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This looks like an interesting set of physics demonstration videos. The Education Group
The service does charge a subscription fee, but it is very reasonable. I don't think the teacher should have to pay it unless he/she wants to. If the parent or school are unwilling to pay it, then perhaps a fee waiver is available. (The students in my school almost never pay for any educational services. They all get fee waivers for the ACT, SAT, tutoring services, etc.)
I have, however, paid for subscriptions to services that I want to use in my classes. I wouldn't ask for remuneration because I know it was my discretion to use services that can't be paid for using our state's supply allowance. I use that money to buy ink, paper, overhead projector lamps, and other perishable supplies. I know the science teachers use it for lab supplies, even though they are supposed to get a separate budget. They and the art teachers keep trying to order supplies, but it is as if the office staff know they will purchase it out of their own pockets if they get put off long enough.
It's difficult enough to be poor in a good economy. It's even rougher when the economy tanks and budget cuts are more like vivisection. Our governor has announced a 68% cut for gifted education services.
As a parent, I would be willing to pay an extra $25 so that my child could watch advanced or remedial videos when appropriate. The more parents who are willing, the less each subscription costs.
At one point, our state paid for Discovery Television's United Streaming which offers a wide variety of academic topics at all levels. I used it frequently, particularly when I had three students in an advanced section who had been placed in a class for intermediates. Of course, there were also students in the intermediate section who were really functioning on an elementary level, so I had three broad levels for whom I had to provide differentiation. Even though I probably had a level of elementary, 3 levels of intermediate (low, typical, high), and 2 for advanced, I didn't provide an IEP for each student. I just include a wide variety of input and test all of it.
Our lesson plans require documentation of differention. I thought that was a standard expectation, so I'm puzzled. How do your administrations approach the practice of differentiated instruction?
This looks like an interesting set of physics demonstration videos. The Education Group
The service does charge a subscription fee, but it is very reasonable. I don't think the teacher should have to pay it unless he/she wants to. If the parent or school are unwilling to pay it, then perhaps a fee waiver is available. (The students in my school almost never pay for any educational services. They all get fee waivers for the ACT, SAT, tutoring services, etc.)
I have, however, paid for subscriptions to services that I want to use in my classes. I wouldn't ask for remuneration because I know it was my discretion to use services that can't be paid for using our state's supply allowance. I use that money to buy ink, paper, overhead projector lamps, and other perishable supplies. I know the science teachers use it for lab supplies, even though they are supposed to get a separate budget. They and the art teachers keep trying to order supplies, but it is as if the office staff know they will purchase it out of their own pockets if they get put off long enough.
It's difficult enough to be poor in a good economy. It's even rougher when the economy tanks and budget cuts are more like vivisection. Our governor has announced a 68% cut for gifted education services.
As a parent, I would be willing to pay an extra $25 so that my child could watch advanced or remedial videos when appropriate. The more parents who are willing, the less each subscription costs.
Unfortunately, I have to pay my own subscriptions, buy my own supplies, demonstrations and videos. They are mine to take with me when I leave but I only have so much budget for such things in a given year and I've already spent twice this year's budget because I wasn't expecting them to stop buying all classroom supplies. Last year they supplied us with a box of paper, boxes of pens, pencils, staples, tape, and white board markers. This year, we're on our own. We don't have a state supply budget. We just buy whatever we need out of our own pocket. They keep reminding us that it's a tax write off .
I wish I could charge parents. $25/year per student would buy some of the really good videos out there as well as some nice equipment the school would have year after year but I don't get $0.25/ child. I've never seen a science teacher do a fund raiser but I've thought about doing one. I'm not sure my students would cooperate though. They'll do them for sports or band but those are optional and they either help support them or don't have them. If we gave them that option with science, I'm afraid most would choose not to have it.
Anyway, I shy away from subscription services unless they give an ample free trial period for me to assess whether or not they have something I want. I hate spending money and THEN finding out it's not what I wanted.
At one point, our state paid for Discovery Television's United Streaming which offers a wide variety of academic topics at all levels. I used it frequently, particularly when I had three students in an advanced section who had been placed in a class for intermediates. Of course, there were also students in the intermediate section who were really functioning on an elementary level, so I had three broad levels for whom I had to provide differentiation. Even though I probably had a level of elementary, 3 levels of intermediate (low, typical, high), and 2 for advanced, I didn't provide an IEP for each student. I just include a wide variety of input and test all of it.
