Teachers naturally want to reach all learners. Some of those learners are students with special needs and those learning English. The #2ndaryELA community recently discussed strategies and ideas to help all students succeed. Find some secondary differentiated instruction ideas and strategies for both ELL students and special education students from your #2ndaryELA friends:
Q1: Describe how the students with special needs or those that are English Language Learners are served at your school. #2ndaryELA
A1: I teach Resource ELA, which is a class for special education students that just can't participate in general education but are still expected to work on grade level standards. I can only have up to 12 students in my class at any given time. #2ndaryELA
A1: ELL Ss get sheltered ELA classes but are "mainstreamed" in all other sub. areas. SPED Ss are mainstreamed in all regular classes if they are on track to earn a standard diploma. I "push-in" to classes to assist SPED Ss. #2ndaryELA
A1 Our school is as inclusive as possible. We don't have enough stuff to do co-teaching so students are pulled during our WIN (What I need period) for direct instruction. Some also receive push in support #2ndaryELA
In my grade, ss are kept in the classroom with either a coteacher or edtech for support. I have a ss that gets pulled during RTI to get her SDI time with the special ed tt. There is one ss in the other classroom that is pulled full ELA. #2ndaryela
A1: We have 3 main paths for special education students: collaborative setting, resource setting, and the severe/profound self-contained setting. #2ndaryela
Both Sped and EL are integrated, except SED. EL students receive additional assistance through an ELD class as needed. I'm the EL Coordinator at our school. #2ndaryELA
Q2: What are your biggest challenges with creating successful lessons to meet all students’ needs? #2ndaryELA
A2: The Ts with whom I work say the biggest challenge is time to create and the idea that it's "extra work" for them. I try to help create and do the "extra work" but many times I get resistance. #2ndaryELA
A2 1/3 of my class has IEPs or 504s that require frequent check-ins, especially during writing. By the time I check in and get all of them started, 20 minutes or so has gone by and the rest of my students may be in need of help also #2ndaryELA
A2 cont it is challenge to develop lessons where students are challenged, but are still able to work independently. With such diverse abilities in my class, some students are finishing while others are still stuck at the start. #2ndaryELA
A2 cont I differentiate as much as possible, but that's tough to do when you are developing everything as you go #2ndaryELA
A2: Definitely time! Planning, evaluating, assessing, revising, revisiting, reviewing...etc. #2ndaryELA
Yes! Time itself is such a big challenge! #2ndaryELA
A2: I have a hard time differentiating for my uppers. One year I had SPED and GT in the same class. My coteacher and I did pretty good with our lower differentiation, but I struggled with those GT. #2ndaryela
A2: It's tough. I have students that span all sorts of ability and performance levels all in one class. In addition, I teach all 3 grade levels, 6th/7th/8th, in the same class at the same time. So making sure I hit all 3 grade levels is tiring. #2ndaryELA
Q3: What have been your biggest successes with creating lessons to meet all students’ needs? #2ndaryELA
A3: Providing choice as often as feasible. #2ndaryELA
A3: Biggest Success is TRESmart - that stands for Teach-Reteach-Enrich which is a 'smart' way to teach! :) I use #pixanotes and menus to differentiate.
http://bit.ly/LearningGains #2ndaryELA
A3: I just created a Slidedeck that I was super pumped about. Having to work around my school recently taking out youtube, but I am excited to have the ss self pace and me be able to pull as needed. #2ndaryela
A3 Greatest successes when students who would describe themselves as struggling are met with a success, whether that is an awesome test score, being able to teach another student, etc. #2ndaryELA
The best thing I made for ELLs in terms of writing was "Building An Essay" with task cards! http://bit.ly/BuildEssay
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So agree! I love it when they say things like "Now I get it!" #2ndaryELA
· So agree! I love it when they say things like "Now I get it!" #2ndaryELA
Q4: Share what digital programs or activities you use to help these students. #2ndaryELA
A4: Our school uses iReady. I like to use things like @nearpod and @PearDeck to help my SPED Ss. #2ndaryELA
I love @PearDeck!
A4: My Ss also love Quizlet Live! #2ndaryELA
A4: Epic! Books has created more of a love for reading in my room. I use MobyMax and IXL to track data. The students love love love sites like Kahoot and Quizlet Live! #2ndaryELA
A4: Oh - I almost forgot about Book Creator! #2ndaryELA
A4: We are 1:1 iPads so students use multiple apps to strengthen vocabulary, grammar, and other needs. I use Google Classroom and Google Suite for lengthy writing (essay) assignments as well as digital projects. #2ndaryELA
A4 It's simple, but a game changer has been the ability to comment on students' work assigned through Google Classroom (Docs, Slides, etc). I can give so much more feedback from anywhere at anytime #2ndaryELA
Q5: What training or other PD would you recommend for anyone working with students that have special needs or who are English Language Learners? #2ndaryELA
A5: I would recommend reading anything and everything by Carol Tomlinson @cat3y - Her work is the foundation on which all my differentiation is based. #2ndaryELA
A5: I would have liked to have training with my co-teacher about how that relationship works. My school just threw us in it, and it worked fine, but it would have been nice to hear how different models work. #2ndaryela
Request it! Not sure about your school system, but our school requested that last year and the state is coming in tomorrow to train and observe co-teaching pairs. #2ndaryELA Can hurt to ask!
A5: If you haven't tried http://vocabulary.com , then you may want to give it a shot. You can copy text and it will automatically pull out vocab words for Ss to study. This is an easy supplement for reading nonfiction articles (especially for EL's). #2ndaryELA
Have you tried Quizziz? I like having students work in pairs with it #2ndaryELA
My ss LOVE @quizizz #2ndaryela
The #2ndaryELA community meets every Tuesday night beginning at 8pm EST on Twitter. We'd love for you to join us!
We also have a Facebook group where we keep the conversation going all week long and we'd be happy to have you become a member!
I hope this chat helped you find some new ideas and strategies for differentiated instruction in your classroom.
I hope this chat helped you find some new ideas and strategies for differentiated instruction in your classroom.
Thanks for stopping by!