Having recently started a graduate program to eventually gain a Master of Arts degree in Teaching and receive a teaching certificate, I have been thinking about ways to organize the multitude of responsibilities teachers must take on in a way that helps simplify the strategies effective teachers use in their classrooms. I chose to create some checklists over three of the most important ideas in education in my opinion. These checklists offer a resource to better ensure the use of these practices in the classroom by providing a quick list to look at and check against.
Strategies for Providing Differentiated Education for Teachers
-Represent course material in a multitude of ways
To effectively provide for the needs of diverse learners, teachers should offer course material to students in a variety of different ways. This gives students multiple avenues for gaining knowledge and understanding, while developing students abilities to gain knowledge in through diverse methods (Barrett, 2013).
-Offer students multiple ways of expressing their knowledge
Teachers should give students multiple avenues to show what they know in class (Barrett, 2013). This practice provides students with the opportunity to grow or shine based on the skills utilized In different activities, and how those skills speak to the student’s strengths.
-Give students multiple ways of engaging in the classroom
Teachers should provide students with a variety of ways to participate in the classroom, and options should be at least partially dictated by student interest. Teachers can utilize things like group work, stations, quick writing prompts, and many more to create a “stimulating learning environment” that will help students to thrive (Barrett, 2013).
-Provide very clear instruction for activities and check for student understanding
Teachers should provide extremely clear instruction for class activities, this will ensure that there are no students not performing because they are unsure of what to do, and teachers need to check for student understanding of instructions (Krutka, 2015). By ensuring students understand the directions for assignments fully, teachers empower students to do the best they are able, and give them confidence that they are performing effectively.
-Get to know students in order to better provide for particular needs
By getting to know students’ particular interests, abilities, etc., teachers can better form their classrooms around the needs of the students within it (Barrett, 2013). Educators should use what they learn about their students to empower and grow them in the classroom.
Strategies for instilling confidence and encouraging student ownership of learning
-Allow for student collaboration on class decisions
Students should be allowed to collaborate with teachers on class decisions, this will allow them a greater amount of confidence In class and provide them with greater opportunity to take ownership of the construction of their knowledge. Student collaboration can also encourage further student involvement and motivation in class (Brodhagen, 1995).
-Using students’ previous work to show improvement and growth over time
Compiling student work over the year is a strategy teachers can employ to help students evaluate themselves based on previous work and to display their growth in the course over the semester. Students should be encouraged to look at their work over the course of the class and reflect on what they have learned (Brodhagen, 1995).
-Help students to set their own goals for achievement
Helping students to create their own learning goals is a great strategy for teachers to employ when encouraging students to take ownership of their learning. By setting their own goals with the assistance of the instructor, students are more likely to see the purpose of what they are doing and learning in class (Brodhagen, 1995).
-Allow for both independent and collaborative work in class
Constructivist theories state that the two main ideas of knowledge construction are that learners need to be active in the construction of their knowledge and that social interactions play an important role in this construction. Students can help further their own knowledge by helping to further the knowledge of their classmates (Brodhagen, 1995).
-Give students choices regarding their learning
Affording students more choice in the classroom will likely cause them to be more motivated in their learning (Kohn, 2015). It would be ideal for a student-centered classroom to take student choice into account when the curriculum is formed, but this is not always possible. Alternatively, students should be offered choice where it is possible; for example, students can be given options when it comes to the final project in the course.
Multicultural Instruction Strategies for Teachers
-Using students’ proper names and pronouncing them correctly
Taking the effort to pronounce students’ names correctly is a very simple thing that can start off a student\teacher relationship with a level of respect. It shows that the teacher respects their students and the culture that they come from. For many multicultural/diverse learners, being in school is the first introduction they have into a new culture, and teachers mispronouncing their names could serve to deeply invalidate that student and hinder their achievement as school progresses (Mitchell, 2016).
-Maintain affirming views of diversity in students
Teachers need to maintain affirming views of diversity in order to ensure all students are treated with the same level of respect. Teachers should not adjust their expectations for students of diverse backgrounds, instead they should believe all students are capable of achievement. The diversity these students bring to the classroom is a strength and should be treated as such, not as disability or stumbling block (Villegas & Lucas, 2007).
