Shenk

=Sara Shenk= Diversified Instruction: Learner driven instruction. Teacher decides essential content/outcomes but offers a variety of ways for students to show mastery of that content. Teacher does frequent assessments to determine student progress toward mastery. Teacher meets each student where they are and works with them to get to where they need to be.

Thoughts on material from Monday: Some of what I need to spend time doing is identify what I already do that qualifies as differentiated instruction. Because I don't use that terminology, I don't start from what I am already doing and then focus on expanding that and making it more explicitly thoughtful. The idea that assessment and instruction are inseparable makes sense to me but I'm not sure how true it is of the way I teach. I think too often students go along in a unit without them or me having a clear sense of how they are doing. Getting homework done doesn't translate into understanding content. Students get to a test or quiz and bomb it and are surprised by it.

__Essential Questions__ I am struck by the term "provocative" in relation to essential questions. Those that we have come up with for Social Studies are not particularly provocative.

Africa Unit One - Birthplace of the Human Race Established Goal: NY State Standard # Major Understandings: Students will understand: All Humans trace their beginnings to the Rift Valley

Essential question: "What are the implications of archaeological finds in the Rift Valley?"

Africa Unit Two - Geography "How does the geography of Africa impact its development, history and culture?"

Africa Unit Three - Early Civilizations