D'Oh! Thoughts on the videos from Walden Pond

Apparently I had a blonde moment last class. I thought we weren't doing blogs for multiple weeks, not just last week. 

To be fair, this is what I looked like the day I graduated from college:

Here are my notes from the videos. I wrote down information I found important from the video or that I really related to.

Video 1: Supporting all learners

- Essence of differentiation: Where are we trying to go? Who’s with us? When you find out who is ahead or behind, what will do about that?

- Is it just me or does Jay seem a little bitter to be playing second fiddle in the video?

- I like that Carol Tomlinson makes the point of studying students to understand how their lives are affecting their learning.

Common misconceptions of differentiation

-          Not differentiation: Giving struggling students less work and high achieving students more work.

-          Not helpful for struggling student to do less and not useful for advanced learner to do twice as much of the same thing

Make understanding for advanced learners

-          More complex

-          More abstract

-          More multi-faceted

-          More connective

Make understanding for struggling learners

-          More scaffolded

-          More concrete

-          More guided

Video 2: Authentic Learning and Assessment

- First thought, why are these videos filmed in stone cottage in the middle of no where? What is this Walden Pond?

- Carol looks equally bored while Jay is talking.

- Examining what a discipline is. Science is a discipline because it evokes an entirely different way of thinking.

- Coaching analogy – I never thought of coaches as differentiating. Playing team sports as a child, I don’t really see the connection but I can compare this to swimming in high school. We were divided in lanes by our ability/times or by what stroke we were practicing and often we all had different individual goals.

- Conceptual Velcro – Big ideas help the little ideas adhere

- Carol referring to someones work as “interesting plowing”, what a great way to say long and hard to read. Who knew we could have something so simple in common with Carol Tomlinson?

Carol’s point that some teachers believe only a few students can use knowledge. Differentiation is broken up between smart and not smart students. This is terribly sad, but I think it is all too common in classrooms.

Video 3: A Change of Mindset

To me this was by far the most boring of the videos. It had almost a Charlie Brown teacher way of coming through to me. Wahhh Wahhh Wahhh standardized tests Wahhh Wahhh Wahh.

- Jay often hears the phrase: I’d like to teach to understanding,I’d like to but… - misconception

- Most missed items on state tests are not skill based questions but understanding based questions. This seems particularly interesting to me since as they say in the video, we often assume standardized tests are all fact based. 

- “I don’t think too many of us signed on for test prep as a career” Amen sister!

Carol's tips for high test scores

1.  understanding, 
2. confidence 
3. competence

- Assessment as a photo album, not a snap shot. Standardized testing gives us just one look into learning. - - - Standardized testing is like taking a picture with a wide angle lens, it only shows the students understanding from a far away view.

- The teacher from a small school in Idaho: 8 ways to teach reading? That is impressive!

Video 4: Teaching, the Ever-Evolving Profession

- AMT – Acquisiton Meaning Transfer

Can often tell which classes are advanced vs. remedial by looking at students.

Advanced – higher income, more opportunity, often cacasioon

Remedial – low income, students of color

Pedagogy of Poverty

Do you start with the curriculum then differentiate or do you start with differentiation and then tie it to the curriculum? Where does assessment come in? Start with it? Or include it later on?

- Parts of a classroom are inter-related, hard to pick which to start with?

Steps of Backward Design

1.       Identifying desired result – standards, essential knowledge, skills

2.       Think about assessment evidence, particularly summative assessment, connect goals to the evidence of learning

3.       Plan instruction, develop lessons

- You can kind of hear the camera man or someone coughing in the background!

- 21^st century skills or learning – aligns with UBD, need to be able to apply what you learn, not static but adapting.

My most burning questions from the videos are:

1. What would you consider 21st century skills?

2. What is UBD? I don't remember them ever saying the whole acronym. I'm guessing it has something to do with backward design.

3. Do you start with the curriculum then differentiate or do you start with differentiation and then tie it to the curriculum? Where does assessment come in? Start with it? Or include it later on?

I find the third question to be the most pressing on my mind.