-Access Funds of Knowledge to further student growth and understanding
Teachers should tap into the Funds of Knowledge from diverse student’s cultures to further diverse students’ understanding and involvement in the course. By seeking to better to understand and utilize diverse students’ cultural norms for interaction, teachers can further diverse students’ knowledge while affirming their sense of self as it relates to their culture (Krutka, 2015).
-Take interest in diversity and ask students about their diverse cultures and backgrounds
By seeking to learn more about their diverse students’ lives, teachers can better understand where they come from academically and how to best teach to them. Teachers can simply ask students about their home lives, or take the extra step and visit students’ homes or communities to gain a better understanding (Villegas & Lucas, 2007).
-Use the many cultures of students in a class to inform lessons
Teachers can use the existing experiences that their diverse students already possess to build up lessons. For example, then discussion and overall class take away from a unit covering immigration in history class or the reading of a book that deals with a family’s immigration can be greatly enriched by a student in the class sharing the story of their ow family’s immigration to the United States (Callie, 2014).
-Develop and maintain a sociocultural consciousness
Teachers must be aware that they have a limited view of the world based on their own background and culture, and must be sure not to rely on their own life experiences when trying to understand the culture of a diverse student. Teachers need to be aware of the role that schools play when it comes to challenging or maintaining sociocultural inequities (Villegas & Lucas, 2007).
References
Barrett, L. (2013). Seamless teaching: Navigating the inclusion spectrum.Teaching Tolerance, 52(43), 53-55.
Brodhagen, B. (1995). The situation made us special. In M. Apple & J. Beane (Eds.), Democratic schools (pp. 83−100). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Krutka, D. (2015, September 10). Approaches to Bilingual Education. Retrieved May 04, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyoUy1yW2NQ
Kohn, A. (2015, June 22). Progressive Education (#). Retrieved May 04, 2017, from http://www.alfiekohn.org/article/progressive-education/
Mitchell, C. (2016, May 10). Mispronouncing students’ names: a slight that can cut deep. Retrieved May 04, 2017, from http://mobile.edweek.org/c.jspcid=25919841&bcid=25919841&rssid=25919831&item=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.edweek.org%2Fv1%2Few%2F%3Fuuid%3D73BA86AA-13AA-11E6-9D11-71C9B3743667&cmp=SOC-SHR-FB
[Preview Channel]. (2014, February 5). Callie. [Video File]. Retreived from https://youtu.be/7JNq0gu-eb4.
Villegas, A. M., & Lucas, T. (2007). The culturally responsive teacher. Educational Leadership, 64(6), 28-33.a
Lifelong Learning 
I really appreciate that you listed instilling confidence in students as one of your important goals as a teacher. I have read in one of my course textbooks that students who have a positive relationship with their teachers are more motivated to learn compared to students who do not have any relationship with their teacher (Woolfolk, 2014). I can assume that you will always work on building positive relationship with your students, which I also desire to do.
One way teachers can build relationship with their students is by using dialogue journals in the classroom. Dialogue journals are like private journals that are shared between the student and teacher. The purpose of dialogue journals is not only to bond with teachers, but also to facilitate love for writing. A study reveals that English Language learners who were reluctant writers had a better perception of themselves as writers and were motivated to write about their thoughts and feelings after writing in dialogue journals (Regan, 2013).
I also like that you mentioned developing and maintaining a sociocultural consciousness. It is truly very difficult to think from someone else’s perspective, especially if you are not familiar with their culture. Many teachers tend to engage in discussions about topics that an immigrant student might not be aware of, and I think this happens because they fail to realize that topics they are discussing might not be relevant to people in different countries. For example, if a topic about football gets started in the classroom and there is an Indian or Pakistani student in the classroom the teacher can ask him/her about sports most popular in his/her country. Once the student responds (and being a Pakistani I know the response will always be Cricket), the teacher and all other students can discuss how that sport is similar to a sport in America (which is baseball).
Reference
Regan, K. S. (2003). Using Dialogue Journals in the Classroom: Forming Relationships with Students with Emotional Disturbance. Teaching Exceptional Children , 36(2), 36-41. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
Woolfolk, A. (2014). Educational Psychology. S.l.: Pearson.
LikeLike