Presented Differentiated Instruction Strategies

Tuesday, I presented “A Differentiated Instruction Strategy Blast” at a conference held by the Northeast Regional Education Coop (Rec 4) from Las Vegas, NM. We had a great day discussing strategies for differentiating curricula and how it can raise student test scores and encourage success for both students and teachers. They were a fabulous group with a lot of questions and willing to share their best tips for student success.
Here are a couple shared tips:
Students who fidget often find it calming to use stress balls. An inexpensive solution to obtaining stress balls is to make your own. You’ll need:

 

  • Balloons
  • Flour or Baking Soda
  • A paper funnel for pouring the Flour or Baking Soda into the balloon.

Instructions:

  • Fill the balloon using a paper funnel.
  • Tie the end of the balloon and squeeze away!

This tip was contributed by Lisa Burciaga Segura, NM: NE Regional Education Coop. (Rec 4).

Another educator who chose to remain nameless suggested that teachers could use pieces of swim noodles  as a buffer for tapping pencils and pens. Tap on the swim noodle! Other options are tapping on pieces of soft sponge or mouse pads.

When I mentioned the calming effect of coloring mandalas, one teacher shared www.papersnowflakes.com. This website has access to mandala style snow flakes and many other cool links.

Thanks once again for all your hospitality and all the positive feedback I received after the seminar. I had a great time and I hope you not only learned a lot to help your students and teachers, but that  you had a great time, too!