Our lesson plans require documentation of differention. I thought that was a standard expectation, so I'm puzzled. How do your administrations approach the practice of differentiated instruction?
I have a list of students who require accomodations and I have to show that I meet them. If a student doesn't have an IEP, I'm not required to make any accomodations. Usually, accomodations are things like easier tests, shortened assignments, having things read to them, doing the labs for them and giving them more time for assignments. I am not required to differentiate for higher level students. Just students with IEP's that address learning issues.
Unfortunately, I have to pay my own subscriptions, buy my own supplies, demonstrations and videos. They are mine to take with me when I leave but I only have so much budget for such things in a given year and I've already spent twice this year's budget because I wasn't expecting them to stop buying all classroom supplies. Last year they supplied us with a box of paper, boxes of pens, pencils, staples, tape, and white board markers. This year, we're on our own. We don't have a state supply budget. We just buy whatever we need out of our own pocket. They keep reminding us that it's a tax write off .
I wish I could charge parents. $25/year per student would buy some of the really good videos out there as well as some nice equipment the school would have year after year but I don't get $0.25/ child. I've never seen a science teacher do a fund raiser but I've thought about doing one. I'm not sure my students would cooperate though. They'll do them for sports or band but those are optional and they either help support them or don't have them. If we gave them that option with science, I'm afraid most would choose not to have it.
Anyway, I shy away from subscription services unless they give an ample free trial period for me to assess whether or not they have something I want. I hate spending money and THEN finding out it's not what I wanted.
Ivory.... Let me see if I have this correct: you are mandated to teach chemistry labs, but the school will not pay for the chemicals? If that is the case, the school is setting you up with quite a liability if you are bringing your own chemicals into the lab. Besides, chemicals are consumables, nothing you could take with you. If the school is not paying for materials, why isn't there a lab fee for students?
Ivory.... Let me see if I have this correct: you are mandated to teach chemistry labs, but the school will not pay for the chemicals? If that is the case, the school is setting you up with quite a liability if you are bringing your own chemicals into the lab. Besides, chemicals are consumables, nothing you could take with you. If the school is not paying for materials, why isn't there a lab fee for students?
Not exacatly. I have the chemicals left from previous years. I just have to figure out which ones I can substitute in labs. If I'm missing chemicals I have no substitutions for, we just skip that lab or I pay for them myself. I was allowed to place a small chemical order at the beginning of the year but I've run out of a few things I thought I had enough of and can't order anything without paying for it myself now. I order through the same chemical supply company the school uses and all chemicals stay at the school. Unfortunately, it becomes a donation once I buy chemicals. Ditto for supplies for physics labs but, at least, I can usually use those more than once.
I do purchase chemicals that come from the grocery store like vinegar, alum, baking soda, citric acid, borax, etc, etc, etc... If there's budget, I'll place a chemical order in the spring for next year but they'll pare that down to the bare minimum so I'll still be substituting and buying my own to make do when I can't. Right now I need ethanol. I should have had enough but students don't follow instructions well and used way too much in the last lab so I don't have enough for the demos and next lab I need it for. That's another drawback to not having a lab (my classroom doubles as a lab). I can't measure things out in advance for the students because I have no place to store it before the lab. I have to rely on them measuring things. I discovered in our last lab they have no clule how much half an inch in the bottom of a test tube is. I set it up as a station lab thinking they couldn't cross contaminate chemicals only to find they used over twice what should have been needed of just about everything so now I'm short for other labs.
I wish I had the lab manuals used by the previous instructors because I have some chemicals in large quantities and have no idea what labs they're intended for. Last year we did few labs because I came in so late and didn't have time to figure out substitutions. This year I'm in better shape. I've found alternate versions of a lot of the labs and can piece together labs from what I have. As long as the results are the same, the students don't have to know.
We can't charge lab fees for the students because chemistry is a mandatory class and we're a public school. I have heard of teachers who teach optional classes charging materials fees. In those cases the PTA will help out students who can't afford the fees but those are enrichment courses not core courses.
Last edited by Ivorytickler; 12-28-2009 at 02:27 PM..
I have a list of students who require accomodations and I have to show that I meet them. If a student doesn't have an IEP, I'm not required to make any accomodations. Usually, accomodations are things like easier tests, shortened assignments, having things read to them, doing the labs for them and giving them more time for assignments. I am not required to differentiate for higher level students. Just students with IEP's that address learning issues.
