Get Your Students Hired
How do you bring all forms of knowledge together in one class room with out lossing the smart or the dum when teaching to the middle student
I like your method of working with a class to answer questions. However, I have found in my experience recently, the ones who respond very well aloud in class are not always the ones who get the best grades. Sometimes the greater participator in class doesn't answer the printed test questions well. Anyway, what I'm saying is it's difficult to generalize at times who is "smarter".
One method that would helps students who have trouble with materials is grouping "smarter" students with "mid-range" to the "slower" children, and trying to openly ask students if they have any questions and encourage them to ask.
Hi Bonnie,
Good point about learning differences and preferences. What are some strategies you use to accommodate the different learning needs in your courses? Thanks for your input on this.
Gary
I agree. There will be students that are challenged and some that are not. Everyonr learns at different levels this is why it is so important to adapt.
Hello Tracy,
One technique I have used is to identify the "smart" student and empower them. Let them know that as a "leader" it is their responsibility to help coach the other students along.
I agree that this is an effective way of being sure that all levels of students are involved in the process. It also helps the students, no matter what level they are currently at, to feel on an equal playing field.
I have assigned group projects that are graded individually to several of my classes and what I find is the students will warm up to each other and learn to compliment each other's work.
I believe that if they know that they are evaluated separately and that their performance (or lack there of) will not jeopardize the grades of other students they are free to learn to identify their strengths and weaknesses.
They soon learn to work together to help every participant to be successful. Some become tutors, some learners, and some become motivational speakers or cheerleaders. And most importantly, they all learn to appreciate their team members and embrace their similarities and their differences.
This is a great way to teach. I will grade on an individual basis. I will then create mini-groups within the classroom and then I will give those mini-groups tasks. I then have the mini-groups interact with each other. The classes really enjoy this and it makes them interact with everyone. They get to know each other, be more comfortable around everyone and they also start to really help each other out when it's needed.
Hi Summer,
You make a very good point about teaching to all students. This is a must for instructors. Each student deserves that level of respect. If they are treated with respect they will respond accordingly. It is up to them to put forth the effort to be successful in the class knowing their instructor is behind them to lend support when needed.
Gary
As a teacher, I find this statement offensive on several levels and I am surprised it is still here.
Nonetheless, addressing different learners in the classroom is one of the most challenging aspects of a teacher's job. It requires you know your students, the material and various learning styles and angles from which to approach the material. It requires a constant interaction with students to gauge your effectiveness across the board.
For me, much of it is also in the attitude the teacher conveys. Regardless of the IQ of my students, I truly believe they can all offer something. For those of us teaching at Career Colleges, it is understood many of our students struggled in traditional classrooms. We must embrace this challenge. If we have a desire to only teach to the "smart," then we are likely to put forth an attitude that encourages only those students, not all students, to participate. Much of the dislike students have of traditional education comes not from lack of ability, but of a bad learning experience as the result of a poor instructor or environment.
Totally agree. It encourage some students to participate and also, encourage students to help others and work more as a team.
I try to reach every student across the board, in a manner that they can relate too. If the students feel that they cannot relate then they are more likely to get distracted or ignore the information that is being given
teamwork is one of the most effective ways to promote learning in a environment which brings together students of many different ages as well as ethnic - education and social backgrounds.
in fact, teamwork is assessed and graded in my classes.
I would have never thought of this. This sounds like it would realy work, i wll try to do this in my classes.
I like this, having the better students help and encourage the others in small ways will help the overall climate of the class, bring the struggling students up to speed while doing away with any cliques. It promotes teamwork which is crutial in the world.
Tracy:
My idea on that is that you will always have outliers either way. There are students that will always be challenged by the material and others that won’t. The first thing you need to do is to identify people in either group. Then, you may use the “smart” ones to help you with examples or illustrations in the class. You can also use them to summarize or decode the material for the rest of the class. Another strategy is using in-class group exercises where you mix “smarts” and “not-to-smarts” together and make the smarts the leaders of the group; make them responsible for the group interaction and outcome. Then make the groups compete with each other in the resolution of the “problem” or case study.
Thanks,
Jose
I like the suggestion that Carl has made with regard to all levels of students. It makes all the difference in the world when you can involve all the students to work and feed off of each other. It's what teaching is all about! Bravo, Carl!