Standard 3: Diverse Learners
Description:
The teacher understands how students differ in their approaches to learning and creates instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners.
Reflection:
Just like the fact that all teachers are different, all students are different. Each student has his or her own unique learning style. An effective teacher will not only pick up on these differences but accept them. This will allow the teacher to adjust assignments, circumstances, time allowed, and even types of expression. Just as students have different learning styles, they will also have different strengths in expressing themselves. Some students will prefer to write what they have learned while others can express the same ideas in art. When the students realize that their own learning style is accepted and encouraged by their teacher they will begin to feel much more comfortable, which as we noted before will increase their motivation. It is nice to have choices among assignments wherever possible. When a student is able to choice his or her assignment there is a great sense of ownership involved.
Evidence:
Through my time tutoring at the college level and observing at the middle school level I have seen many different learning styles among many different ages. It is important to pick up on these learning styles as quickly as possible. I have had several classes that have been extremely beneficial for this. One topic that has been discussed throughout these classes is formative assessment. With strong formative assessment a teacher should always know where their students are academically and how they best express themselves.
Here is a link for a Universally Designed Lesson plan that I created in one of my classes.
