Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Blog 1 - Instructional Strategies

As a reading teacher, I teach students different ways to figure out how to read unfamiliar words. For example, say the beginning sound, and slowly read through the word using sounds you know. Another example would be to skip the word and read the rest of the sentence, and think about what would make sense. There are other strategies I teach my students to help them be successful. I always use the phrase “good readers use….to figure out words.” Just as I instruct my students to use different strategies, it is very important that teachers use a variety of instructional strategies or methods when teaching.
Teaching a variety of instructional strategies, helps the teacher identify or discover which ones work best for the diverse learners in the classroom. Once the teacher identifies the strategies, lessons and activities can be planned to meet the individual needs of all students and help them be successful at learning the information being taught.  The ultimate goal for the targeted instruction is to help students achieve learning goal that will prepare them for the future.

Technology plays a huge role in our society. Our students use technology on a daily basis, whether it’s at home or school. Technology can be a major factor in engaging and motivating our students to learn. Most students use it for gaming and connecting with friends on social media. It is the teacher’s responsibility to design lessons to integrate technology into all subject areas, to prepare them for college and career readiness. Examples of integration would be virtual field trips and communicating with other classrooms around the world through Skype.

As a teacher in the 21st century classroom, I have a responsibility to educate myself with technology tools and resources, to be able to integrate it into my classroom. I need to create an environment that embraces technology, and not shun it because of my deficiency. I owe my students the very best education that I can give them. I want them to be good digital citizens, create things, and help solve real world problems. Through the use of technology, I can bring exciting experiences into the classroom, without leaving the room.


No comments:

Post a Comment