Explore Pedagogy & Teaching Strategies

Teaching Strategies Proven to be Effective in the Classroom:

Every teacher has their own unique strategy for leading their students through coursework and ensuring their understanding of the material. While each teacher has their own unique strategy, no two students and no two classrooms are alike - and to be as effective an instructor as possible it's important to adapt to best fit the needs of the learners in your classroom. Remaining up to date on learning strategies can be incredibly beneficial for both the students and the teacher alike, check out some strategies that have proven to be effective:

• Differentiated Instruction: In order to best meet the needs of all learners within a classroom, differentiated instruction provides students an opportunity to learn a single lesson through a variety of different activities and ways of presenting information. This strategy can be particularly effective for English language learners or when teaching in an inclusive classroom including students with learning disabilities.
• Culturally Responsive Teaching: The integration of the cultures of your students into the classroom can be incredibly beneficial for establishing connection to the course material and for presenting information in a way that is easily understood by students. Culturally responsive teaching can be particularly beneficial when teaching subjects like history (link to pillar?) & language to allow for students to consider events through various perspectives and cultural lenses. One of the greatest benefits of this strategy though, is that it allows for all students to feel understood and accepted - and provides an opportunity for students & teachers alike to learn from each other's life experiences.
• Project-Based Learning: Ensuring that your students are actively engaging in the learning process and course material being taught is essential to student success. Project-Based Learning goes beyond submitting projects in a classroom environment, and instead focuses on long-term projects that may have more real-world application. Longer-term projects with real-world application can also be used as a professional development opportunity as well, exposing students to real-world applications that they would otherwise not have visibility into.
• Gamification: One of the most effective ways to get students to engage in the course material is to gamify the material and turn a learning experience or objective into a game. Turning a vocabulary lesson into a game of charades or utilizing digital tools like Kahoot! can bring students together to not only learn the material that's being taught - but to help make learning more engaging and fun!