My son had two significant learning disabilities. One of the many investments I made in his education was sending him to Super Camp. The strategies he learned in Super Camp are often believed to be elementary for students at the secondary level. That belief is not based in research. In fact, these same strategies are often used in corporate training today. Sadly, as students move up in grades, they feel they don’t need the strategies any longer.

One of my high school students wouldn’t use color-coded graphic organizers. He made it very clear by stating, “That’s babyish, Mrs. Fitzell. I’m not going to do that. I did that in elementary school. I’m in high school now.” Many youths believe in the myth that, after elementary school, they shouldn’t need those fun, creative strategies they used in elementary school to learn… and if they do, it means they’re not smart enough. Continuing to use these tools is not “babyish”. It’s the way people learn; especially for our Millennials who need and expect it.

I have spent most of my career teaching at the high school level and today, in my work training in the corporate world, I hear time and again that corporate trainees want and need these strategies. They want hands-on. They need movement and activity. They want and need the same things that our students do. Corporate trainers need to provide that hands-on delivery of information for trainees. Adult learners want to be actively involved and engaged in what they’re learning. This is what’s happening in corporations and business learning environments.

Please don’t get caught up in myths about learning. Teaching kids to learn is hard work when they believe in these myths. Once they see that these learning strategies are used by the largest generation in the workforce today, they will realize using learning strategies is not “babyish”; it’s how we all learn.

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When new initiatives run into problems in our classrooms, we tend to go back to old ways. But sometimes, if we stick to something we believe in, by going through the problem solving process, your students can learn unexpected lessons. This story from Darcy Salvadore (@drcyslvdr or https://www.facebook.com/darcy.salvadore/timeline?lst=1469544636%3A1234687062%3A1551557003) illustrates the value of this approach: http://ow.ly/5c3a30nONPw

As technology and work continue to evolve, now more than ever, we need to teach our students creativity, flexibility and a willingness to adapt to change. John Spencer (@spencerideas or follow on Facebook) offers wonderful ideas to help your students start thinking outside the box: http://ow.ly/brCl30nOOg2

To help our students to be nimble in an ever changing economy, we also need to stay flexible in how we teach in our classrooms. Cory Orlando (@CoriOrlando1 or follow on Facebook) reminds us that not every student is the same, therefore we should be flexible in our teaching strategy:
http://ow.ly/s1FB30nOOtm

What are some of your favorite articles or resources that help students prepare for the real world? Leave your comments below!

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But it can also be a useful tool for improving collaboration between co-teachers.

I recently was working with two co-teachers and saw them using a visual timer. I asked them, “Why do you use a timer?” and was surprised at their response. I thought they would say that it was to motivate students, by using it as a timer for them to race against or make it a game, for example.

The general education teacher said to me, “You know what? I don’t do it for the kids. We had a problem, my co-teacher and I: staying on schedule with our lesson plans.”

Both teachers nodded. The general ed teacher continued, “My co-teacher would start talking to elaborate on what I was teaching, but she’d go on and on. We were falling behind and weren’t finishing our lesson plan.”

“That’s right,” the special education teacher said. “So, we talked about it. And we came up with a solution. We set a timer for each chunk of our lesson plan. Then, I knew—because I could see the visual timer—when I needed to stop talking.” They both laughed, clearly comfortable with their working relationship.

So, I asked them, the timer benefits the two of you?

“Not just us,” the general ed teacher replied. “It keeps us on track, but it also keeps our students on track because they also know the time frame for the activity. Everybody stays focused.”

The two teachers said they were accomplishing much more within the time they had for class because they accomplished their teaching objectives within a pre-arranged chunk of time, and because the students were more focused on those objectives in the same time frame.

So, if you’re already using a timer for some things, or haven’t tried it yet, try expanding the ways you use your timer to clearly define the chunks of time available for you and your co-teacher to better manage the teaching implementation you plan on using in class. It can make a world of difference and really help you get the best bang for your time spent.

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How can we meet these students’ needs without neglecting some other part of the workload? It can be pretty tough to carve out the time. Well, these teaching strategies will help students who need it, thanks to resources available online. By combining audio resources with specific in-classroom activity, we can bolster students’ understanding of the material being taught.

