Teacher Work Day

Teacher work days are clearly not as fun as they used to be, you know, back when I wasn't a teacher and got a free day from school. Last week, we had two "Professional Development" or PD days. An expert in Differentiated Instruction named Naomi came to our school to offer a work shop.

Differentiated Insturction: How to teach the same concept to a classroom of students with a wide range of abilites by modifying lesson style, homework, and assessment to meet each studnet's needs.

International schools are REALLY tough since many students spend 2 years in each international school before moving on. And you can bet that 2nd Grade in China does not have the same standards, units, or content as 2nd grade in Casablanca. Some students learn the same material twice, while others have gaping gaps in their education. Because of this, many international schools focus on and Differentiated Instruction so that we still teach the same material, but modify it so we're not boring some students, and totally confusing others. I know that at home, there is still a wide range in reading ability in any given classroom. But can you imagine teaching music to a Japanese student who has spent 5 hours everyday practicing piano since they were 2 years old, and then in the same class offering support to a student from South Africa who has maybe never a seen a piano but can play the vuvuzela :) ??


At the end of the workshop, Naomi asked us to get in groups of 5 and use a song to show Differentiated Instruction (DI).

Our group did Row Row Row Your Boat in a round. The task was to put together a singing/dancing performance ... so we had everyone participate to their ability level. One of the Mandarin teachers had never head the song, so she had an acting role by steering the boat. She represented our new students who are often mute for the first 2 months before they start speaking English, but of course they can still participate in group projects. We also had the music teacher in our group, so she had a leadership role. And then we had Robbie the Librarian, who pretended to be confused and lost, and sat in the row boat backwards. It was hilarious.

Other great ideas:
(To the tune of the 12 Days of Christmas)
On the first hour of PD, Naomi gave to me, a box filled with DI strategies!
On the second hour of PD, Naomi gave to me .......

Just Another Manic Monday. (How we all feel at the start of a week when we remember again how far some have to go, and how far some have really gone.

"A spoonful full of DI makes the learning go down! In the most delightful way :)"



ALSO this weekend was my first game as a coach!!! Of course I was calm, cool and collected ... not.
I guess I'm the type that watches intently and cheers exastatically when the students use a game strategy that we worked on in practice. I was looking professional, but my students asked me to wear my polka dot boots for fun. My feet appreciated it.

Look at how ready they are! Each one of them ready to hit the ball, just in case!

 

 

Team Huddle! Me clearly having an inspirational talk. Go Eagles!!!!!