FLAG Presentation: Creating a Differentiated Classroom Without The Headache

I was honoured to be asked to present at the Foreign Language Association of Georgia's annual conference in Augusta this year. I decided to present on a topic that I have been very self conscious about this year: Differentiation. It seems to be a very popular "buzz word" in education now and often throws teachers for a loop. There are twenty billion definitions it seems and every person has different standards for what it would look like in a perfect classroom. My hope was to provide real examples of differentiation and help take some of the pressure off of classroom teachers when it comes to differentiation. So, without further ado: Creating a Differentiated Classroom Without the Headache!

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The Rules

1. Keep it simple - As teachers we can over complicate things, not on purpose, but just because we like to think of every angle of how an activity will work and what it will mean for us and our students. As I've experimented this year with differentiation, I've found the simpler it is, the easier it works and the better it works. 
2. It's all about choice - Bearing in mind the first rule, this one is incredibly easy to follow. Make it about the students choosing. This is the simplest form of differentiation. You can limit the choices, but ultimately, let the students choose. Provide guidelines, but let them be the keepers of their educational destiny. They will thank you for it and you won't be reading the same 3 paragraph essay/story over and over again.
3. It's okay to relinquish control, every once in awhile - I made this a rule as a follow up to rule #2. As teachers, we are asked to always be in control of our classrooms. I have found though, that the more you try to control differentiation like you would classroom management, the more unbearable it becomes. It's okay to say "yes" every once in a while when a kid says, "Hey... what about...." You never know where it may go.
4. The more you do it, the easier it becomes - Practice makes perfect... or in this case, practice makes fun. The more you try differentiation, the less afraid you become and, if you relinquish a little control, let kids make choices, and you relinquish a little control... it can become a whole lot of fun!
5. You define the parameters, they get to show you their style - Often it is said that we teachers should teach life skills. Why not take this and apply to all classes with differentiation? Define the parameters (grammar topics, sentence limits, vocabulary targets) and let them have creative freedom. This will make the grading process more interesting as well as make it more fun for them (as well as anyone observing your classroom!)

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The Ideas

• You probably already do it! - You may not realise it, but every time you review vocabulary, grammar, culture, do a warm up or summarising activity... you are differentiating the content. By reviewing, acting out, drawing, giving synonyms, "previewing", or answering those quick "student driven" questions, you differentiate! Point this out to your supervisors, parents, and make note of it. You'll be surprised by how much you do it already.
• Only Half the Story - Differentiate the content by breaking students into groups and only giving them part of the information (e.g. the first/second half of a story, a list of half the vocab from a chapter/activity/story, a picture that evokes certain words/ideas/phrases, etc.). Ask students to come up with a list of what they think the item is about, what emotions it evokes, what they think is going to happen, what they think happened, etc. Then, share with the rest of the class and start a discussion. If you look at the photos in my presentation (listed below), you can see what kind of words a well put together activity can evoke. Use this as an opening activity, or as a tool of summary, or a pre-reading strategy.
• Student Choice Assignment - This is all about choice. I collect four grades each chapter/unit --> a classwork grade that I choose, a classwork grade that they choose, a grade from their computer study day, and a quiz grade of their choosing. I reserve the right to collect any assignment, and I set specific parameters for each assignment. Students then choose their best work. This ensures that their grade isn't reflecting a day where they were sick, absent, or what have you and they get to show me exactly what they found valuable or learned. Here are my parameters for the three grades they get to choose:
  1. classwork grade - must be an activity that took the majority of class and pertains to our stories.
  2. Quia lab day - students must work for the entire period on our Quia activities. They may fill out a questionnaire or base their grade off of time spent/notes taken.
  3. Timed Write quiz grade - students complete a series of timed writes (described below). They choose their best and submit for a quiz grade.
• Embedded Stories - You may wish to read this earlier write up about embedded stories. I find myself doing these more and more. In my presentation (listed below), you see an upper level example based off of Ovid and a first year example based off of a story we read. Embedding involves taking the story and simplifying it. This can take many forms like a wordle or a summary for pre-reading, a very simply version for Day 1, a dictatio (dictation), a more complex version, so on and so forth. The idea is to severely limit vocabulary to make the language become comprehensible for students. You can lead students with an embedded story through a dictatio, a read and discuss, a guided notes session, a reader's theatre, etc. By embedding it, you create 2, 3, 4, even 5 versions that students can learn from and you've increased your way of reaching them. 
• Timed Write - Start with 5 minutes after a discussion or reading. Ask students to silently write for the entire 5 minutes. Everything they remember. No aids. Ask them to do their best. If you do this consistently  you will find that you can keep track of their progress, as can they. My students often tell me excitedly how their word count has increased or how they notice certain minuscule details about their writing. I love hearing that. When I collect these, I NEVER grade them on grammar. I simply grade them on understanding. As you do this, students will start complaining about the time given. This is when you increase the time you give, eventually getting to 15-20 minutes. 

