Final Focus
A critical component of SAS is that Clear Standards, Fair Assessments, Curriculum Framework, Instruction, Materials and Resources, and Interventions are all aligned to Student Achievement. This alignment helps assure that all students are provided with the elements that they need to be academically successful while never losing focus on the unique needs of each individual student.
Students have an agenda (current needs, interests, and personal goals that a student is focused on), and a student's lack of academic success is often a sign that their agenda is not aligned with what is being taught. Getting to know your students is key to focusing on their needs and providing them with instruction that they will find meaningful. Through formative assessment and asking open questions you can find out a lot about your student's needs, interests, and goals. Simple questions such as, "What would you like to be when you grow up?" may elicit the answers that you need to create differentiated instruction that will engage students, and encourage them to work towards their futures.
A good way to differentiate instruction is to picture each of your students in the center of SAS and list what special considerations should be addressed to align instruction elements to their needs. We've provided a Student Achievement Worksheet that will help you define what student achievement means to each individual. By defining each student's agenda, needs, and goals, you can utilize a backwards planning approach to align and adjust educational elements to support each student's strengths, address their individual weaknesses, and focus on their unique interests. Comparing and contrasting the worksheets of all of your students, frees you to develop differentiated instruction that builds upon students' common interests and needs. Since this is done within the framework of SAS you can align the elements, while never losing focus of the core concepts and competencies that all students must know, understand, and perform.
With theses concepts in mind it is time to wrap up the biggest activity of this course, and put the finishing touches to the lesson plan that you have been working on during the past 7 weeks. We hope that you have enjoyed this course, and the conversations and feedback with your instructor and classmates. Thank you for your participation.