What are three pointers you have learned in using instructional strategies?
One pointer that I have learned during this class is how to use deeper thinking questions. It is so easy to ask students "what" questions but it requires a lot more thought for them to answer "why" questions. We should get out of the identifying questions pretty early on in elementary and moving on to more complex, deeper thinking questions.
Another pointer that I have taken from this class is how to help our students transition. I never realized how important this aspect of a deaf educators job was. I learned all of the different things involved in transitioning our students and how to make it easy on them, the parents, and ourselves. Part of teaching our students to transition is allowing them to attend their own IEP meeting and contribute to future plans. The class on transition was probably one of the most insightful classes this semester and has helped me to understand more about my duties as a deaf educator.
The third pointer that I have learned in using instructional strategies is the importance of having a solid behavior plan. There are so many different behavioral strategies out there and it is important to find one that is motivating for your student or students. All students are different and will be motivated differently. For this purpose you may have to have several behavior plans or perhaps just one will work. Whatever the case it is important to have a solid behavior plan in place for each student, young and old.
Has your viewpoint of teaching changed after taking this course? How or how not?
I wouldn't say that my viewpoint of teaching has changed. I would say that I now feel better equipped to be a successful teacher. I still feel the same about teaching. I am still excited to work with kids but I now feel that I have many "tricks in my bag" to help me do so. I think that I am now more aware of all of the aspects that my future career entails but I am ready to take it on.
I also liked learning about using the different levels of critical thinking questions. I have never thought about this too much and I am glad it was brought to our attention. We need to make sure we push students and not just give them easy questions al the time.
ReplyDeleteEverything we learned about the transition process was also very helpful. I agree with you that the information shared about transition will be very helpful for us in the future.
I also mentioned the behavior aspect of this class. I agree that having a strong behavior plan is a must in the classroom. It can make a huge difference in the success of the student. There are so many different strategies that we have learned from this class and it will help us a lot in our future.
I also am excited to work with kids and can't wait to implement the strategies we have learned about during this course! Thanks for sharing!