Mr. Jeremy Shaner is a health teacher at Ridgely Middle School who, like all teachers, is transforming his teaching to incorporate more learner-centered strategies. Because his content area is so important in terms of guiding students to make sound decisions that benefit their health, student engagement is crucial. Some of the impressionable topics in the seventh grade health curriculum include mental health, such as self-esteem, stress, and decision making; tobacco abuse, alcohol abuse, first aid and safety, and nutrition. Mr. Shaner recently taught a differentiated lesson to his seventh-grade class on the dangers of smoking, and he met with success.
The STAT initiative, , Students and Teachers Accessing Tomorrow, in BCPS allows for professional development around the formative assessment process. Because of frequent informal assessments of skills, Mr. Shaner has learned the range of abilities that exist within his classes.
As a result, he has done some research to find three different readings on the topic of tobacco use, each written on a different Lexile level. Once the readings were identified, he went into our portal, BCPS One, and assigned the appropriate level digital readings to individual students based on their reading abilities. He was able to do this using lesson tiles. As students read on their devices, they were aware that there were different articles, but they didn't know that they received them based on their individual reading levels. Mr. Shaner expressed to his class that there are multiple articles to gather “an array of information” on the topic.
Once each student had a chance to read his/her assigned article, he/she posted information on another digital application, Padlet.com. As the class reviewed this digital “bulletin board” full of responses, all students benefited from the information in all three articles. Mr. Shaner admitted that "this additional planning on the front end pays off because, ultimately, more students are learning from the materials, customized to their abilities. The device provides a nice pathway for this added access to appropriate resources."
The STAT initiative, , Students and Teachers Accessing Tomorrow, in BCPS allows for professional development around the formative assessment process. Because of frequent informal assessments of skills, Mr. Shaner has learned the range of abilities that exist within his classes.
As a result, he has done some research to find three different readings on the topic of tobacco use, each written on a different Lexile level. Once the readings were identified, he went into our portal, BCPS One, and assigned the appropriate level digital readings to individual students based on their reading abilities. He was able to do this using lesson tiles. As students read on their devices, they were aware that there were different articles, but they didn't know that they received them based on their individual reading levels. Mr. Shaner expressed to his class that there are multiple articles to gather “an array of information” on the topic.
Once each student had a chance to read his/her assigned article, he/she posted information on another digital application, Padlet.com. As the class reviewed this digital “bulletin board” full of responses, all students benefited from the information in all three articles. Mr. Shaner admitted that "this additional planning on the front end pays off because, ultimately, more students are learning from the materials, customized to their abilities. The device provides a nice pathway for this added access to appropriate resources."
Student responses from the class Padlet
"I think the heart problems are the number one reason I won’t smoke. Heart disease and other heart problems already run in my family which means I already have a higher chance of getting them. I don’t want to bring my chances up by smoking."
"Memory because you already forget things naturally and when you smoke, you forget more things more often."
"Pregnancy issues is probably my number 1 reason not to smoke. For pregnant women, smoking can lead to miscarriages, stillbirths, and future health problems with the baby (if it lives). This is very sad L because the mother’s mistake is hurting two lives. I will never smoke because I would never want to put my child in danger."
"Memory because you already forget things naturally and when you smoke, you forget more things more often."
"Pregnancy issues is probably my number 1 reason not to smoke. For pregnant women, smoking can lead to miscarriages, stillbirths, and future health problems with the baby (if it lives). This is very sad L because the mother’s mistake is hurting two lives. I will never smoke because I would never want to put my child in danger."
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