Several websites offer audio and video lessons or books in a curated format that is easier to search. These include:

My Audio School – This site gives students, especially those with dyslexia, an easier way to explore different topics and books through audio. Each book is broken down chapter by chapter, so students can do their assignments in manageable chunks. The audio files can be streamed online or downloaded to be copied onto a CD or USB thumb drive as MP3 files. They’re also available via iTunes. A limited number of titles are available at no charge, but for a very reasonable $14.99 annual fee, the rest of their library is available to parents and teachers.

iTunes University – Built specifically for Apple iOS users, iTunes U is really “one of the unsung heroes of Apple’s content offering,” as a recent MacWorld article put it. For more than 10 years it has been a fantastic resource to download audio and video content on thousands of topics. And since iOS version 9.3 was released, teachers can now create their own courses, manage homework and grades and deliver lessons to students. If you haven’t yet taken full advantage of this resource or want to learn how to get the most out of it, a number of courses are available—on iTunes U, naturally—including this guide by Ohio State University.

The Great Courses – This app, available on iTunes or PC—and even, in limited form, on Amazon Prime Video—also offers a wealth of lectures, audiocasts and audiobooks as well as video. It’s pricier than most of the other audiobook or lecture sites out there, but has been around a lot longer (beginning as The Teaching Company over 20 years ago) and has a treasure trove of material across a wide range of topics.

So, how can you best put these resources to use? Here are a few effective methods:

1. Use these resources as another way to support those struggling readers, auditory learners, and English Language Learners.
2. Expose students to the patterns of language, its rhythm and cadence.
3. Provide students the opportunity to learn expressions and increase vocabulary by hearing them in context.
4. Use as a pre-reading activity. Play an excerpt and then ask students to predict what will happen next.
5. Bring a book to life, thereby inspiring, entertaining, and linking language and listening to the reading experience.

For more information about using technology to strengthen instruction, see Susan Fitzell’s book, Using iPads and Other Cutting Edge Technology to Strengthen Your Instruction.

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For some students, an effective way to reinforce something they have just learned is to have
them place that element into a story. This gives them the opportunity to look at a concept from
a different angle. It’s also empowering, as it shows students how to use a learning tool to
increase their knowledge and impart to others what they’ve learned.

With today’s technology, students have several ways to apply the “tell me a story” concept. Previously, students who had challenges with writing had few alternative options to show what they understood about something they had learned. Now they can tell a story visually, using photos and video.

Best of all, many image- and video-based apps are available that make it possible to create a story very quickly. Two effective teaching strategies to empower students to tell a story about what they’ve learned is to create an electronic postcard, or to make a movie about it.

5 Ways to Use Postcards to Reinforce Learning:
1. Students imagine that they are a character in a story they have read. As that character, they will write home to tell their family about an experience they had, based on the storyline. Students select events from the story that they will detail in their postcard to another
character.
2. Students create a postcard as a marketing piece for a travel agency. The setting featured
on the postcard depicts a location referenced in their reading.
3. Students create a postcard by illustrating a place they would like to visit, and then using 10
adjectives, describe the picture in their postcard in a short message.
4. Students create a postcard that includes a catchy slogan illustrating a figure of speech, a
specific math concept, or another learning concept.
5. Students write a postcard to the author sharing what they liked about the book.

When writing a post card, students should of course observe punctuation rules, spelling, and
proper sentence structure.

PhotoCard by Bill Atkinson is the best no-cost app to create and send virtual postcards and is
available only for iOS devices like iPhones and iPads.

7 Ideas for Using Movie Makers to Reinforce Learning
1. Students create their own myth/ fairy tale or a modern interpretation of an existing myth/
fairy tale, or a completely original story using digital movie maker software.
2. Students create their own news report about the concept they’ve learned.
3. Students create a book trailer to entice the viewer to read the book.
4. Create a personalized commentary on a piece of literature.
5. Create a public service announcement video on issues addressed in the story and
important to a character.
6. Using different genres in literature, students explore and discuss the characters from the
current lesson’s reading material. With an understanding of those characters, students create
a video depicting the characters in a modern day dilemma.
7. Have students explain, in 60 seconds or less, how they might use a concept they’ve
learned.

