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Differentiation with Technology

The use of technology in the classroom can unlock many opportunities for students to be successful. It is something that should feel like it flows within the classroom and lesson. It is not something that should be forced just for the sake of saying you used technology. In my three-day remedial plan for a small group of students in my classroom, I decided to use two pieces of technology in different ways:

  • Clevertouch Board: using a smart board to display slides for a lesson is a great way to bring technology into the classroom. I am 100% a slides teacher and they help keep me on track for what I want to hit in each lesson I do as well as reminding me of the questions I thought out ahead of time to give students during the lesson. One of the best things about smart boards is the ability to write on them! I love having students come up to share their work on the board and become the teacher while they are sharing their work. You are able to have them manipulate the technology in real time to share their thinking (The Share Team, 2013). I also like to record the things students are saying during different parts of our lesson such was warm up, between activities during synthesis times, etc. 
  • Digital Exit Ticket: students had the opportunity to complete their exit ticket at the end of the lesson either digitally on a Google Form or on paper. I also would not have minded if students wanted to solve it out on paper and then submit their answer digitally to be able to use both. Using a digital exit ticket can be a great tracking tool for you as the teacher also. You can easily keep track of student success or opportunities for reteaching. You can use this data when talking to parents at conferences, to make decisions about reteaching, etc. 
Promoting global awareness and understanding of diverse cultural perspectives is essential in the classroom. One way I brought this into the classroom was examining what pieces of knowledge or lived experiences I was bringing into my lesson with this small group of students (Canavan, 2022). I was working with students who did not have experience with converting measurement units of length in metric units. I wanted to bring in real world application as much as possible so they could connect with the information being taught. I also worked in a lot of student collaboration and communication for the small group (Ferlazzo, 2020). Any time students were wondering what to do or if they were right, I pushed them to ask another student in the group and compare their work. It either confirmed if they were on the right track or helped them reroute their thinking. Either way, they were given opportunities to communicate with another student which is a skill needed in life that extends way beyond the classroom.


References

Canavan, E. (2022, August 3). 5 tips for culturally responsive teaching in the math classroom. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/5-tips-culturally-responsive-teaching-math-classroom/#:~:text=Similarly%2C%20consider%20building%20connections%20to,in%20the%20world%20around%20them.

Ferlazzo, L. (2020, December 17). Twelve ways to make math more culturally responsive. Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-twelve-ways-to-make-math-more-culturally-responsive/2020/12

The Share Team. (2013, February 14). 5 ways to use SMART boards in the classroom. Resilient Educator. https://resilienteducator.com/classroom-resources/five-ways-that-smart-boards-are-a-smart-choice-in-the-classroom/


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