Its funny how easily we forget what it was like to learn something for the first time. The misunderstood minds activity helped me to remember what its like to see something and experience all of the trials and tribulations of learning something you haven't mastered yet.
Obviously now that I am older and more educated I can look at the activities posted and use another tool I have learned throughout my education to help me decipher what is the best way for me personally to solve each problem. However, it truly showed me how difficult topics can be to a student who is learning them for the first time.
Going through each of the topics activities I found that I was more successful in some areas than others. This made sense because these also happen to be the topics that I am strong in still to this day. The attention activity to me was the most educational. I can see how as a student I suffered from too much attention or being slightly "insatiable". I have always been someone who fidgets in my seat but it was never too much of a distraction for me personally. The reading with distractions activity was seemingly impossible to complete. You don't realize how overstimulated a child can be. This opened my eyes to both ends of the spectrum with attention, either the child can have too much or too little and you need to find a way to accommodate for both.
Reading was another area that was fascinating. Trying to decode what each letter and sound was was extremely time consuming and confusing. Also, recalling what I had read after seemed out of the question. Writing was similar for me. Trying to put ideas in a sequence after they were so jumbled in the directions made the presentation very hard to follow.
Lastly was the math portion. I can see how using a table to recall basic facts could be helpful to a first time learner, but I found that it actually made it more difficult for me personally. The spatial piece was interesting too. Trying to understand how shapes fit into or form different shapes with no real hands on experience is very difficult to do even for me at this age. The sequence activity was difficult as well. There were numerous steps to take to find the right answer and it would be easy to get lost along the way. Not to mention that if you mess up on one step it will alter your entire answer to be incorrect.
Saturday, January 24, 2015
Diverse Teaching Strategies
When beginning to read these articles on diverse teaching strategies, I did not expect to find so many different statistics and ideas behind "diverse learners". I initially thought of diverse learners as students with special needs, but after reading through some valid thoughts I realized that diverse learners are not just students with special needs, but all learners with needs depending on their circumstances. It opened my mind to see that you and I are both "diverse learners" because we come from different backgrounds, family lives, and races. We all have individual needs that can help use to become more successful.
Reading about the graduation rates was an eye opener. To think that so many children will not graduate this year alone because they were not given the tools that they needed was extremely disheartening. Even worse was that we know how to close this achievement gap but can't because so many schools don't have the opportunity or the means to contribute to closing the gap. I agree that we all need to embrace diversity as soon as possible and encourage the development of diversity at a young age. Diversity is not something we are going to "fix" but rather something that we are going to be able to help an control so that each child is given a fair chance at being successful in schooling and therefore in a career afterword.
Some strategies that we can use would first start with setting the same playing field for all children. This means not expecting less from students because you think they don't want to or are unable to learn. Setting high expectations and high standards for each individual is important to drive each child and show them that as a teacher you believe in them and in their success.
Showing children that you care about them and their future is the key to them trusting you and wanting to do well not only for themselves but for you too. Therefore developing an individual relationship with each student is essential to your classroom. Surely you classroom is a type of "family" but showing each child you care personally and see them as a unique individual in a group setting helps them establish the confidence necessary to learn in difficult situations. This means learning about their backgrounds, their home lives, and tailoring your lessons to their individual interests and strengths. Giving multiple forms of assessment gives students the means to choose and therefore succeed in areas that they may not have been strong in before.
Technology is another aspect to learning that needs to be embraced by teachers at this day in age. Technology allows for different instruction methods that may be more relatable to students of different demographics. By enhancing electronic resources you are opening more chances for students to learn on their own terms and at their own pace. Having interactive communication also helps diverse learners by allowing them to read and comment on eachother's work as well as ask questions when they need a hand. Having computer based learning materials allows for flexibility to help support all types of diverse learners and should be incorporated into each classroom.
Reading about the graduation rates was an eye opener. To think that so many children will not graduate this year alone because they were not given the tools that they needed was extremely disheartening. Even worse was that we know how to close this achievement gap but can't because so many schools don't have the opportunity or the means to contribute to closing the gap. I agree that we all need to embrace diversity as soon as possible and encourage the development of diversity at a young age. Diversity is not something we are going to "fix" but rather something that we are going to be able to help an control so that each child is given a fair chance at being successful in schooling and therefore in a career afterword.
Some strategies that we can use would first start with setting the same playing field for all children. This means not expecting less from students because you think they don't want to or are unable to learn. Setting high expectations and high standards for each individual is important to drive each child and show them that as a teacher you believe in them and in their success.
Showing children that you care about them and their future is the key to them trusting you and wanting to do well not only for themselves but for you too. Therefore developing an individual relationship with each student is essential to your classroom. Surely you classroom is a type of "family" but showing each child you care personally and see them as a unique individual in a group setting helps them establish the confidence necessary to learn in difficult situations. This means learning about their backgrounds, their home lives, and tailoring your lessons to their individual interests and strengths. Giving multiple forms of assessment gives students the means to choose and therefore succeed in areas that they may not have been strong in before.
Technology is another aspect to learning that needs to be embraced by teachers at this day in age. Technology allows for different instruction methods that may be more relatable to students of different demographics. By enhancing electronic resources you are opening more chances for students to learn on their own terms and at their own pace. Having interactive communication also helps diverse learners by allowing them to read and comment on eachother's work as well as ask questions when they need a hand. Having computer based learning materials allows for flexibility to help support all types of diverse learners and should be incorporated into each classroom.
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