NATECLA National Conference Teachmeetl

Or "shamelessly sharing other people's ideas".The theme of this year's teachmeet at the NATECLA National Conference is around differentiation, and no names, just in case, but credit where it's due none if these are my ideas! I'm writing while watching, so here we go, 3 minutes each. This was written "live" and only briefly reviewed, so apologies for lack of clarity/ notes!Idea #1Topic based approach, 1 topic a week that students could relate to. Conversation based lessons, using the the topic as a springboard. Topics included history of the local area, bring in an object and say why it is special. Sessions began with a presentation, either from a student or from the teacher. Students worked in mixed ability groups, because in an informal conversation setting, this enabled students to participate equally. Some sessions revolves around tasks, e.g. origami.Idea #2Most strategies for differentiation can be quite challenging in terms of preparation and therefore workload. Instead use Quizlet, an online flash card tool which allows students to explore the same set of resources (e.g. vocabulary) but in a range of ways, such as simple matching, writing and spelling, listening and matching, and so on. I'd never thought of using Quizlet like this, although I have seen it before.Idea #3Using learners responding to written feedback as differentiation. Completely individualised! Give a writing task, and include clear criteria (grammar to be used, etc.)Instead of writing annotations in the body AND a comment at the end, do either one or the other - end comments force students to read the work and look for the issues identified. Alternatively, if they see the annotations but no comment, they could write the final comment, which would force them to read and engage with the in-text annotations.Idea #4Use peer teaching for vocabulary, e.g. for pre teaching for reading. Organise vocabulary into groups linked by similar ideas, and students work in groups and have to organise the vocabulary into what links the words together, e.g, 12 words have to be organised into 3 groups of 4. Students then walk round the room and compare with each other, as a follow up, play "taboo" type game to check understanding.Idea #5Paper chooser: one aspect of differentiation is student choice over activity type. Make a paper "fortune teller", and at the centre of the fortune teller, you have questions or tasks for students to do. It could be revision of vocabulary, speaking tasks, numbers, and so on, according to the level and abilities of the students. Actually making the fortune teller is an activity in itself, either using spoken instructions (listening) or written (reading).Idea #6Using VR for learning vocabulary, and can be explored in local environment such as the classroom. It's relatively easy to use, and although headsets can be expensive, if the benefits can be great. Use VR to visit different locations, and practise directions in real (but exotic or unusual) places.Idea #7Self in the picture. Take a picture of e,g. place. And draw yourself in the picture. The spend one minute in pairs, talk about the senses, (what can you see, feel, taste, etc.) or WH questions "why are you there, what are you doing, etc." , past present future, etc. Teacher could then differentiate tasks accordingly.Idea #8Padlet. Students have access to a Padlet, and then contribute their own ideas on a theme, either at home or in college, and can collaborate in the ideas, or build discussions into the class or out of the class.Sam Shepherd