Differentiation for all students

[Colleen McLain]

Hi everyone! I am wondering how you are differentiating your instruction with your SMART Boards? Is there anything unique you or you see other teachers do for all students? Do you modify presentations? Capitalize on use of color through the pens and stylus menu? Use of images?

Hopefully we all can get a few new ideas from each other here! :)
Colleen

[judi harris]

Hi Colleen,
We run an inclusion program at our middle school and have been using smart notebook files to coordinate lesson materials between the regular ed teacher and the spec ed teacher.
1. The content teacher will create a notebook for specific content. The teacher accurately labels each slide with the content or standard connection (when looking at the individual slide you can double click on the date and change the label) and shares it with her colleagues. This way the spec ed teacher can see first hand the kinds of notes and activities being taught. Spec ed teachers then may reteach or modify the slides when necessary to differentiate.

2. Teachers are encouraged to use only one type of font, size 28 with like background colors to minimize distractions. Color can be used for visual learners when needed.

3. Teachers utilize Smarttech resources and other premade materials rather than reinventing the wheel.

Judi
Staff Developer

[anne marie]

Hi Colleen- I have found that creating activities using many of the templates in the Notebook software to be helpful in supporting students when reviewing and presenting information. The ability to incorporate images into some of the templates has been a HUGE plus for many students. I also have found the page recording feature beneficial so that students can review their work. It also has been beneficial as a documention method for student progress over the course of a year. The other thing that has been helpful is the ability when creating the lessons to easily personalize for each student. For example, you can differentiate the instruction by color coding (difficulty level) questions and direct my questions to students accordingly, without anyone knowing! As Judi mentioned we also modify pre-made Notebook lessons by adding images, video, voice, etc. to help support specific learning styles of students.