In this blog post my aim is to share a personal journey and the relationship of video and technology in meeting the needs of all learners. The overall purpose of this blog post is related in part to my participation in the Blogamonth Challenge, #Blogamonth on Twitter, and http://blogamonth.weebly.com/ on the web.

I’m participating in the Blogamonth Challenge, and this month’s optional topic is: “Great movies challenge our thinking, speak to our emotions, and take us to distant worlds both historical and fantastic.  Integrating the power of videos into your classroom, professional development, and/or school culture offers even greater potential impact as there is the opportunity to reflect, discuss, and critique the quality and message of the video.

Suggest one – two of your favorite videos (Ted Talks, YouTube Clips, Vimeos, Movie Clips…etc) that you have used in your school setting, and share how you used it. Explain how incorporating this visual into your presentation or lesson has helped you to achieve your goals.”

The journey began in 1993 when I first stepped into the classroom at Blackhawk Middle School in Bensenville, Illinois. We’ll fast forward to an experience from 1995 which was pivotal in my journey toward meeting the diverse learning needs of all learners with whom I had the honor of teaching.

In 1995 I attended a professional development 5-day workshop led by Dr. T. Roger Taylor (link to his website). The point of this workshop was for me, then a middle school social studies teacher and district K-8 social studies coordinator, to learn how to integrate video clips, audio clips and H.O.T.S. (higher order thinking skills) into all units and lessons of study. This was in the early days of the “standards movement” and the change in Illinois from IGAP to ISAT (we’re now watching the ISAT go the way of the IGAP in favor of the PARCC) … but I digress … The Roger Taylor unit/lesson planning was also a way to get “general education teachers” like me to DIFFERENTIATE instruction. Differentiation is a “buzz word” and an oft misunderstood concept in education. Meeting the needs of ALL learners is a goal of instruction and an often elusive goal for many teachers.

Using video clips (1995) to You Tube (2014) in and of themselves will not be sufficient to reach and motivate and challenge each and every learner. But the use of multiple modes of content delivery and use of multiple ways for children to show learning WILL lead to meeting the different needs of all learners. In my classrooms where I taught, in social studies, I always had multiple levels of ability. As a recipient of an Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA) Caring Enough To Challenge Award early in my career I realized the value of meeting the needs of the highly gifted in a differentiated classroom. As a teacher of children with special needs, regular needs, and every need in between, I learned the value of lessons learned from Roger Taylor and others of differentiated learning.

One of the major “disruptors”, or “game changers” in education, and in my experiences as a teacher and as an educational administrator is TECHNOLOGY. Flash forward to 2011, as seen and read in the linked video I made regarding district/school technology integration: VIDEO LINK. The power of Technology to motivate learners is easier to see and feel and study and observe than the power of technology (and the tools related to technology) to meet the needs of all learners.  Returning to this month’s Blogamonth Challenge, I’m sharing the reasoning behind the linked video above from 2011. I share this video here – not for shameless self-promotion – but instead to show how a teacher who learns, grows, and becomes a school district superintendent (me) continues the journey to share with broader audiences tools, strategies, methods, ideas, values, goals, and aspirations all centered around the eye on the prize – the prize is learning for ALL students. The most effective way to get there is through carefully and thoughtfully planned out lessons and units and assessments designed to meet the varied learning needs and ability levels of all students!

An additional use of video is linked here to a ROUGH Udemy course I created – emphasis on ROUGH … The point of sharing this set of videos and embryonic entry into online learning with Udemy is an effort to show a unit planning process that like the Roger Taylor work, was instrumental in supporting and sustaining a rigorous course that was designed with multiple student ability levels at the beginning, middle, and end. I used the workshop in 6th grade world history as well as in 8th grade U.S. history (the 8th grade Workshop is described in the Udemy course). Teachers in districts where I have served currently use the Workshop model in an effort to meet the learning needs of all students in their classrooms.

My professional career is based upon the foundation that our society is complex enough to present many challenges to people as they pass from childhood to adulthood. It is my firm belief that a strong foundation in educational preparation will support a person’s quest for success and prosperity. My philosophical foundation holds that young people are our windows to the future; working with them has given me a unique vantage point to assess their goals, needs and abilities. I have been, and I remain committed to preparing our young citizens, and those who teach and support them, for their futures – and ours.

So … as a recap … I’m motivated to Blog as part of professional growth, learning and reflection. I’m participating in the Blogamonth challenge with other educators around the country and world (via the best personal learning network – PLN – Twitter), and I am committed to helping principals help teachers meet the needs of ALL learners. I am also a firm believer that technology and the related tools are and will continue to be the “game changers” in terms of seeing a world where all classrooms differentiate for all learners. And, finally, I am proud to share works in progress of my own tinkering with video, communication, leadership, and growth as I continue in service above self to the various stakeholders whom I serve and with whom I am inexorably linked in a journey to support continued growth and learning for ALL.