Toontastic for iOS or Android is a storytelling and creative learning tool that enables kids to
draw, animate, and share their own cartoons. It’s like putting together your own puppet show.
The recommended ages for this app are 4-7 and 8-10; however, don’t let that stop you from
using it as an appropriate app for secondary education. It’s not the look of the app that makes
it worthwhile, it’s how the app is used!

Puppet Pals HD is a simple-looking iOS app with a tremendous amount of potential for
secondary application in all subject areas.

Sadly, Eyejot Video Mail is no more. This video mail solution for mobile devices shut down in
2016. A similar app worth checking out is MailVU, an iOS-only video mail app.

For more information about using technology to strengthen instruction, see Susan Fitzell’s book, Using iPads and Other Cutting Edge Technology to Strengthen Your Instruction.

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In this video I talk about what it takes to create a firm foundation for your inclusion and co-teaching initiatives. Enjoy the video and don’t forget to leave your comments below.

Troy Wittman speaks to my heart, my passion, and my concerns about education in the United States today. Please take 15 minutes and listen to his TedX talk. He’s controversial. You may not like what he has to say. All the more the reason for you to watch!

I encourage the use of rubrics because of all the benefits research on their use as teaching strategies indicates. That said, I also encourage the use of quick, one minute, assessments (exit tickets, etc.) on a daily basis. The question I often get is “Do I grade them?” We, as a profession, are obsessed with grading; tagging students with an A,B,C,D, or, F. I don’t feel, nor do I advise, that we grade everything. Even rubrics do not have to result in a “grade.” I think the point that Mr. Wittman makes is that we are too “grade” and “test” obsessed and it’s hurting our kids. I agree. We need to find a balance.

I agree that the Common Core State Standards, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (and all the CCSS standards renamed by states trying to avoid the issues around the term “Common Core”), and many other systems of “standards” in use today have tremendous potential to bring back differentiating instruction, hands on learning, more focus on technology, etc. However, as I coach teachers, I’m sensing and feeling their anger, frustration, and panic about the standardized test that will assess students’ growth on the “standards” in their states.

Many are so concerned about the fact that the test is going to assess mastery on topics their students are not developmentally ready for, especially when assessing students with special needs and learning disabilities. Some teachers are paralyzed by the fear. Some are chucking all known DI strategies because they take too much time to implement. Some are trying to cover two to three years of material in one year to get their students ready for the test. Top that off with the fact that teachers are panicked because, in some cases, their teacher evaluation depends on how their students do on those tests.

I had a teacher say to me recently, “Why would I want to co-teach, or have an inclusive class, when my evaluation will depend on my students’ test scores? The teacher down the hall, who has all high level kids, will get a better evaluation than me simply because she doesn’t have kids on an IEP.”

This is the state of education today and I find it disheartening. Troy Wittman uses rubrics, as he states in his talk, however, it’s not the only tool he uses. He also made it clear that he’s fortunate to work with a school that does not foster teaching to the test… a school that is not creating a culture of fear over test scores.

Teachers are not the only ones who are fearful. School administrators are fearful of the tests also, and that fear trickles down.

As I watched the video myself, I could hear the cries of the teachers I’ve coached and presented to over the past few years in my mind – rebutting… “But in MY school, we could not do what you are doing Mr. Wittman, because …”

We need to find a balance…

For more information on differentiation strategies to reach ALL learners, see Susan Fitzell’s book, Special Needs in the General Classroom, Strategies That Make It Work. Available in both print and electronic versions!

We also offer a Professional Development Kit, for all teachers, with a Graduate Credit Option!

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Susan’s note: Some teachers struggle to effectively use technology in the classroom. During a program I did in Columbus, OH, I met Amanda. She told me about how she uses Google Images to support vocabulary. Amanda was kind enough to outline her strategies so that I could share them here.

Every one of these ideas could be used in any subject area and there are a number of ways you might apply these strategies in your classroom. Please comment below and add your ideas to this list!

1. Continuum of meaning – Have student search a word with degrees of meaning, such as “anger.” Then have them pick five images and order them (from least to most angry), then compare their images with their peers.

2. Continuum of meaning, antonyms – Just like #1, but use antonyms like “hot” and “cold.”

3. Continuum of personal application, close to their lives / far from their lives. For example, use the word “regal.” Students might find an image to represent their cat and and image of Princess Diana to illustrate both ends of the spectrum.

