One Size Doesn't Fit All

"One size doesn't fit all" is a popular slogan associated with differentiated instruction. The translation is that differentiated instruction helps all students learn by tailoring instruction to meet their abilities, needs, and interests.

Imagine our surprise when we learned that the expression "one size doesn't fit all" has now spilled over to additional venues.  For example, the term now applies to the world of banking and economics and in the context of nutrition at MyPyramid.gov. The term is also used with compensation measures, church leadership, dog breeding, and mobile platforms for marketing. We've seen the slogan in the pharmaceutical industry, and in politics.

We used the term ourselves during an ISTE Webinar we presented in early 2009.  Meris Stansbury, Associate Editor at ESchool News expertly summed up what differentiating instruction means to educators. We hope you'll read this article.

Project ReImagine

Last summer, we spent a large amount of time in July and August serving as the principal writers of Oxford Community Schools' Project ReImagine proposal. In November of 2009, we were excited to find out that Oxford was chosen as one of 14 ReImagine Demonstration Districts in the state of Michigan!


Project ReImagine was born as a result of the Michigan Department of Education's (MDE) desire to challenge "the educational community to boldly and dramatically reimagine their systems to ensure all students learn and achieve at high levels."

For more information on Project ReImagine, see the following MDE link:

Tic-Tac-Toeing with Choice Boards in Any Classroom

Want to ignite student interest in the your classroom?

Offer choice boards, also known as Bingo, Tic-Tac-Toe, or Think-Tac-Toe boards for product assignments. 

The bottom line is that even though you, as teacher, create the choices, students feel empowered when they MAKE the choices.

Give this strategy a try and watch your students soar with excitement!

Read more and see an example at our ISTE Connects post.

Games Are Essential Classroom Tools

As designers/instructors of a graduate course in differentiating instruction + technology, we ask our students about the role of games in instruction.

We are frequently surprised at the responses, ranging from "I do not allow my students to play games" to "I use games everyday."

You may want to check out the article we wrote for the ISTE 2010 conference in Denver which speaks about games and game-like instruction: Games Are Essential Classroom Tools.

Gaming in the Classroom

On Wednesday, March 31st, we will be conducting a webinar for BrainPOP Educators called "Classroom Games? Why not?" The webinar takes place at 4:30 PM Eastern time.

If you follow this link, you'll see a description: http://s4.brainpop.com/educators/webinars/   Please join us! Register today!

You can also read and comment on our recent post at ISTE Connects about gaming and its value in the classroom. Click here to access.

Can Video Games Teach Kids?

In our session today, "Play Is Important for Deep Learning" in the Webinar Series "Listening for Understanding," we talked about digital games for learning. 

We asked the broad question, "what if digital gaming IS the curriculum?" And we shared a resource that answers the question.

Check out Quest to Learn (Q2L), the first-ever school we know of that builds its entire curriculum on games-based learning. Located in New York City, the school is "not a school whose curriculum is made up of the play of commercial videogames, but rather a school that uses the underlying design principles of games to create highly immersive, game-like learning experiences. Games and other forms of digital media serve another useful purpose at Quest: they serve to model the complexity and promise of “systems.” Understanding and accounting for this complexity is a fundamental literacy of the 21st century."

You can learn more about this exciting school via its website.  By the way, Quest is recuiting teachers for the next  school year! 

You can tune in to future webinars in the series at http://www.michiganeducatorsplc.com/