiated instruction. Differentiated instruction is instruction that maximizes learning for students regardless of their academic level. Not all students learn at the same pace and in the same learning style. Differentiated instruction creates a classroom environment where all students, regardless of their skill level can excel. Differentiated instruction takes typical classroom teaching strategies and throws them out the window. In this learning environment every student becomes a motivated, engaged learner because the teacher is allowing all students to learn in their optimal learning style. Having the media and technology specialists on board for creative learning strategies is key to reaching students. Students and teachers alike have different learning styles. Diversity in schools is at it’s finest when the media and technology specialists are able to step in and work collaboratively with classroom teachers to create exciting, engaging lessons and presentations to ensure that students from all learning levels can thrive.
I am a special education teacher and sometimes feel like I have to stand on my head to achieve and maintain my student’s attention and interest, when I use different types of technology into my classroom, my students are eager to participate. Teachers do not always realize the different resources available to them, media and technology specialists need to be there to introduce new innovative classroom ideas. I work in a school with little technology support, we share our technology specialist with two other schools, she does not have time to introduce new materials to us, we depend on the media specialist for this type of insight.
Monday, November 23, 2009
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The school where I'm doing my field experience is sharing a technology specialist too, so instruction is put on the back-burner while the specialist tries to make sure all of the computers and ActivBoards are actually working the way they are supposed to. What a lot of the teachers have been doing around my school though, is teaching each other new technologies. For example, one of the teachers was having audio problems on her computer, so she wanted to use the ActivBoard in the media center one afternoon.
ReplyDeleteOf course, my mentor agreed, but she wanted to know about the web site the teacher was using. So the teacher gave my mentor an impromptu lesson and my mentor turned around and showed the teacher another new site she had learned about. And they were both thrilled!
I've even shown my mentor some of the sites we were given for our digital resource kits, and she loved them.
So I guess it is kind of a "we're all in this together" feeling, but it is working!
The focus at the school in which I am employed is on differentiated instruction for all students. Even though this has been challenging for the teachers, the benefits of differentiated instruction are already evident through test scores and benchmarks. Meeting the needs of each and every student is important in helping the students learn best. The technology specialists and media specialists can definitely help classroom teachers to create meaningful lessons that will engage every student no matter their learning style.
ReplyDeleteOur media specialist has a lot on her plate right now so it is hard for her to teach the teachers about new technology to use in the classroom because she is usually trying to fix technology problems, helping students find "just right" books in the media center or teaching media skills. We have a technology department for our county and every couple of months we are given the opportunity to attend a technology meeting at the technology center in the afternoon after school. It is difficult for teachers to attend these meetings so we have to work together and help each other as we use new technology in our classrooms.
Hi Kelli,
ReplyDeleteLike you, we share a tech specialist with another school. I don't see him having the time to teach us all new tricks either. After all, that's what the SLMS for, right? Well, in theory, the technology specialist used to help with curricular matters, but the more they cut, it seems the thinner they are spread, and that never means good news for the school librarian because then teaching the latest and greatest technology to teachers becomes their responsibility.
Also, like you, I have seen a lot of differentiation this year. In fact, I have heard a lot of buzz about RtI, GRASPS, and differentiation. I have no way of telling whether or not I've been living in a bubble since I didn't work last year, but even at my son's school, they "team teach" a lot. It seems that the resource teacher comes to the classroom to "differentiate" instruction for kids with various exceptionalities. I don't know how the dynamics of his classroom ended up like they did, but my son has only 12 students in his regular ed class; five are gifted and four are special ed. Three or four do not need services. My son falls into both categories, but he has two autistic classmates (and J is on the spectrum for PDD-NOS/AS, but he's so mild we're not addressing it so much as his sensory and anxiety) while one student is hearing impaired and uses sign language. According to his teacher, they all have spatial issues and are uniquely quirky (she said this lightheartedly). So the resource teacher stays in her room for part of the day before going to the next class. This means Justin is never pulled out, which is truly the least restrictive environment. I think differentiation is great if you have the resources and the right class size. I think it's good in theory anyhow, but I can appreciate that it's not easy to have 20 students rather than 12 and have to differentiate when there's no one else in the room to help out. A media specialist in this case would be a great resource because she can help with ideas and technology. In my other class we've learned about media specialists' roles as instructional partners. I can see where working in that capacity would help teachers with differentiation.