In my presentation and handout, you will find a few more examples as well as my resources and contact information. I hope you find this information useful and please feel free to contact me with any questions or stories! The more ideas the better! 

Happy Spring and happy differentiating!

How to Make an Ablative Absolute Quilt (From my article in the Classicist)

Today I woke up and (as happens all-too-often) realized that I really had no realistic plan for teaching my Latin II class. I was bored with the normal day-to-day activities that we all do as standby, and wanted to do something a little different.

As I stood looking around my room, willing my desks and chairs to give me an idea, that ever-elusive muse of teaching touched me and I knew what I was going to do with my students—we were going to make a quilt! A paper quilt, clare, because I don’t have the money for fabric or ... (you can read the rest here)

Activity for an Insomniac: Quick, Easy, and No Prep!

Last week I was facing my class after a night of almost no sleep.  Like many teachers, there are those times when my head gets filled with a huge list of responsibilities that have to be carried out in the next day or week.  This was one of those times; I woke and started working out how I was going to get everything done.  Unfortunately this was around 1 AM.  Which meant that when I finally got to school and had to teach around 6 hours later, I had little energy to offer my students.

Often on days where I'm sick or feeling wiped out (which are rare) I fall back on worksheets, which my class receives rarely enough that a worksheet elicits concern from my kids. 

This time, however, my son had just been sick the week before and I had given the substitute worksheets for my students to do while I was away.  I really had no interest in giving them worksheets again.  As the clock ticked closer to our late bell, I finally realized what I could do that would be low impact on me and enjoyable to my kids.

I assigned a comic.  They were required to form small groups (I arranged the desks in 4-person "tables" before class actually started) and write a comic in the passive voice (the grammar topic we've been working on).  Once I had all the comics turned in, I taped them around the hall, far enough away from each other that students wouldn't have to crowd each other to read them.

Lastly, because I wanted them to interact with each other's work, I gave each group seven squares of paper.  The papers were new comic panels, I explained,  for them to write and illustrate new endings for their classmates' comics.  Groups fanned out and eagerly read the other comics and discussed the best way to change each story.  There was a lot of discussion, a lot of laughter, and only a little need for a Latin teacher.   So I stood back and watched the movement and the relaxed Latin atmosphere.  

 I will break this activity out again sometime--it's a great rainy day activity with its natural kinesthetic aspect and light tone.  Yet students had to flex their Latin muscles too as well as solve the problem of writing an entire story in the passive voice (try it--it's hard).

If you've used similar activities in your classes, I would love to hear about it!  Post below.

My Date With CASIE (Part II)

I'm not really normally a two-part blogger.  If I have a lot to say, I just sort of put it all in one place and hope you don't get too tired of me halfway through and stop reading.

But this month has been a very, very busy one, and even though I wasn't yet ready to actually blog about the lesson I posted, I wanted to put it up online so anyone who was interested and possibly struggling might have a chance to watch a communicative method in practice.  I don't claim to be the best example, but I do claim to be an example, and when it comes to Latin, there are really too few examples of Latin lessons taught in the language itself.  As an awesome side-effect, another Latin teacher, the wonderful James Hosler, also braved the critiques of his fellows and posted a video of himself teaching using PQA (Personalized Question and Answer--a traditional and effective TPRS technique).

Long introduction.

Myself and John Wilson and Bubo.

I had a really unique opportunity this January.  At a regional conference, I met John Wilson, who organizes monthly Speakeasies for CASIE, the Center for the Advancement and Study of International Education.  We talked while I tried very hard to calm my nerves before a presentation (I am always nervous before a presentation) and thanks to that chance meeting, he booked me to teach Latin for one night at one of the Speakeasies.

I really love the concept behind the Speakeasies.  If you are interested in language and language-learning, you can sign up for a free ($1 donation optional) one-hour course in a variety of languages.  Every month, there is a Speakeasy featuring a different language.  They have ranged from Tagalog to Swahili to Polish, and each lesson is taught, with mine being a necessary exception, by a native speaker.  There is one rule for the lesson: it must be taught in the target language.

This rule was harder to follow than I initially grasped, because initially I figured, hey, I teach using spoken Latin all the time.  But though I have used TPRS since my second year teaching, I eventually realized that TPRS has, almost since I heard of it, had no problem with introducing vocabulary in English as long as that builds meaning.  And now I had to figure out how to teach words like quid ("what"), words I have always introduced by simply writing them on the board with their English translations, in context without English.

Quid?!

How do you do that?

I won't take you through the painful process of the many, many false starts I had when creating the lesson I had in mind.  My creative process always includes false starts--perhaps why I encourage my students to write first and figure it out later.  I also won't take you through my final decisions (they're all recorded in the video of my lesson that CASIE and John were kind enough to allow me to make).

