Every learner is unique, has strengths and challenges, and learns differently at different times in their lives. Each student comes to class with their own story and life experiences which should be explored and celebrated. Building strong student relationships is the foundation for which a solid education and working rapport is formed. Discovering students’ individual interests, strengths, and wonderings is essential to providing a personalized learning experience for every student. Creating positive student relationships with the teacher is as important as developing strong relationships with their peers. Collaboration can lead to deeper understanding and expand on the learning in ways that cannot be achieved by one lone educator. Offering low-floor/high-ceiling learning opportunities helps invite a wide range of student abilities to a task. Empowering students to advocate for their educational needs, planning lessons and units around students’ interests, and offering students choice and voice also aids in reaching a wide range of learners. Curious students learn better than those without curiosity, so it is of great importance to me to develop curiosity about the world and a deep love of learning. Compacting for high achievers and decomposing and employing targeted scaffolding for struggling students is also a strategy I employ when reaching a multitude of learning abilities. Integrating a variety of subject areas, learning by doing, and utilizing the constructivist methodology is also an integral part of my teaching.
I embrace the wide range of skills in my classroom by modeling that we all have something to learn from each other. It is crucial that the students are aware that I am a learner as well and that there is much to be learned from my students. It is effective to demonstrate this early on in the year and to continue and build upon it throughout the year. This instills trust and helps my students respect me as their leader.
Having students work in teams to achieve goals teaches them that they have valid information to pass on and that others have valuable information for them to learn from. It is important to vary the groups based on academic and social skill. Sometimes it may be appropriate to group students together that are high achievers with other high achievers and low achievers with other low achievers. At other times, it also may be appropriate to group high achievers with low achievers. It is important that these groups are varied so that high achievers do not feel as if they are always teaching the class. They may have a lot to offer, but they need to feel as though they are progressing academically as well. The opposite is true for those who struggle learning different concepts. All students must feel a sense of ownership of their education And have strong self-confidence no matter their ability. When this occurs, they become responsible for their learning and academic advancement.
It is my job as an outstanding teacher to guide students to become self-motivated learners who are driven by an internal force who want to learn. I do this by providing a variety of instructional tools to differentiate instruction to suit a wide range of academic and social skills. Flexibility and open-mindedness are key to achieving this goal. Using manipulative tools and concrete examples when instructing aids students who are visual learners as well as those who are not. Offering a variety of activities to meet the diverse needs of my learners is a most important task. I use a variety of assessment tools from informal and summative to formal and formative and from written to dramatizations and presentations.
I feel that a hands-on learning environment can meet the challenges of a diverse learning group best. When students create products they feel a sense of accomplishment which they can present to an audience and it is fun. It may also be beneficial to implement an instructional activity that is technology based. Students can learn at their own speed and will not have the competing pressure that can sometimes take over a classroom. It is important to dissolve any feeling of competition and to create an environment where all students want each other to succeed.
Another tool that assists my instruction to meet a wide range of skills in my classroom is one-on-one conferencing to assess individual progress and to provide personalized instruction. Achieving greatness can start at the individual level. Also, working in small groups can provide time for targeted instructional needs based on academic levels. It all starts with the awareness of students' needs. This is where my strengths of observation and self-reflection are most utilized.
Teaching mathematics is my passion and if I can inspire my students to have this same passion for learning about the world through the lens of math, I will feel successful. Math is fun! Math explains the world around us! I believe that every human is born with a mathematical mind and that it needs to be nurtured as the heart, soul, and mind does. It is my job as a teacher to make the curriculum fun, interesting, and relatable so that my students will have the motivation to learn whether it be in the area of mathematics or otherwise.
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