That being said, it is a trend I am seeing more often, even where I work. Something else that we started this year was to departmentalize grades 3-5, and teachers get two or three sets of students per day, depending on the grade and team (we have an odd number of third grade teachers, so there's one team of two, one of three). I believe that departmentalizing helps teachers focus on content in one area which means they can cover more. But I would have to step into their classrooms to see how much differentiation takes place as a result. It would be interesting to see.
Another step
Kelli,
ReplyDeleteI think that we all seem to think of diversity as only being race or economic level, but learning styles also make up a great percentage of the diversity our students face. As a classroom teacher we are always expected to teach to the different styles of learning and needs of the students. A media specialist can help with this differentiation in providing plenty of books on different levels so that there is always a wide variety for the students. Also, the MS needs to have a wide range of books to capture the interests of the students. I feel that the standards need to be looked at closely and that the MS needs to have books that align closely with the standards so that they can supplement the instruction.
Kelli, our school is onboard with differentiated instruction, too. As you said, “Differentiated instruction is instruction that maximizes learning for students regardless of their academic level.” Few know more about what is available in a school media center than the media specialist. Most school media centers have leveled resources for students to use, or these can be borrowed from regional library centers. If reference materials in a local media center are slim to none on a particular topic for any learner, a resourceful media specialist can get on the phone and call or email a library center like the West Georgia Regional Library. I know that most media centers have problems securing materials for low level readers, but we have had gifted students who needed higher level materials that we didn’t have, as well. Outside sources like media specialists in middle school or high school media centers in your own district or regional libraries can help you out, too. Our Destiny circulation system is really great with making our district media centers so accessible to each other; we loan each other materials all the time.
ReplyDeleteWe have had such good and fairly fast service from West Georgia Regional that I thought others might like this information, too. They deliver right to your door, too! We have not used the computer services, but in these days of huge budgetary cutbacks, I feel these public library lenders would be good places to start a search for differentiated materials.
Here’s my commercial for our regional library!
West Georgia Regional Library in Carrollton, GA
Materials Acquisition: Melissa Gearhart, melissa@wgrl.net
Reference Services : Sarah Boyd, refdesk@wgrl.net
Computer Related Services: Cary Dunmire, cary@wgrl.net
The phone number is the same for all personnel there: 770-836-6711
West Georgia Regional Library is part of the PINES network (Public Information Network for Electronic Services). To see where your particular regional library is, you can go to http://www.georgialibraries.org/directories/pineslibdir.php
PINES is a program of the Georgia Public Library Service (404-235-7200) and serves all counties in Georgia.
Maybe this will help YOU diversify learning for your students.
As I blog this morning, it is so interesting to me to read what diversity means. It means one thing to one student and something else entirely to another. It is appropriate that diversity to you applies to special education. I, too, immediately think about the small population of special education students at my school. When I became the media specialist two years ago, the first teacher that welcomed me was the special education teacher (there's only one). I responded by having the special education students into the media center once a week with a "media lesson" which usually centered around a particular children's book. The teacher was so grateful. The second year, when I learned more about what I was "supposed" to be doing, I didn't meet with those students on a regular basis. This discussion about diversity has made me think more and more about that time. Perhaps that WAS what I was supposed to be doing for those students. Otherwise, they rarely come into the media center. As a special education teacher and a future media specialist, what do you expect from the media program for special education students? I'm interested.
ReplyDeleteAs a reading teacher, I try to encourage students to develop a life-long passion for reading by taking them regularly to the media center. They enjoy the every other week routine and look forward to going. In the media center, their diversities are celebrated from the moment they walk in. Each month our media specialist has some sort of display that targets subgroups of our population. Although the collection is semi-outdated, there is always something that interests most of the students.
ReplyDeleteMost of them actually get more excited about the things they are allowed to do after they have checked out books. I allow them to utilize any of the educational media and software on the computers and in other areas of the media center.
The media center allows them to embrace their diversities and celebrate in a few moments of freedom to dictate their own educational path with choices.