Teaching Latin without English gave me a chance to really think about language, how my students process language, how hard it can be to just want a simple word-to-word correlation and have to settle for vague similarities between word meanings.  How do you teach the word "have" and not end up communicating something more like "want" or "love" or any other possible meaning that could correlate with holding something like you own it?  I didn't want the Speakeasy participants to leave feeling confused or unsure of exactly what the language had been communicating.  I easily admit to being scared that I would be a poor representative of the spoken Latin community and more than once the coward in me considered calling up the many wonderful Latin teachers I know and seeing if I could find a substitute.  I felt just as vulnerable as some students feel, when they have to leave English behind in my class, because it's our safety net.  If they don't get it, I can quickly explain in English, then move back to Latin.

I did draw my words.  Many, many pictures.

Perhaps this is a problem that is not too prevalent in languages with fluent speakers and immersion opportunities.  Latin speakers have had to create our own immersion opportunities, which we do, but I know my progress in the language is much slower and more laborious than I would prefer.  My lack of fluency can hinder my bravado sometimes.

Watching the video I made, I see my nerves coming out during my lesson.  My arms are swinging constantly (also a sign of me thinking on my feet) and there are many significantly long hesitations when I realize I'm not sure how to move forward at the moment.

I also see myself having fun.  Because it was fun.  Teaching is fun, and teaching in an environment full of willing and responsive students is close to unreal.  The energy at CASIE and the Speakeasy was so positive and receptive that it would have been difficult to fail.

I am really excited to continue to take part in the CASIE Speakeasies.  I am already enrolled in one for Gaelic and another for Bulgarian.

My Date With CASIE (Part I)

This is the first of what will become two posts over a great program I was part of last Wednesday.  The reason I have split the post into two is simple.  This first post, a video of my entire lesson, is a lengthy engagement.  I don't want to ask more than that in this post.

CASIE's Speakeasy format is a lesson in a language taught in the target language.  This is my lesson, mostly inspired by my experience teaching in the TPRS and Communicative format.  Many teachers have asked me for examples of how I teach Latin via TPRS, and thanks to the generosity of CASIE and my participants, I now have a full-length beginning class to offer.

Analysis to follow in my second post.

A Very Short Open Letter to the President

Let me open by saying that I have read a lot of Stephen Krashen's work (but not nearly all of it!) and I find inspiration in his writings. I cite him in my presentations and I often refer to his work when putting together my own work. This is a letter that he has given open permission for educators to share, and I'd like to share it with you all. ~Miriam~

A very short open letter to President Obama
November 26, 2012

There is enormous frustration and dissatisfaction among professional educators about current educational policy. Many, especially those in the classroom and closest to the children, feel that current policy, one of closing public schools, encouraging privatization, and imposing more testing than has ever been seen on this planet, is ba

dly misguided and will lead to tragic consequences for our children, damage that will take decades to repair.

Professional educators feel that government is not paying attention to their expert opinions, and is paying far too much attention to non-experts. The voices of respected scholars are not being heard, and highly competent professional research done over the last few decades is being ignored.

The US Department of Education must stop demoralizing professional educators and free them to teach with passion.

Rather than submit another long open letter detailing these concerns, here is a simple suggestion. Please hold a private one-on-one meeting with Dr. Diane Ravitch for a serious conversation about education.

As you may know, Dr. Ravitch is a very highly respected and dedicated professional educator, a distinguished scholar, a very clear writer and speaker, and extremely knowledgeable about the major issues in education today. She does not represent any special interest group other than our teachers and our children.

We hope you will be willing, and eager, to meet with Dr. Ravitch, who has become the spokesperson for educators in America concerned about current policy.

Stephen Krashen
Professor Emeritus
University of Southern California

Kids These Days: Thoughts on Change and Teaching

I have mentioned before that I consider Google+ an important part of my PLN.  It is an honestly intellectual space for me where I get to converse with great teachers from all over the nation  (and sometimes outside the nation) about education, what education is, what it could be, what I would like it to be, and how it could get there.

Inspired by discussions I've taken part in on G+, I've spent a lot of time lately thinking about students. Even in the sacred space of Google+, among some of the most forward-thinking educators I have ever met, I sometimes see the words "kids have changed."

They are some of my least favorite words.  Mostly because they represent a generational "us vs. them" mentality, and partly because I don't agree with them.

My kids, my students, are much like I and my friends were when I was in high school.  They are at an age that is both dependent and independent.  They worry about how everyone else views them but don't want anyone to know they care about that.  They think about the future but their experience is limited so they spend most of their time thinking about themselves.  And that's okay because they are just now at an amazing point in their lives, a point of self-discovery, the precipice of adulthood and self-actualization, when they learn who they are and who they want to be.  Teenhood is a self-indulgent and exploratory time of life, and it has been that way since we stopped expecting people to begin work and raise families before they turn twenty.

