Teachers in the Living Sky School Division kicked off a series of professional development seminars, which will see a greater emphasis placed on students' learning profiles.
Three groups of 80 teachers from the Battlefords, Cando, Hafford and Maymont became students for the day, Aug. 27, at North Battleford Comprehensive High School.
The focus was on differentiated instruction and math.
First Steps in Mathematics is an approach for teachers developed by Pearson Professional Learning and serves largely as a diagnostic tool.
Terry Kjargaard, principal of McKitrick School, was one of 40 teachers and principals trained last year to facilitate the program.
Kjargaard explained the theory behind First Steps in Math, saying there are six phases every student will go through in understanding mathematical concepts. Different students can be on different phases and if a student has not really grasped, or moved through on phase, learning another will be difficult.
First Steps in Math helps teachers assess which phase each student is at, and suggests learning activities that can trigger development.
"This is really just a tool, as opposed to a textbook or curriculum," said Kjargaard.
He added students may sometimes seem as though they've progressed to the next phase, but are actually getting the right answer for the wrong reason, and identifying their misconceptions will help them in later learning years.
"They'll always struggle through math unless they develop those foundational concepts," said Kjargaard.
There are six packages in First Steps in Math including: Number Sense: Whole and Decimal Numbers and Fractions; Measurement: Understanding Units and Direct Measurement; and Data Management and Probability.
Marilyn Updike, who teaches Grades 1 through 3 at Heritage Christian School, said the session was informative and interesting.
"I definitely have more insight into how kids see things and understand," she said.
"I think there are some things I'll spend more time and emphasis on while teaching."
The other topic, differentiated instruction, focused on how teachers can tailor instruction to the needs of individual students.
Differentiation is defined as responding to differences in students' background knowledge, readiness, learning styles and interests.
It does not involve, however, letting students only work on topics of choice suing methods of choice, or planning individually for every student. Instead, differentiation involves taking a proactive approach to students' differences and ensuring every student is equally challenged and understands what they are learning and why.
JoAnne Kasper, language and literacy consultant for Living Sky, said differentiation is about putting students first.
"A supportive learning environment is more about just caring about kids and celebrating and accommodating differences in those kids," she said.
Kasper is one of a small group who has been learning about differentiation and putting the concepts into play in the classroom for the past two years.
The Aug. 27 professional development seminar was the first time differentiated instruction was presented to Living Sky teachers.
"We were really, really pleased with the response from teachers," said Kasper.
This is the first of a number of professional development seminars focused on outcome-based teaching, with the next three to take place Oct. 22, Nov. 29 and Jan. 28.