Just because you're not required to make accommodations doesn't mean that you're prevented from it, does it?
One of the ways in which I manage differentiation is in my grading. On my tests I include just about everything I've taught, even the topics that are not required, so that I challenge even the most capable and highly motivated. But I arrange the grading so that even the students who have the most difficulty learning can make a passing score if they can demonstrate that they mastered the objectives. I also allow students to come back during my planning period or after school to finish the test, usually within a week of giving the test. My supervisors like this for the same reason I do--it gives me the ability to place the responsibility squarely on the students. Because of these across-the-board accommodations, I can make my tests very challenging for the gifted, while keeping them basic enough for the IEP students.
For daily work and assignments, I use a performance rubric, where the lowest score is a 60--the lowest passing score. Attempting a formative assessment, such as homework or a quiz, earns a passing grade, even if it is incomplete or 100% wrong. I match the assignment grade with a participation grade, again starting at 60 each term. The students who participate can earn up to 110, capped at 5 points per day. If everyone in the class participates on a given day, then they all receive an extra point (this allows a sixth point for the students who have otherwise maxed out). I constantly emphasize that the goal is for them to be able to pass the tests. Our district weights tests as 60% of their term grade, so students must pass the tests unless they have nearly 100 daily average (assignments + participation). My motto is: Teach hard, test hard, grade easy.
Parents and administers like this too, because once again, the responsibility is on the students to do the work and demonstrate mastery of the objectives. The lazier gifted students like it because it allows them to make high grades on tests without having to do a lot of mind-numbing assignments designed to help the students learn. If they can learn without practice, more power to them. The students who struggle like it because they know that they have a safety net to catch them if they fail while they are trying. I also stay to tutor students at least two afternoons a week, more right before term exams.
I don't do this just because of the CYA aspects, though. I do it because I believe it is in the students' best interest. It does make my job more difficult, but I am not a teacher because I want an easy job. I am trying to help my students develop mastery of a challenging subject. It takes some of them longer than others. Sometimes a child comes to school sick just to take a test. This allows them to finish it when they are feeling better.
My students are more than the percentage of items that they answer correctly and more than the average of their scores. They are human beings, and that is the reason that accommodations and modifications are required in the first place. I just figure that I may as well make those adjustments for all of my students, not just the ones whose parents have successfully navigated the educational labyrinth aka Referral for Exceptional Educational Services.
Just because you're not required to make accommodations doesn't mean that you're prevented from it, does it?
One of the ways in which I manage differentiation is in my grading. On my tests I include just about everything I've taught, even the topics that are not required, so that I challenge even the most capable and highly motivated. But I arrange the grading so that even the students who have the most difficulty learning can make a passing score if they can demonstrate that they mastered the objectives. I also allow students to come back during my planning period or after school to finish the test, usually within a week of giving the test. My supervisors like this for the same reason I do--it gives me the ability to place the responsibility squarely on the students. Because of these across-the-board accommodations, I can make my tests very challenging for the gifted, while keeping them basic enough for the IEP students.
For daily work and assignments, I use a performance rubric, where the lowest score is a 60--the lowest passing score. Attempting a formative assessment, such as homework or a quiz, earns a passing grade, even if it is incomplete or 100% wrong. I match the assignment grade with a participation grade, again starting at 60 each term. The students who participate can earn up to 110, capped at 5 points per day. If everyone in the class participates on a given day, then they all receive an extra point (this allows a sixth point for the students who have otherwise maxed out). I constantly emphasize that the goal is for them to be able to pass the tests. Our district weights tests as 60% of their term grade, so students must pass the tests unless they have nearly 100 daily average (assignments + participation). My motto is: Teach hard, test hard, grade easy.
Parents and administers like this too, because once again, the responsibility is on the students to do the work and demonstrate mastery of the objectives. The lazier gifted students like it because it allows them to make high grades on tests without having to do a lot of mind-numbing assignments designed to help the students learn. If they can learn without practice, more power to them. The students who struggle like it because they know that they have a safety net to catch them if they fail while they are trying. I also stay to tutor students at least two afternoons a week, more right before term exams.
I don't do this just because of the CYA aspects, though. I do it because I believe it is in the students' best interest. It does make my job more difficult, but I am not a teacher because I want an easy job. I am trying to help my students develop mastery of a challenging subject. It takes some of them longer than others. Sometimes a child comes to school sick just to take a test. This allows them to finish it when they are feeling better.