Kids haven't changed.

The world has.

Just last week, I wanted to tell another teacher that I really like his Twitter icon.  I tweeted him the complement in Latin.  It's cool to get communicate with someone in my language of choice, but that's not why I chose to write him in Latin.  It also happens to be our common language--he's from Spain.

The world is getting smaller and technology--specifically the internet--is the reason.  It connects people regardless of national borders or distances between households.  It's all around us: smartphones, tablets, laptops--try going somewhere without seeing at least one of these electrical devices.

And it's pretty much omniscient.

I can't remember the last time I had a question I couldn't answer via Google.  Most likely my students can't remember a first time. 

That is the difference between our worlds.  Right there.  When I didn't know something growing up, I had to either find a book or ask someone, usually an adult.  Teachers were often a source of any knowledge that I could not find easily on my own.  Today, my students pull out their phones when they don't know something.  They don't need an adult to play "fount of knowledge" because they have a real fount of knowledge few humans could compete with.  My students can find out much more about the Romans online than I can hold in my head. There is a constant flow of information online, ever-updated and upgraded, and it's amazingly accessible. 

I'm not necessary any more.  Teachers have become obsolete.

If I subscribe to a traditional theory of a teacher's place in education.  Which, fortunately, I do not.  There is no reason, in a society that is becoming increasingly technology-savvy and in a world where information is available at the touch of a button, to continue viewing teachers in such a limited way.  We should not be arbiters of information but guides, co-learners, helping our students and ourselves learn to utilize information now that it is so readily available.

There is a sort of artificiality to the way schools are run today.  My friend, Justin Schwamm, hit upon the same idea in yesterday's post on his blog:
"Both schools and textbooks function ‘as designed,’ but the design is obsolete, and so is the underlying paradigm (knowledge is scarce and must be transmitted from expert to novice)."

Knowledge is abundant.  So, when schools and administrative sources try to fit students into an obsolete and flawed paradigm, built on a system designed to filter the "good" students (students who sit still, take notes, study, and test well) from the "bad" (anyone who does not fit the previous description) and to train future  factory workers (bells, isolated work stations, absolute authority), they are going to chafe and rebel.  And many teachers, who honestly don't understand the source of the resistance, begin to blame "kids these days" and their "overabundance" of technology, instead of looking at the redundancy of a program that only offers a resource students already can get more easily, more quickly, and more concisely.  

So what do we do?

My opinion is that we need to rethink education.  Figure out what our goal is.  We claim that we want every child to succeed, then we measure success by a means that is definitely not adjusted to the needs of every child.  We claim that we want our children to want to learn, then shove them into static formations and practice a basic memorize-information-regurgitate-information formula that interests no one.  We claim we want to prepare kids for life in today's world, then feed them knowledge and refuse to train them to think for themselves and work cooperatively and creatively (easily necessary 21st century skills).

I myself want every child to succeed, and I want my kids to want to learn, and most of all I want them to become life-long learners who know how to seek out the knowledge they need and utilize it to create, to solve problems, and to organize.  I would love to see a system that cares more about teaching children to use their smartphones in a way that is constructive, instead of a system that tries (and fails) to discourage kids from using the tools that they have and that make sense to them.  I want a system that celebrates failure, as long as it's failure that leads to learning and future success.  I want a system that supports chance-taking and pushing yourself academically more than getting a good grade and taking tests well.

Unfortunately, even though I work for and with great people, and enjoy where I teach in most ways, there is just not that kind of flexibility where I work.  It's not my administrators' faults.  In order for kids to succeed and get a job, they have to go to college.  In order for them to go to college, they have to graduate.  In order for them to graduate, they have to succeed on a variety of tests.  If we don't teach to the test, our kids suffer the most in our current system, and I'm not willing to sacrifice them to make a point.

So, for now, I continue in my position of "fount of knowledge."  I hope someday to have a new title, "co-learner," reflecting a role that is cooperative instead of authoritative.  I hope someday all kids will feel valued and supported instead of filtered out of a system that was not built for them.  I hope then, at that point, no one will still be saying "kids these days" except to celebrate student achievements.

But right now, we can talk.  Most of my ideas were spawned or inspired by some really great conversations on Google+, where we encourage each other to seriously discuss education, from all angles.  Talking about these sorts of things helps us understand our own thoughts and our own opinions more clearly, or sometimes exposes us to possibilities we never really knew were there.  Join the discussion.  The more we talk, the better chance we have of being heard and making a better place.  Or at least helping someone think, whether they agree with us or not.

Change is coming.  We can fight it or we can accept it, change ourselves, and become better than we were.