Research on DI

Critical Thinking Lesson Site


1. Article Response

Link to article

I am always interested in learning how I can use technology to help DI my classroom environment. 
When I came across this article I was eager to find something new within technology and I did-SAS Curriculum Pathways. This article explains how this product provides resources for all subject areas for free including lesson plans and assessments.  Moreover, the writing component is pretty intense. While this article also acknowledges the benefits of using Newsela and EDpuzzle, I was mostly drawn to the SAS Curriculum Pathways because I had never heard of them.  I regularly use Newsela in the classroom and have yet to spend much time on EDpuzzle, but am interested in possibly revisiting that resources after reading this article.  

 I also like how this article explains what DI is and isn't because sometimes this can be confusing if you are new to the subject or to teaching in general.  Often we find ourselves making mistakes and doing things that aren't beneficial in the realm of DI and reading articles such as this can help clarify things. Even after 8 years of teaching I forget certain aspects of DI in the classroom and need a reminder.   

2. Article Response

After learning about a specific DI approach, I went researching it and how it could possible be presented in my room.  According to the article, TedTalk and other online resources,  I have learned enough about this project to be engaged in trying it in my classroom.  It is certainly an angle on DI that I haven't attempted thus far in my career.

What is it you ask?  SOLE.  It stands for Self, Organized, Learning, Environment.  It is a concept presented by Sugata Mitra.  His theory is that students can teach themselves if provided the proper means in which to do so.  He has done experiments where children in countries, that do not speak English, are provided computers (hole in the wall) that provide information only in English and find that they are learning skills that most children cannot fathom understanding at their age.  From everything I have read and watched, his approach is successful.

This has created a fire in me to want to try it out and see if I can make it work in my classroom.  For my first experiment, I am merely teaching them how to perform a SOLE. After that, my goal is to allow my students to learn content material using the method.  Finally, I want to see if they can learn an entire unit of Social Studies using his theory with some simple guidelines from me.


3. Article Response


 Reteaching and enrichment is a key element in my room each day, specifically in math.  Like the article, I utilize this concept each day in my room.  During my math rotations, the small groups that come to me are either being re-taught skills, practicing skills they haven't mastered, or being given opportunities to take their learning to the next level.  This simple and easy method of DI can certainly make math a success in any classroom.
This article mentions, all teachers need to be on board with supporting our students academically.  Thus, related arts teachers should be involved in the classroom helping teachers and students with this endeavor.  Moreover, the collaboration of the teachers is essential.  This article provides clear evidence that this can work and I feel that all schools and classrooms should find a way to DI their math and reading instruction each day to ensure school-wide success.  While it will do great for test scores, it will benefit the students the most!


4. Article Response


This article stresses the need of DI in class, explains what DI is and why it is important in the learning environment. Moreover, it focuses specifically on how necessary it is in math instruction and more specifically how to tier your lessons to ensure all student needs are being met during math instruction. It cites some great scholars and research which proves the effectiveness of using DI. But what I loved most about this article was that it clearly gave examples of HOW to follow the advice in this article. It actually helped me look a little differently at how I already differentiate my math classroom and some of the examples and guidance helped me look at how I can make it easier on me during planning. Naturally, this article supports the ITSE standards because it encourages that we DI in content, process and product which allows us to use technology to achieve this easily. Again, if you are interested in a new look at how to tier your lesson this is a great article to look at!


5. Article Response


I was happy to stumble across this article after just taking a course this summer on flipped classrooms. Flipped learning allows for teachers to spend more time helping or facilitating learning rather than providing information that can be presented in a flipped lesson. This article explains the many benefits of flipped learning and how the entire approach focuses on self paced or student centered learning. In the long run, it allows the students work at a higher level of bloom's which enhances the learning experience for the learner.

While the argument remains regarding what to do with students that lack technology, it is a simple fix to have them do the flipped lesson in the morning when they arrive or prior to being engaged in any groups endeavors that take the learning to the next level. Ultimately, this differentiates the learning based on the ability of the student and allows them to somewhat work at their pace based on their learning ability.

This article, as well as Flipped Learning, supports the ITSE standards 1-3 for the teacher which focus on facilitating while inspiring students, designing and developing learning experiences, and modeling digital age learning. As for the students, depending on the task expected in the flipped learning environment, they could be exposed to various ITSE standards. Ultimately this method of teaching is a win-win situation for the teacher and the student.

6. Article Response



This article explains how our classrooms are changing based on how we teach and more specifically how we can teach using best practices and technology. [Personalized learning was a teaching practice that was once used and gone, but is making a comeback. From what I understand, it didn’t stay in education like differentiated instruction because of the time-consuming work on the teacher to utilize this method. However, with technology being what it is today and readily accessible to teachers and students it is making a comeback. Moreover, differentiated instruction is something that can be done much easier by using technology.] This article discusses how not only personalized learning and differentiated learning can be more easily utilized in the classroom thanks to technology, but how we have a new technique approaching the classroom, adaptive learning.
Adaptive learning is taking differentiated learning to a new level. This article explains how differentiated learning is when the teacher makes instruction unique for the student and adaptive learning is utilizing technology to guide those decisions. Ultimately, it is similar to what we see when our students take MAP testing; the questions get harder or easier based on the student responses. Ed-Tech is a software that uses student data to guide instruction. Thus, it is not only differentiated but it is personalized. This article completely supports the ITSE standards because it is utilizing technology in a way that many of the programs we are seeing enter the classroom now which teach children based on where they are at and move at their pace.
As a teacher that tries hard to stay on top of each piece of data to guide instruction, practices like this help me differentiate my learning and personalize it. Currently, I use Reflex for math in the classroom and in years past have loved using Accelerated Math because it provided this adaptive learning. With technology being infused into classrooms, it will ultimately benefit the teacher and the student to help ensure teaching and learning are best suited for optimal learning.

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