Curriculum is WHAT we have to teach while instruction is HOW we teach it. Teaching today is very different than how we were taught as children in the 80s and early 90s. During my elementary years we used the computer lab for games like the Oregon Trail. From what I remember there was nothing educational about the game, it was just something fun to do on lab day. Today the programs, apps, and websites available to students is astounding! They literally have the world at their fingertips. For example, if you are teaching about ancient China or Egypt you can easily find a class in those countries to Skype with and learn more about their country from the people who actually live there instead of reading about it in a book.
Luckily we can still be creative in our lessons and use technology to get the students connected with the world. It's so important that our students feel there is REASON they are learning what we are teaching. By using technology it helps the students learn the same content that we use to depend on textbooks for but in a DIFFERENT way. We are often limited on field trips we can take but now we can take virtual field trips to places our students may only dream of seeing! Students learn best when they are active in their learning and that's just want technology does for them--gets them ENGAGED in the learning process.
Luckily we can still be creative in our lessons and use technology to get the students connected with the world. It's so important that our students feel there is REASON they are learning what we are teaching. By using technology it helps the students learn the same content that we use to depend on textbooks for but in a DIFFERENT way. We are often limited on field trips we can take but now we can take virtual field trips to places our students may only dream of seeing! Students learn best when they are active in their learning and that's just want technology does for them--gets them ENGAGED in the learning process.
Videos and Websites:
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Elementary DI
How well and how much we differentiate in our classroom will determine how well our students learn. If we as teachers do not put forth the effort to make sure all our students are being reached then we can be sure that some of them will fall though the cracks. There are too many tools available to make learning fun and engaging to allow that to happen. In the Elementary classroom it's fairly simple to break kids into small groups and guide them, but part of DI is letting the children guide themselves. This can seem more difficult when you are working with younger kids, but they really are little sponges and can absorb so much information and catch on so quickly! Here are some tools/websites/articles to help you figure out what may work best in setting up your differentiated classroom:
A website with a quick look at web and mobile apps
Effective Small Group Differentiated Instruction video
Teaching Monster: a site with a list of websites to reach multiple intelligence using technology
Create your own Graphic Organizers
Have students create their own presentation using Prezi.
Create your own online quizzes on QuizStar.
Differentiated Instruction Ignites Elementary School Learning video
How to Get Students Ready for Learning video
A Parent's Wishes for His Child's Teachers video
A thinglink with many resources.
The power of student-driven learning video
A website with a quick look at web and mobile apps
Effective Small Group Differentiated Instruction video
Teaching Monster: a site with a list of websites to reach multiple intelligence using technology
Create your own Graphic Organizers
Have students create their own presentation using Prezi.
Create your own online quizzes on QuizStar.
Differentiated Instruction Ignites Elementary School Learning video
How to Get Students Ready for Learning video
A Parent's Wishes for His Child's Teachers video
A thinglink with many resources.
The power of student-driven learning video