Instructional Strategies

It's important that various, differentiated instructional strategies are used in the classroom. Last semester, I took a class that used the textbook Making Thinking Visible. It outlined a lot of instructional strategies that can be used at any point in a lesson to show student's thinking. These methods can be used for all learners, and in most subject types.

Engage all learners from diverse backgrounds:

In order to reach all students, it is important that I incorporate diversity into my novel, poem, and short story selections. This makes students feel included and important, as well as more a part of their own education. Creating a safe environment is also key here. Students need to feel included and active in their education.

Proactively prevent inappropriate behavior:

To prevent inappropriate behavior, the following steps must be taken: 

1. Implementing clear rules and procedures beginning on the first day of school.
2. Sticking to those rules and procedures. 
3. Outline what will happen if these rules and procedures are broken.

Some of these rules are things like showing respect, being on time, turning in all materials before class, keeping your hands to yourself, limiting bathroom usage, and more. All of these rules and procedures prevent certain situations from happening, such as students handing in too much late work or calling each other names. If you set up and model these in the beginning, students know what is expect of them. They know what happens when they do not achieve these

Positive reinforcement should be used to promote positive behaviors as well. A token economy, such as the one listed on the rules/procedures page of this site, helps students to make positive decisions about their education. They have an incentive to act positively. 

Another strategy is to have things planned out so there is little time for students to goof off. This prevents problems in the classroom as well by making sure that students stay engaged in their learning and not on other things. 

3-4 instructional strategies:

The following three strategies are some that I picked up in Making Thinking Visible:

• See, Think, Wonder:
• Step 1: Set up your lesson by choosing an image, piece of text, art, etc. Allow students a good opportunity to see it by giving them each a copy or projecting it onto a screen. Give them time to observe, or See. 
• Step 2: Ask your students to explain what they see. Your students should just be explaining what they observe, not what they interpret. You can use Think-Pair-Share to have students discuss what they see. 
• Step 3: Ask your students for what they think is actually going on in the piece. Ask students for supporting evidence as well. This is the think section. 
• Step 4: Finally, ask students to share what they're wondering now that they have thought and seen. 
• Step 5: Ask students to share their thinking and what they are wondering. This can be done in small groups or as a large group. Again, you can use think-pair-share to do this. 
• "I used to think...Now I think..."
• In this strategy, students should have their journals or laptops to take notes on. The idea is to have students journal on a topic before you study it. Then, once you have taught the material, as them to reflect on what they think about it or know about it now. At the end, ask students to share together what they have learned. This helps students to combine what they have learned and what they already knew before. It helps them to see their own growth and identify new beliefs or knowledge. It can be used on a variety of students and can be adjusted. 
• Circle of Viewpoints
• The goal of this strategy is to increase perspective taking in your classroom. This can be beneficial in creating a safe and positive environment in your class. To do this, pick a source. This can be a picture, a story, an event, an issue, or a general topic. Allow students time to observe and think about this source. You need to decide and announce the topic that students will be trying to better understand and write it where everyone can see it. Next, make a list of viewpoints. Students should identify, people, objects, places and their viewpoints toward the subject. They should be recorded around the initial topic. Then, select on viewpoint to look more in-depth at. Groups can select different viewpoints. Finally, ask students to respond to "I think" and "I wonder" questions and to share their thinking. 

All of these instructional strategies help students to understand their own thinking. They are very easy to manipulate for different ages, levels, content areas, and learners. I like how they are different from typical instructional strategies like lecturing and independent work. They combine a lot of different methods within each one. 

Ritchhart, R., Church, M., & Morrison, K. (2011). Making thinking visible: How to promote engagement, understanding, and independence for all learners. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.