Providing Learning Opportunities For All

Alex Van Dusen

Vanguard University
11/03/2016

How can I direct and facilitate a variety of learning experiences for all students?
An effective teacher utilizes a wide variety of different teaching strategies. As a teacher,
if I want my students to succeed in my classroom, it is best that I provide them with multiple
ways of learning the content. Burden and Byrd (2016) state that instructional strategies are the
vehicles for students to learn the material (p. 123). Many students learn best by doing. In a
science classroom, for example, students have the opportunity to learn by doing experiments, by
conducting research, and by creating projects. I will have multiple strategies and techniques up
my sleeve as I plan each unit and individual lesson. I will plan for deductive lessons, inductive
lessons, and a mix of the two. By utilizing both direct and indirect instruction, I will best be able
to meet the learning needs of all of my students.
Direct instruction involves the teacher explicitly teaching the content to the students, by
lecturing, demonstrating, and guided homework. I will utilize direct instruction when appropriate
and when it can best enhance the students learning for the particular topic. Given the research of
effective lecture times, I will be sure to minimize the amount of lecturing that I do. I am a major
proponent of a more inductive approach to learning, but there is definitely a time for deductive
learning. Other deductive teaching strategies that I will use will be demonstrations, reviews, and
guided practice. One example of a demonstration that I could see myself doing as a science
teacher would be to demonstrate a live dissection. I would perform the dissection using a camera
so that the whole class can view what I would be doing. I would think aloud and identify
different features as I perform the dissection. This would be a good way to expose students to
something that they would learn to do in the future. Reviewing past material is also something
that I would want to develop into a routine for my classes. An effective reviewing technique is
the KWL chart, where students reflect on what they learned after a lesson. I could use the KWL

chart for any topic, but I would want to use other reviewing methods, as well. Guided practice is
one thing that I will do regularly as a way to teach my students different skills, such as using the
scientific method.
Indirect instruction, also known as student-centered learning, encourages the idea that
students learn best when they direct their own learning experiences. Bruner (1963) states that
(t)he best way to create interest in a subject is to render it worth knowing (p. 31). Indirect
instruction is perhaps the best way the students will render a subject worth knowing. I will use a
variety of indirect teaching strategies, such as group projects and jigsaw activities. One example
of a group project that I would assign to a middle school class would require students to research
a particular natural disaster of their choice, to gather data, and to identify a possible pattern of
occurrence in a specified location. Students would be assigned roles, such as the data analyst and
the preparation manager, and they would need to work on their own to learn more about the
chosen natural disaster. Jigsaw activities distribute the work and learning between three or four
students per group. Each student, in a jigsaw activity, would be assigned a portion of text to read
and understand, and they would then have to summarize the text to the rest of their group. I
would use the jigsaw activity when reading empirical articles on various topics, such as medicine
and geography.
Utilizing both direct and indirect instructional strategies, and varying the work by
incorporating group and individual activities, will promote my students growth and
understanding in the science content area as well as in their professional and academic
development. According to the Teacher Performance Expectation 4: Planning Instruction and
Designing Learning Experiences for All Students, I should (p)lan instruction that promotes a
range of communication strategies and activity modes between teacher and student and among

students that encourage student participation in learning (p. 16). By effectively utilizing a
variety of teaching strategies, I will be meeting this teacher expectation.

References
Burden, P. R. (2016). Methods for effective teaching: Meeting the needs of all students, 7th
edition. Boston, MA: Pearson.
Bruner, J. S. (1963). The process of education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
Preliminary Multiple Subject and Single Subject Credential Program Standards. (2016). Teacher
performance expectations (TPEs). Sacramento, CA: Commission on Teaching
Credentialing.