Instructional Strategies
InTASC Standard 8: The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage learners to develop deep understanding of content areas and their connections, and to build skills to apply knowledge in meaningful ways.
Introduction
My classroom is made up of scholars with diverse needs. To ensure that all my students can access the content of the lessons, I utilize a range of instructional strategies. To implement a variety of instructional strategies, I start with lesson planning. Through lesson planning, I’m able to scaffold lessons, so instructional strategies build upon each other, creating opportunities for students to access the content, review the material and then apply their knowledge. After the lesson, I reflect and pinpoint what strategies were useful and which ones were not. Based on the associated formative assessments, I’m able to conclude if I need to reteach. If so, it helps that my original lesson plan contains the instructional strategies I used so I can quickly determine if I need to incorporate different strategies. Since I also teach in an inclusion classroom, my co-teacher and I both work with scholars while the other is lead teaching. When we pull scholars, we use instructional strategies that help them access the content that fits their individual needs.
Due to the young age of my scholars, it’s essential that I provide them with opportunities to develop a deeper understanding of the content areas. To do this, I introduce my students to instructional strategies that build their problem-solving skills and also expose them to various ways of learning through visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning. I believe that by incorporating these different instructional strategies, my diverse group of scholars will be able to apply what they’ve learned and continue to develop their understanding of the content.
The instructional strategies I use encourage learners to apply knowledge in meaningful ways by providing them with the skills and expertise to problem solve. At the beginning of my teaching career, I was focused on repetition, believing that with repeated practice of the same material my scholar's knowledge would be reinforced. However, I quickly learned that repetition is useful but to encourage them to apply knowledge in meaningful ways, I had to create opportunities for them showcase what they know rather than exemplify their rote skills. To move my students from rote skills to applying what they know, I use a variety of worksheets, activities, and assessments to push them to apply what they have learned.
Conclusion
My students will face challenges in and outside the classroom for the rest of their life. As their teacher, I believe it’s essential that they have access to lessons that implement a variety of strategies, introducing them to different ways they can approach and overcome various difficulties. For example, when students are beginning to read, many have trouble decoding words by looking at the print. To support them, I equip them with multiple strategies they can use to take on this challenge whether it’s through kinesthetic learning by moving letter tiles into pocket charts, tracking print, or segmenting the letter sound on different parts of their arms. When students understand that there are several ways to approach a problem, they are less likely to give up and more likely to persevere. I believe that by introducing and implementing a variety of instructional strategies, I provide all my student's opportunities to access the content and engage in complex thinking, regardless of their unique and diverse needs.