My students are more than the percentage of items that they answer correctly and more than the average of their scores. They are human beings, and that is the reason that accommodations and modifications are required in the first place. I just figure that I may as well make those adjustments for all of my students, not just the ones whose parents have successfully navigated the educational labyrinth aka Referral for Exceptional Educational Services.
No I'm not prevented from doing it, if I have time. That's why I've been asking about how other teachers accomodate. I'm sure there are accomodations I could be doing that take little time to put in place. While I don't have time to do any grand ones, right now, I'm sure I could be doing more than I am.
As time goes by and I get more experience under my belt and can rely more and more on the lesson plans I did last year, I can put my time into differentiating my old lesson plans. Right now, I'm overwhelmed just getting lesson plans together for three lab based classes. So, I'm looking to implement some easier less time consuming differentiation first.
This is a particular problem in chemistry where I have kids who run the spectrum. Physics isn't so bad because I really don't see the lower end kids there. The few that enroll in my class, at the beginning of the year, are scared off within a couple of weeks when they figure out that, unlike rumor has it the teacher before me did, I don't give everyone an A.
I am only allowed to test state requirements on my tests. I have to turn in copies of my tests and indicate which state standard is being tested with each question. So, I'm limited in what I can do on tests. I'd love to make 70% of my tests material anyone who didn't sleep through class should be able to get and then increment up to make it harder to get an A (to encourage some of my higher level kids to study more) but that can be hard to do with the restraint of testing only state standards. I'm supposed to have four questions per state standard. I can have different versions of my tests but I think my higher kids would be PO'd if they got a harder version. The alternate versions are, usually, for kids with IEP's that call for reduced answer test questions or shortened tests. Maybe I should talk to the administration about allowing more questions per standard. If I did 6 per standard, 4 could be really easy, one moderately hard and one difficult to separate the A's from the B's. With 4 I can't make that 4th one too difficult without tripping up half of my class.
I can't even put higher level material on as extra credit because test scores are the one score I can't mess with. They monitor the percentage of kids passing our tests and start asking questions if too few pass.
Can I ask how you handle homework? Do you collect it and grade it yourself? I'm finding I handle way too many papers and end up not having time for the things I really want to do (like demos and more engaging assignments and labs). I'm thinking of going to a check mark system. Where they get credit if they bring their homework that day where I'll walk around the room when I take attendance and see who attempted it. Since homework is only 10% of the grade, I'd give, at least a passing score for having it done whether it's right or wrong. I'd love to also give a grade for correctness but I don't know how to work that in without giving myself a ton of homework. This is one area I need to get under control. If I don't grade homework they don't do it but collecting it and grading it is taking up way too much of my time for something that's only 10% of their grade AND it delays feedback. I feel like they need immediate feedback not feedback three days later (if they're lucky and I'm not doing too many labs that week). I need a cleaner and faster line of learning for homework assignments.
I have started using participation points in my classes where the students don't have a text to take home. In those classes, it's imperitive that students use work time given in class wisely. In my other classes, if students aren't using class time, I just go on to the next lecture. I tell them "Obviously, you don't need this time to work so you can finish this as homework". I do that once or twice and I have no problems with participation after that, lol. I'm also giving participation points in labs. I was washing way too much glassware after labs. I'm talking kids not even making an attempt to clean it. Just hide it or leave it in the sink. So now if your lab station doesn't have all the glassware you started with cleaned and ready for the next class, you lose participation points. Implementing participation points has really helped with lab participation and clean up. At least when they have their own lab stations. My last lab was a station lab where they rotated and I had someone just turning dirty test tubes over and walking away. I'm pretty sure I know which group it was but I didn't actually see them do it. That's a drawback of large classes. It's too easy for kids to get away with things like not cleaning up after themselves because my attention is elsewhere. I think I'm going to have to go to a number system for station labs so I know which group follows which group and then have only the glassware necessary for one group to work (I usually set up for two so the next group can start before the last group finishes).
Tests are 50% of the grade at my school so kids have to do well on labs, quizzes and homework assignments to pass and come close to passing the tests.
The deal I make with my students is if they get an A on the test, I'll forgive missing homework assignments. I don't think they should have to do everything just to do it but they have to show me that they were correct in thier thinking that they didn't have to do it.
