InTASC Standard 8: Instructional Strategies
“The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage learners to develop deep understanding of content areas and their connections, and to build skills to apply knowledge in meaningful ways.”
Educators should vary the ways they teach their students and incorporate various technologies, tools, and methods in the classroom to foster a more profound appreciation of the material being presented. By varying instructional strategies, teachers automatically address the different learning preferences present in their students. Also, introducing different methods and technologies in the classroom can freshen up the learning environment and stimulate interest in students which leads to deeper learning.
Examples of instructional strategies include flipped classrooms, incorporating technology, such as Nearpod, into lessons, and embracing instructional variety to keep students engaged and eager.
Flipped Classrooms: An alternate method of instruction is the use of flipped classrooms. A flipped classroom involves students learning about a new concept at home and practicing what they’ve learned, through guided and independent practice activities, in the classroom. Direct instruction is prepared by the teacher in advance and is delivered to the student as their homework using technology. Students may watch prerecorded instructional videos, listen to a teacher’s podcast, or read their textbook in preparation for more hands-on activities in class. The benefit to the flipped classroom model is that students have more time in class to actively engage with the material that they’re learning and to receive one-on-one assistance from their teacher. Since introductory lectures are watched ahead of time, outside of class, students have more time for hands-on activities with support inside the classroom. As students receive real-time feedback and timely support from their teacher in the classroom, students’ confidence levels rise and there is more opportunity for students to put their knowledge to work. I prepared a Pecha Kucha presentation on flipped classrooms for one of my courses, which you may view on YouTube here.
Nearpod presentation about Nearpod
Nearpod: Technology-enhanced lessons are best when students are able to interact with the technology and not just act as passive viewers. While PowerPoint is a dominant force in presentation software, Nearpod allows teachers to import their PowerPoint presentations and enhance them by adding interactive slides. Students can contribute to the lesson, which keeps their interest and also assists teachers with formative assessments. Here is a link to a Nearpod presentation about Nearpod that I created for my Hollins classmates.
Instructional Variety: Before I began student teaching, an experienced middle school teacher told me to take the average age of the students in my class and divide it in half in order to get the attention span, in minutes, of the students in that class. He continued by saying, “Don’t lecture for more than six or seven minutes, if you can help it.” This advice matches what I’ve learned at Hollins University. Students appreciate the opportunity to practice what they’re learning and engage with the material, instead of passively sitting and listening. As you can see in the video below, I made it a point to add variety into my lessons by limiting lecture time and allowing students to work in small groups to solve sequenced assignments for their research project. I have also gained experience using graphic organizers, warm-ups, exit tickets, reflection activities, self-assessments, role playing, Socratic seminars, and think-pair-share activities. Instructional variety is important for student engagement.