iPods and Differentiated Instruction

What if we taught like an iPhone?

What if

instead of trying to adapt our lessons to meet each student’s need, we . . . create lessons that students can customize themselves?

Robyn Jackson over at Mind Steps takes an interesting angle on the use of iPods and iPhones in the classroom. One that I’ve been thinking and talking about for a while now. But I really like how Robyn walked me through her thoughts.

The angle?

Games (and apps on the iTouch) can actually differentiate instruction as kids use them and provide a great model for us of how we can better plan our own instruction.

The thing that makes Robyn’s post so interesting is that she argues that we spend too much time attempting to find ways to personalize instruction for our students. She suggests the opposite.

For years we have tried to differentiate our instruction, creating several different lesson plans to meet the needs of more of our students. Often we miss several students’ needs and wear ourselves out in the process. I wondered, what if instead of differentiating our lessons for students, we created lessons that were customizable? What if we taught like an iphone?

I like this. I like this a lot.

She uses her purchase of an iPhone to illustrate her point. Rather than trying to figure out a way to make the iPhone specific to each personal, Apple went in the opposite direction. They made the iPhone generic.

. . . Apple didn’t focus on trying to build a phone designed just for me. In fact, it did just the opposite. Rather than offering an array of colors, the phone comes in only 2 – white and black. Instead of offering an array of built-in applications, it offers just a few basic programs loaded into the phone. Instead of trying to offer an array of phones to meet my needs, Apple offers just one.

I’ve got an iTouch but the point’s the same – I can personalize the thing myself  . . . picking apps, cover, operating system, photos, video, music to fit my own needs.

Maybe instead of differentiation, we should focus on building lessons that are flexible enough that each student can find a way to access the curriculum. Maybe instead of trying to guess what our students may need, we should teach students how to show us what they need in ways that can be quickly addressed by the supports available in the classroom. Maybe instead of trying to adapt our lessons to meet each student’s need, we should create lessons that students can customize themselves.

Differentiation focuses too much on individualization rather than customization. We are trying to meet the individual needs of students rather than showing them how to meet their own needs. We are building individual lessons for each student instead of building lessons that are flexible enough so that all students can access them.

I like this. A lot.

It gives me a way to re-think the whole differentiated instruction idea. You really need to read the full version. Check it out and let me know what you’re thinking.

Tip of the Week – KIM strategy

I ran across a nice, basic graphic organizer the other day that looks useful. I’ll be honest, haven’t used it yet with kids. But it looks like one of those graphic organizers that works across grade levels and content areas. It reminds a bit of the Frayer Model graphic organizer but perhaps easier to use.

The KIM model uses a simple three-column organizer. In the first column (K), kids will write the term or key idea, information (I) about that term or idea goes along in the center column and a memory clue, (M) – a graphic or image of the idea – goes in the last column.

The key idea may be a new vocabulary work, or a new concept.  The information may be a definition or it may be a more technical explanation of the concept.  The memory clue is a way for students to fully integrate the meaning of the key idea into their memories.  By making a simple sketch that explains the key idea, students synthesize and interpret the new information, making it their own.  Then, students can reference their drawings to easily remember new key ideas.

Have fun!

Famous people who left their browsers open

Along the lines of John Quincy Adams Twitter feed, Historical Tweets and Lincoln’s Facebook page, comes a much less serious version of historical figures interacting with modern online tools.

Fun to read. But could it be adapted as a hook activity, a discussion starter or some sort of review process? I think yes.

Give it a try and let us know how it works out.

Thomas Jefferson

John F. Kennedy

Henry VIII

Benjamin Franklin

Christopher Columbus

Adolf Hitler

Soldier’s Mail – World War One letters posted in blog format

Sam Avery

Last week I wrote a quick post concerning Veteran’s Day resources and received a comment from Rich Landers who has created a very unique site titled Soldier’s Mail. The site is based on the letters, photographs and artifacts of his great uncle, Sam Avery of the US Army.

Readers may also be interested in the writings home from the front of US Sgt. Sam Avery during the Great War (World War I). Fascinating eyewitness history from the hot sands along the Rio Grande to the cold mud along the Meuse.

This blog is an adventure long in the making for me in honor of my own family hero. Letters are posted on the same day they were written from the trenches 91 years ago. Today I found myself staring at my watch counting down the minutes to 1100 hrs.

Long before the Greatest Generation there was the Most Gallant Generation. Stop by and come march along . . .

Camp Cotton, Texas 1916

The site is amazing in that it provides a social history of World War One through eyes of one who was there. You are able to read letters home, view photo albums, listen to contemporary music and learn more about the soldier’s slang of the time. You can also find an extensive bibliography.

Start your journey at the beginning of Sam’s story by going to the July 12, 1916 entry.

I especially like the way that I can read the letters in order on the actual day they were written. Soldier’s Mail is a bit like the John Quincy Adams Twitter feed or the Two Years Before the Mast blog. All three provide contextual clues for a bigger historical picture by focusing on individuals. (As I’ve dug into Soldier’s Mail, I’ve ran across similar sites of a British and German soldier. Nice overlap of similar topics and events.)

At the basic level, you could use this with students to provide a sense of the period. Go a step further and have students anaylze the primary documents using worksheets from the Library of Congress or the National Archives. You might have kids break down Sam’s letters and align them to events / documents in the grander scheme so they see a pattern of larger events affecting individuals.

It’s just hard to beat a great collection of primary sources like this!

——–

Rich, a former HS history teacher, has kindly volunteered to act as a resource for anyone wanting more information on Sam’s letters and other resources.

I am very happy to be a resource for anyone regarding details on Sam and his times. I have worked with a number of secondary-level educators who have utilized Soldier’s Mail as a dynamic primary resource when studying the early 20th Century and the First World War in American History.

I respond to all comments posted on the site and I can also be reached by email at soldiersmail@comcast.net.

(Stay tuned for the book!)

Tip of the Week – iPod Touch tools

I’ve been playing with iPod Touches for the last few months and am becoming convinced that they are tools that we can integrate into our instruction. There are over 100,000 free and paid applications available, with many designed specifically for the Social Studies.

The resources below provide ideas and strategies for classroom integration. Travel to Social Studies Central for specific application examples.

iLearn with the iPod
Thumbtack mics for the iPod Touch
iTunes
iTunes App Store
Mobile Learning: A Brief Reading List
iPod Touch for Mobile Learning
iPod Education
Lit2Go
100 Ways to Use Your iPod to Learn and Study Better
Apple Learning Interchange – iPods
Apps list for educators

Have fun!