4. Have students make a personal image “glossary” of content vocabulary using google images instead of verbal linguistic definitions.

5. Play “Memory” of words for visual representation. Keep words, definitions, and visual representations of words visible so NO ONE guesses!

6. Play a match game of words and definitions to visual pictures that the teacher finds. This can be used as formative assessment.

7. Post a current events type Google Image. Challenge students to make a link from a vocabulary word to the image, and defend it. Class votes on funniest, best, most meaningful, etc. for prizes or points.

8. Post a word and its meaning. Kids find example and non-example images, and explain why each image fits, or not.

9. Post an image and ask students to find and explain the “most interesting” (or any other qualifier) word to describe that image.

Kids love to use technology and they have fun with these activities!

Amanda McNinch
Struthers City Schools

For more information about using technology to strengthen instruction, see Susan Fitzell’s book, Using iPads and Other Cutting Edge Technology to Strengthen Your Instruction.

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In response to a survey I sent out, several teachers who have found ways to overcome these challenges shared strategies that they use in their own classrooms for grouping students and providing enrichment activities.

Here are six more excellent enrichment ideas from some of the great teachers in my network!

10. Reading Comprehension Acceleration Activity for Language Arts, English, and Reading in the Content area: Choose books slightly above their reading level that will challenge student thinking on point of view or a historical issue. Instruct students to meet “book club style” to discuss the text. Encourage students to make connections to past instruction and suggest points to discuss in the upcoming lesson(s). For example, choose several books from a specific time period such as Sadako and The 1000 Paper Cranes, I Survived Pearl Harbor, How Baseball Saved Us, I survived the Nazi Invasion of 1944, and Number the Stars. These all give a different child’s point of view about World War II. Students get a 360-degree view of events during that time and draw their own conclusions based on their reading and discussion. Contributed by Chrystal Williams, Clara Love Elementary, Justin, TX

11. Vocabulary and Content Specific Terminology: Choose a key term discussed in your lesson and have students research the term to gain more detail. For example, when Felicia Thomas was teaching pre Civil War events through to Civil War there was minimal time in the lesson to thoroughly discuss the role of an abolitionist. So, the acceleration group researched the term to identify and respond to the who, what, when, where, why. Contributed by Felicia Thomas, Joseph Martin Elementary, Hinesville, GA Twitter: @fthomas_jme

12. Background Knowledge for Current Topic: Have students read informational articles and create questions for a classmate or parent based on their reading. Also contributed by Felicia Thomas, Joseph Martin Elementary, Hinesville, GA Twitter: @fthomas_jme

12. Computer Classes – Application, Problem-solving, Analysis, and Synthesis: After providing an overview of the key components of high-end computer systems via teacher presentations and video tutorials, Lawani, uses a “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” style quiz to reinforce learning for about 5 minutes. Then he splits the class into groups of 3 or so and give each group a different kind of computer system, for which they must research and identify the key components they would use, depending on the purpose for which their computer will be used. He allows five minutes for the research and then facilitates a Q&A to monitor and evaluate their understanding. Contributed by Lawani, Lewisham Southwark College

13. Create Game Questions to Reinforce Learning and Peer Review With the Class: Instruct students to create questions (about 5) to be used for a study guide, quiz, or test, or to play (my favorite) Kahoot @ Kahoot.it. Students create questions that are relevant to what has been taught and must include an answer key. This can be done individually or as a group. Contributed by Janna Ramirez, Lyman Hall Elementary, Hinesville, GA Twitter: @JhalesRamirez

14. Go Deeper Through Creating Models that Teach: Have students use apps like Wixie, ExplainEverything, or Educreations to”go deeper” into a standard and/or learning target. Challenge them to create video learning models for students that need extra practice. Contributed by Janice Brennan, Taylors Creek Elementary School, Hinesville, GA Twitter: @jbrennan_tce

15. Offer Students Choices for Enrichment: Janice Brennan offers her students choices that accelerate learning. Examples of Acceleration Center™ she’s provided include Boggle Your Mind, a figurative language matching game, a vocabulary-independent word study for a novel the class is reading. 10 minutes is the ideal time limit and Janice’s students love the timed aspect. Also contributed by Janice Brennan, Taylors Creek Elementary School, Hinesville, GA Twitter: @jbrennan_tce

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When chunking lesson plans, which is a strategy whereby you divide your lesson plan into chunks of approximately 10 minutes or less, you can have a 10-minute chunk of time with three ability-based groups, each doing work at their level of instruction. In this scenario, one group could be your specially designed instruction, or reteach group, another group might be working on practice items while the third group would be working on enrichment activities that challenge and accelerate learning.

