Strong (2002) states, "Teachers who successfully employ a range of strategies reach more students because they tap into more learning styles and student interest" (p. 43). Has this been your experience as a student? Give an example to either support or refute this statement.
Strong, J.H. (2002). Qualities of effective teachers. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
I completely support the statement presented. The many years I have experienced as a student has provided me valuable insight into the variety of learning styles found in classrooms today. For example, last year I had a college professor that utilized a range of instructional strategies during each class time. The professor incorporated direct instruction, group discussions, individual written reflections, hands-on activities, and collaboration. By implementing a variety of teaching methods, the professor was able to appeal to the broadest range of learners by actively engaging the students into their own learning. The professor also supported student learning by tapping into individual learning styles and student interest. This professor demonstrated to me that all learners are individuals, so a one-size-fits all lesson will not provide equal opportunities to all students. I also learned that it is important to consider cultural backgrounds, gender differences, developmental stages, special needs, and base knowledge of content area when determining what instructional method to use. It is a teacher's responsibility to incorporate a variety of instructional methods that will support a wide range of learning styles while developing students into autonomous learners.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the statement above for many reasons. All students learn differently and when a teacher teaches using the same strategies, some students may benefit from it because they think that way but others may suffer because they do not process things that way. As a student, I have experienced teachers teaching different strategies so everyone can understand, and in just one way which cause students to get frustrated. One example was in my geometry class in high school. The teacher taught in one way the whole year I took that class and I didn't do as well as I thought I should have. I am a visual learner so I believe if she would used a variety of teaching styles, more students would have understood what was required of us in class. When teachers take advantage of different teaching strategies, students engage in learning their own way. This will help create an environment that students will want to learn in.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the statement from Strong. Not everybody learns the same way if teachers can incorporate different strategies in the classroom, children may be more likely to follow along and be engaged in class. I have had teachers that demonstrated both ways, but I found the teacher with more strategies more interesting and effective. One of my history professors last year showed a powerpoint every day and read each slide in a monotone voice. I didn't get much out of that class. I could never stay engaged or want to listen to my professor. On the other hand, I had a wonderful Spanish teacher in high school who really made learning fun. Learning a new language is not easy and kids often find it too difficult and give up, but this teacher made everyone excited to come to class. We had alone study time, partner studying, and small group work. For assignments, we watched videos, wrote stories with pictures to match, made maracas, made food, etc. It was all fun activities, but we all learned so much while we were doing the activities. Making work fun for kids, while still getting the material across is very important to keep kids engaged, focused, and wanting to learn.
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree with the statement that a range of instructional strategies should be implemented in the classroom. I think that it is important so all students can be reached through the way they learn best but also so students can improve the strategies they don’t feel strongest on. I think by using different instructional strategies it keeps the day interesting and keeps students focused. I have had many different teachers use a variety of instructional strategies and the ones who are using all different strategies and engaging the students are the classes, teachers, and material I remember most. By using the different strategies it gives each child a chance to shine in the strategy that they relate to the most. I think it is also memorable when teachers use strategies that are not always associated with their content area in their lessons. I still remember when we would take our spelling test in second grade using shaving cream on the desk and writing with our finger because it was something different and fun.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Callie on how sticking to one instructional strategy can make students uninterested and unmotivated to learn. I think it is easy as a teacher or professor to stick with the strategy that is most comfortable to be taught and only implement it in your classroom. Doing it this way cuts out all students whose learning strategy is not the same as the teacher or professors. I also think by teaching strategies that are not a teacher’s strong suite helps the teacher be more engaged in the material and learn more to adapt what they know to a different instructional strategy. I also agree that certain teachers come to mind whose class I remember vividly because they implemented many different instructional strategies.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Callie said when she stated “…incorporate different strategies in the classroom, children may be more likely to follow along and be engaged in class.’’ Some students get distracted in class more than others and teachers need to think that maybe it is their teaching strategy rather than the student misbehaving. I agree that if you teach the same way every day the students can get bored in class which will cause them to get distracted easily and daydream in class. When teachers incorporate different teaching strategies, the students will not only be able to understand the lesson more like I stated earlier, but may also be motivated to do the activity. I have learned a lot about this in my education classes but never think about doing it. In the class I have field experience I seen one student who gets distracted easily. Mrs. Guenther usually sets her by herself and has her do another task. I believe that this student needs more challenging work and might be bored with what is going on in class. This is the reason why she is set aside to do a different task or start a task early. I like that I get to see different strategies being used in the classroom daily.
