Differentiating with SMART

Differentiating your instruction can be difficult at times. Besides needing baseline data to determine exactly where a student is, you need to create lessons that will meet everyone's needs. At the secondary level, you are often teaching the same content several times a day. You can use SMART Notebook software to help you differentiate your materials in many different ways.

For instance, you can group your different levels within one notebook. Each group can be used for a different class, but be contained in the same Notebook. This will keep things organized and easy to keep from year to year. One group might have audio support with tough words linked to your voice saying the word and others might have extension activities.

You can also color code your lessons. For instance, if you have a choice activity, the more challenging choices can have one color, the "average" another and the simpler choices yet another color. You can tell students which color they should choose. This will allow everything to be on one page and easily identified by you, but not by the students.

Story Starters

Most Writing teachers struggle with finding topics that will help students get started writing. One thing that you can do is use a picture to help evoke memories or a student's imagination. This story starter site shows a pic with a topic that could easily be moved into notebook by using your print capture to notebook function. This will allow you to model a few together and/or print them for student use.

http://www.meddybemps.com/9.700.html

Check it out!

3rd Annual SMART User Conference

Save the date on your calendar for the 3rd annual SMART User Conference! On April 28, 2012 we will be holding a conference at Parkside Junior High in Normal, IL. Trainers are currently being lined up and registration will be sent out in late January or early February. The cost this year will be $50 and include four training sessions, breakfast, lunch, flash drive and notebook w/pen. We will have over ten of our certified SMART trainers doing sessions all day to insure that every session you attend is high quality.

More details to come in the next month!