Last edited by Ivorytickler; 12-28-2009 at 06:21 PM..
This is to the regular ed teachers out there. How do you accomodate gifted children in your classes?
I find that, as a general rule (there are exceptions but they are rare), they do not want more work and they do not want to go deeper into the material. They consider either to be unfair to them. As if they are being puished for being gifted. They don't think their giftedness should result in them having to do more. So, I do little to accomodate the gifted kids in my classes. They do whine about being bored but since they don't want more assignments or harder assignments it's their choice to stay that way.
Now, I have had two who go deeper on their own and I let them go. I won't stop a student who wants to do more but I don't require more of my "gifted" kids (quotes because I'm pretty sure two of my "gifted" kids are anything but because of the low level of understanding and questioning (one keeps telling me I need to go slower when 80% of the class already has the material down).
The two kids I have who I'm sure are gifted handle it differently. One does the work for my class and then works, quietly, on his calculus. The other disects everything in my class. I don't know if it's coincidence or not but his class has a much higher average than the other class. I don't know if that's just the way it fell out or if it's because of the types of questions he asks.
I am very curious as to what accomodations you make in the regular classroom for gifted kids. I've tried extra assignments, which was a flop. I've tried going deeper into the material and they ask "Will this be on the test?" and when I say no, they dismiss the material (speaking about most not the two who I mentioned above. I have several kids in my classes who are labeled as gifted since I'm the only chemistry teacher in the school and chemistry is required for graduation.)
What I really find interesting is that, with the exception of the two, all of my "gifted" kids have trouble following instructions in labs. It's like they want their hand held. As if they need to be told what they are doing is right before they'll make a move. Now, the two, I have to watch them because they plow right forward. I let the one in physics just go. He can't do much damage (well he did manage to break a catapult but that can be fixed). The one in my chemistry class has the sense to ask "What will happen if I mix A and C instead of A and B and B and C?
So, I don't make accomodations for most of my "gifted" kids. The two who get accomodations are really self accomodating. They are both welcome to come in after school and run whatever experiments they want (pre approved of course). I have several who claim the gifted label but don't seem to be able to grasp the material or follow instructions. I have one who likes to ask questions just to see if she can get me to say "I don't know" but she's not really interested in what she asks. She'll actually cut me off mid explanation and say "That's ALL I wanted to know". Her intent is to try and embarass me. As the year goes on, she does this less and less because she hasn't succeeded yet. (She does this to other teachers too. She likes to prove her superiority by finding something a teacher can't answer. I'm not really sure how she thinks this makes her superior but she, definitely, thinks it does.)
So, let's discuss accomodations. What works, what doesn't? And, more importantly, what do you do with kids who are "gifted" but don't seem to be interested in going deeper or learning more? I'm most interested in what high school teachers do but everyone should feel free to chime in here. You never know when something might have application somewhere else.
No I'm not prevented from doing it, if I have time. That's why I've been asking about how other teachers accomodate. I'm sure there are accomodations I could be doing that take little time to put in place. While I don't have time to do any grand ones, right now, I'm sure I could be doing more than I am.
As time goes by and I get more experience under my belt and can rely more and more on the lesson plans I did last year, I can put my time into differentiating my old lesson plans. Right now, I'm overwhelmed just getting lesson plans together for three lab based classes. So, I'm looking to implement some easier less time consuming differentiation first.
This is a particular problem in chemistry where I have kids who run the spectrum. Physics isn't so bad because I really don't see the lower end kids there. The few that enroll in my class, at the beginning of the year, are scared off within a couple of weeks when they figure out that, unlike rumor has it the teacher before me did, I don't give everyone an A.
I do have some students who whine, "Why can't you start us out with a 100 like our other teachers?" I just tell them that no one is perfect. I give you enough to pass, you just have to keep it. If you want an A, you have to ace the tests. That usually shuts them up. Most of them just want to pass anyway. They don't usually care very much about their GPAs.
Do you write your own unit tests or are they supplied to you? What is your school's policy on weighting tests and assignments?
It sounds as if you haven't been provided appropriate mentoring. I wasn't either, so I try to go out of my way to help teachers who need it. Again, not because I have to, but because it's in the interest of the teacher, the students, and most of all, the profession. I'm concerned about the quality of teachers in general. I've seen too many crazies, lazies, incompetents, climbers, and those who are just plain apathetic. Just because my students are poor, doesn't mean they deserve a substandard education.
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