I really enjoyed learning more about diverse learners and how as educators we can help support our diverse learners in our classrooms. I learned a lot about what a diverse learner is and different strategies to help them succeed and grow. I think watching the movie, Stand and Deliver, really helped me see that diverse learners are not just minority students, but students of all learning levels, special needs, and with language barriers too.
I learned that it is important for a teacher to advocate for their students. Teachers can set high expectations for their students and in the end, the students will set high expectations for themselves. Teachers should model the strategies being taught and should be consistent in their communication and classroom management. Teachers can burn out easily, but if they work in a team, burn out will be less and the students would succeed more easily.
I learned that having adaptive classrooms that accommodate the needs of various learners will help more students succeed. Teachers can pair stronger students with weaker students to help reach more students during the day. Students can have access to more strategies and resources. It may seem that a classroom like this is more chaotic, but according to other teachers who teach this way, they find that they are able to have more time teaching students who need extra support. They find that their students are more successful. I know that is a goal of mine to have one day. I want to be able to connect with my students inside and outside of the classroom. I want to be able to apply the curriculum of Social Studies and History with my students. I want them to have an interest in that area of study and not be "turned off" or run away from it because they are not interested or think it is too hard to learn dates, people and events they don't have a personal connection with.
Hello and peace to all,
ReplyDeleteHello Diane,
I know we are in week five, but I was looking at some posts, and wanted to say something to this week four post of yours. So, I thought it was really well written and insightful. I thought it had a lot of great points. I like how you pointed out how important it is for teachers to have high expectations for their students and for themselves.
I think, too often, we don’t challenge her students enough. But if we can learn to challenge them more, more often than not they will rise to the challenge. If we challenge them too little, I think more often than not they will simply achieve our low expectations. So anyway, I thought this was a great point to make…. That we need to challenge our students, and have high expectations for them (within reason of course). But too often, if somebody says that we should challenge our students within reason of course, that’s code for let’s keep the bar really really low.
And we need to get out of this habit.
Again along these lines, I like I also pointed that we as teachers need to challenge ourselves! I think constantly seeing what’s working and what isn’t is important for us teachers. Many years ago I was in a class, and I didn’t do so well. And I will take the blame for it. But, the teacher, I did not think was particularly helpful, and he seemed to have a condemning and” I told you so” type of attitude. I don’t think it ever dawned on him that when I did poorly, it was partly a reflection on him.
Now please note, I am not saying that we have to take things so personally that when a kid does really poorly to think that it’s all are fault, but I actually hope that we think it’s a little our fallt! And I hope we replay in our minds what we might have been able to do better… at least for reflection.
Anyway, all this to say, again I really liked the point you made about how we need to challengeour students and ourselves.
And the other thing I really liked your post was how you talked about how we can use some of the better students to help some of the students are struggling. I think this is a great idea! Not only can this be something that helps the student who are struggling to learn , it gives additional things for the students who already mastered the material to have a chance to learn it even more by helping another student …… Differentiated learning! And it also fosters community because we are bringing students together to help each other!
And finally, you talked about the importance of having the kids interested and engaged in the material. I think it is part of our job as educators to work hard to find ways to keep the material fresh and interesting. This could mean, as you point out having peer-to-peer teaching going on. It could also mean relating it to the students interests, and/or showing them how this stuff is relatable in real life. This could mean showing material from various perspectives and points of views…. Video…. Role-play…. Debate…. Trivia games, etc.. It also means reflecting on our own teaching style and seeing how we are involving the whole class in our lectures as we give them to keep everyone interested in engaged. (This goes back to your challenging ourselves to grow idea!).
So anyway, a lot of great points in your blog Diana…. Peace again… Thanks…. Peace all.