As discussed on Monday, organization is a cornerstone to effective instruction.  Any educator understands the importance and value of being able to organize not only their lessons and the tools that they use, but also their knowledge.  Planning curriculum maps, units and lessons helps us to organize and sequence content and information as well as determine what skills students will need to learn or practice.  As we plan instruction, we also think about what strategies we will use to impart this knowledge and help students to master necessary skills.  In addition to this, we as teachers additionally have to be able to consider student learning styles and needs and to pull on our knowledge of what tools we can use to meet student’s needs.  In order to do this efficiently we need to be able to mentally compartmentalize strategies, and our knowledge of what tools are appropriate to meet this variety needs.   

I found it helpful to list the tools students need based on their learning needs.  I have ten students with Individualized Education Plans.  Of these ten students, eight have stronger visual comprehension than verbal or written.  It was useful to map out the tools that could help with recognition support.  Although making visuals or charts to connect tools to various subjects or topics is helpful, eventually our goal is to internalize these strategies so that we can pull on these tools with automaticity.  In this regard we have to push ourselves to take risks and try new tools and technologies in our classrooms so that the become more familiar.  I have had many instances of technology snafus and understand the importance of ensuring that there is always a plan B.  With proper planning I feel that it is easier to use these new tools in my own classroom without feeling anxiety about the risk that I am potentially taking in trying something new.

I am a strong advocate that best practices for some students generally means that they are best practices for all students.  Students whose needs are not met end up being left behind.  Students who are more easily grasping content will not be hurt by going back and reviewing information or having information presented in multiple ways or methods.   Many of the tools we have been exploring would be useful for students with various needs.  It is important to provide multiple opportunities for practice and to provide feedback. As content become increasingly complex and difficult it becomes ever more important to help students, particularly those with learning needs.  It is important for us as educators to remember that the technology tools that we are learning about today will itself take practice to implement and perfect.  It will be more difficult at first, as it represents taking risks and learning through mistakes or mis-steps.  We will encounter problems and we will encounter difficulties.  It is up to us to demonstrate and use our own problem-solving skills in determining and practicing the use of technologies to determine best practices.  We will only be able to truly best educate our students if we ourselves are willing to experiment with new tools and technologies to determine how to best use them in our classrooms and in supporting our students.

How can we best share this information with students and their parents?  How can we help students to independently identify programs and supports that will help them to complete necessary tasks?