While teachers typically focus on the group of students who are receiving specially designed instruction, or being re-taught the material, other students need activities that keep them engaged and behaving appropriately. It’s typical for students to work on practice activities after instruction in the classroom without much need for teacher attention. This group is not much different than the group that might be doing the odd numbers on page 35 after a lesson on how to work an algebraic equation. Teachers are used to this scenario and may lightly supervise students in this group. In reality, this doesn’t change the chunking strategy. The difference is that teachers are teaching one group of students while their other students are engaged in the practice activity.

The real challenge is what to do with the students who are ready to move beyond the current level of instruction. How do you give those students something that’s more challenging, that enriches their learning, but doesn’t cause them to feel resentful that they’re doing harder work, more work, or boring work?

It seems logical that we might give these higher achieving students more difficult problems to solve, more challenging work to accomplish, longer and more demanding essays to write. They’re capable, so the temptation is to challenge them with these types of assignments. However, what often happens is that students become resentful, start to misbehave, and then go home and complain to their parents that they are being discriminated against because they have to do more work than other students in the classroom. The key is to give students challenge activities that are fun, engaging, and take learning up a level in a way that they find stimulating and motivating.

These activities can be used to challenge students for a 10 to a 12-minute chunk of time while you are reteaching another group of students.

10 Minute Acceleration Center Enrichment Activities For Use Across All Content Areas

1. A WebQuest Challenge: Send students on a WebQuest to answer an open-ended question about the topic you just taught. WebQuests move students beyond just the facts. They require students to use prior knowledge and stimulate curiosity that promotes an investigation of the topic at a deeper level.

A WebQuest provides students with the goal, or quest. They then have to research the given topic on the Internet to find information about that quest and analyze what they find by reading, watching videos, listening to audio, viewing images, etc. in order to synthesize their research and come to a conclusion.

An excellent resource for Web Quests can be found at Tommarch.com. Also, check out http://webquest.org/

2. Be a Character Detective: Research a key person (scientist, author, historical figure, mathematician, etc.) to come up with a theory as to why they are notable. What prompted them to do what they did? What events or people in their life influenced them? Where would the world be if their lives had been different? Students can present their findings and conclusions in a quick presentation (via screencasting, a skit, a song, an iMovie or Animoto trailer, or a mind map).

3. What’s the Source of that Theory? Use Wolfram Alpha to research background information on a theory in geometry, algebra, or science, and present that new information to the class in a creative manner.

4. Visual Research and Analysis (Math): In math, use Google images to find structures that include a specific shape, such as a parabola, and determine the formula for that particular shape. Possibly, consider how a shape might contribute to the structural integrity of objects such as chairs or tables.

5. Video Curation and Analysis: Find videos on the topic of instruction that present the knowledge in a unique or entertaining way. For example, find music videos that explain the difference between metaphor and simile. Or find videos, for example, that present the prologue to a Shakespearean play in three different styles (a skit created by students, professional production, a dramatization uploaded by a teacher). Analyze how the different presentations provide the viewer with differences in perspective on the piece of literature.

6. Analyze that App: Provide students with a rubric to analyze a device app, or a video, or an instructional website. Have them use the rubric to create a “top three” list of resources for the other students in the class on any given topic.

7. Create a Whiteboard Movie (Screencasting): Instruct students to create a whiteboard movie using an app such as Explain Everything, and show two sides of an issue, both sides of an argument in a debate, or two different characterizations of a social situation.

8. Karaoke Mnemonics: Students choose a karaoke version of a popular song so that they have the music without words. Create new lyrics to sing the concept just taught so that they will remember the lesson.

9. Dramatize Dry Text in Person or with Video: Show students an episode of Real Actors Read Yelp and have them use the movie app on their device to dramatize content area reading that would typically be very dry, similar to what the actors have done with the Yelp reviews.

Next week, I’ll share six more great ideas from real teachers who use the ideas they share in their own classrooms. Don’t miss it!

Why Wait?

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