ReplyDeleteDifferent instructional strategies really work because one students may understand something one way but not in another. For me, I need a combination of vocal and visual explanations to understand how to do something. I also need to have a hands on activity to make sure that the things will work for me even after the lesson. I have always had to figure out ways to connect things and the combination of these three make it easier for me. For instance in my math class, we are working with a base six system to understand why students struggle so much in math. When a group member was explaining her idea to me, I was unable to understand what she was talking about because I wasn't able to picture what she was saying in my head. She had to use the manipulatives we had and explain the process to me. After that I was able to understand her reasoning.
ReplyDeleteThis is why using so many methods in lessons is important. Without them, students struggle a little more. I also watched a video on how a teacher in Texas started a song for multiplication to help her students because they were all struggling but all of them enjoyed music and rhythm. Because of this, she was able to help her students and even gave the idea to other teachers who found it worked well with their students also.
It is nice to hear about professors that include a lot of different instructional strategies in college Stephanie M. I feel that not very many work to incorporate as many strategies as possible. Even though we are adults, we still depend on those strategies to help us learn. I have a class this year that is a power point and a lecture and that is it. We have a quiz over an article we have to read and book reports. He doesn't try incorporate group discussions or any of the things that I have found helpful in my other classes so I walk out with very little learning done because there is no meaningful discussions or hands on activities. Without all of these things, I am really struggling in this class. How a lesson is taught affects your learning no matter your age.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with this statement. Everyone learns in different ways. In one of the classes I took, the professor had a different quote or energizer for the class everyday. This was nice because she presented so many of them that every student had at least one that they really enjoyed doing. By doing this teachers are able to relate to all of their students. Also by doing this all of the different ones the students have options themselves, and they can relate to one or more of the ideas presented.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Kindra mentioned about having both a vocal and visual explination of an assignment. This way students can hear and see what they are supposed to do. I think it's great to see teachers doing this because I am both a vocal and a visual learner, so I will definately plan to implement both of them in my classroom.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Carly mentioned about the importance of teachers using a variety of instructional strategies to relate to all students. Each student is an individual and has their own unique learning style. So, if a teacher incorporates only one type of teaching method in the classroom that teacher is only connecting to a small portion of the students. To be an effective educator it is important to actively engage students in their learning by utilizing a variety of teaching methods, materials, and activities.
ReplyDeleteI like the example Kindra gave about the teacher that made up a multiplication song for her students because the students were interested in music and having a hard time with multiplication. Mixing the two categories is a wonderful strategy because it's "tricking" the kids into learning, but they are having fun while doing so. I think it is important and overall effective for teachers to teach in a way that is meaningful to each student. There are many different learning style preferences, as well as teaching styles that can be matched up with them. I think that is a great example of one way of compromising.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with this statement. When a teacher only teaches information in one single form like verbal then only those verbal learners will benefit from the content that is being taught. Even if the teacher is a great creative talker with lots of stories and awesome ideas if he or she cannot vary their strageties then they will not teach to the diverse classroom. In my own education in high school I had the same math teacher for three years and I really struggled in math because all we did every day was more visual information. She just put the lesson up on the over head and we copied it down. As a student I would have benafited A lot from visually seeing it yes but also more application to real life and some kinesthetic applitcation to help us as students not fall asleep and get some hands on work with these math concepts. Unfortunetly that didn't happen and I passes but it wasa very difficult and I almost had to re teach myself the lessons. I have also had positive influences of a diverse strategies that teachers use. In my situation this techer was my senior year AP psychology teacher and she touched on every single learning style possible. In ever activity we saw the content, copied it down in a different way everyday, we did projects, disscusion, and many other activities. She was a favorite teacher of many because she taugh in many different ways that applied to every student.
ReplyDelete