Focus+Questions

** What counts, or should count, as a “ learning difference” in the organization of learning environments? **
Sara different considerations for ELLs... adolescent ELLs are different than early elementary ELLs.

Taken from Ballantyne, K.G., Sanderman, A.R., Levy, J. (2008). //Educating English language learners: Building teacher capacity//. • There are over five million ELLs in the United States. • 59% of ELLs qualify for free or reduced price lunch. • Only 29.5% of teachers with ELLs in their classes have the training to do so effectively. • Only 20 states require that all teachers have training in working with ELLs. • Only 26% of teachers have had training related to ELLs in their staff development programs.
 * Quick Facts**

Jenna insert your key points/takeaways here:

Jon insert your key points/takeaways here:

Jess The lack of representation of and/ or tolerance for the diversity of race, class, gender, and sexuality in the classroom does impact a students' ability to learn because of both its psychological implications on students and the negative and unsafe learning environment this can create.

Mike See brief for justification of learning differences for gifted/talented and gender.

==** How should differences among individual learners be acknowledged and accounted for in pedagogical practice and organizational structure: the physical design of the learning environment, the use of technology, the content and practice of learning, assessment practices, and norms of practice? **==

Sara ELL: students must be able to take ownership for their learning.
 * "Youth perform best when there are clear rules and expectations, when they feel central to the program, when they have a stake in the design, development, and implementation of the rules, and when they receive acknowledgment for their contributions and clear rewards." in Programs that work for Latino Youth
 * students need collaborative opportunities and leadership opportunities. “opportunities for small group work and self-directed learning are essential to the development of youth” in Programs that work for Latino Youth

ELL students learn best when tasks are meaningful and allow for a great deal of authentic communication
 * “ A task-based approach to language teaching is perhaps the best way of achieving this.” (Ellis 2008)
 * need tasks that require communication, that are motivating and that are meaningful.

ELL students learn best when instruction focuses on meaningful implicit and explicit knowledge that students have an opportunity to practice.
 * Implicit knowledge as the goal = means to communicate fluently
 * Comes from practice… back to the idea of communicative tasks and activities
 * Explicit knowledge is only of value if the learners can use this type pf knowledge in actual performance

Principle 6: Successful instructed language learning requires extensive second language input (Ellis 2008)
 * Second language should become the medium AND the object of instruction
 * Studenst should also be getting input from outside of the classroom
 * Self-access center
 * “Also ideally, schools need to establish self-access centers (i.e., rooms containing carefully selected language learning materials that students can use on their own time). Successful foreign language learners seek out opportunities to experience the language outside class time, but many students are unlikely to make the effort unless teachers make resources available and provide learner training in how to make effective use of the resources.”

Jenna insert your key points/takeaways here:

Jon insert your key points/takeaways here:

Jess 1) Respect for diversity must be taught and reinforced through choice of content, explicit discussion, and inclusive language choices 2) Students' experiences that are not represented in content leads to low engagement, motivation, comprehension and reinforces/ privileges white, hetero-normative culture 3) Students should be taught how to think critically about how they are being represented in media, schools, and society 4) Especially in regards to diversity in sexuality, there are parental and societal barriers to including this change in pedagogy 5) The pedagogical changes are necessary for all students (unlike in many other cases of "difference" typically described) in order to build tolerance and supportive, collaborative learning environments

Mike

insert your key points/takeaways here:

** What would constitute evidence of “learning” in an environment that was successful in responding to learning differences, and how would that evidence be used? **
Sara From UDL- Future in the Margins: new learning environments:
 * provide multiple means of representation
 * provide multiple means of expression
 * evaluation should fit both the task and the means
 * provide multiple means of engagement

“we will be able to create learning environments that not only teach but also learn. By distributing the intelligence better between student and environment, the curriculum is able to learn about the student (their individual strengths and styles) and keep track of the successes and failures of its own methods. The result is a curriculum that becomes smarter, not more outdated, over time.” 5

- goals are no longer about the mastery of content, but will center around the mastery of learning... can we assess this?

Jenna insert your key points/takeaways here:

Jon insert your key points/takeaways here:

Jess insert your key points/takeaways here:

Mike

insert your key points/takeaways here: