Keeley Disponette Diverse Teaching Strategies

After reading the article Educating Everybody's Children: Diverse Teaching Strategies for Diverse Learners, Revised and Expanded 2nd Edition I have learned many teaching strategies to use for diverse learners for the future students of my classroom.

One strategy that could be used in the classroom is to maintain high standards and demonstrate high expectations for all ethnically, culturally and linguistically diverse students. This means that students are challenged more when teachers hold them to high expectations. It have been known for some teachers and staff to hold diverse learners to a lower standard. Holding these students to a lower standard will only allow them to fall in-between the cracks, not reach their goals and become unmotivated. This means that just because a student is an ELL, ESS, etc they should not be held to a lower standard. These students may learn in a different way or use different strategies but they should be learning the same things as all of the other students in the classroom.

Another strategy that comes from the article that I read is that as a teacher we should show students we care by getting to know their individual needs and strengths and sharing their concerns, hopes and dreams. The first step of this is to create a community within the classroom and begin getting to know individual students. This could be down through getting to know you activities and sitting down with the student one-on-one to get to know them. This will make the student feel more comfortable and encouraged to try their best in the classroom. Teachers who care, develop students who are encouraged to ask questions and feel comfortable to speak out in the classroom. Students who are comfortable with their teacher and classmates will be more likely to meet their goals.

To find more teaching strategies, along with the two discussed above go to the link below:

http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/107003/chapters/Diverse-Teaching-Strategies-for-Diverse-Learners.aspx

Saravia-Shore, Marietta. Educating Everybody's Children: Diverse Teaching Strategies for Diverse Learners, Revised and Expanded 2nd edition. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/107003/chapters/Diverse-Teaching-Strategies-for-Diverse-Learners.aspx