Instructional Strategies

InTASC Standard 8: The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage learners to develop deep understanding of content areas and their connections, and to build skills to apply knowledge in meaningful ways

Introduction

In my 7^th grade science classroom, I am able to support and engage my learners by utilizing a variety of instructional strategies. To prepare my learners to become 21^st century thinkers and practitioners, it is critical that I support my students in rigorous content that builds over time, is connected to year-long understandings, and is related to students’ own lives.

Specifically, I facilitate opportunities for my learners to build upon their prior skills, knowledge, and understandings and apply these in meaningful, relevant ways. These instructional strategies will enable students to draw important connections between topics, participate in hands-on phenomena-based learning, and facilitate their own learning and research. Through a variety of collaborative as well as individual opportunities, learners can gain both critical skills and content knowledge to prepare them for 8^th grade and beyond. Applied student learning, student-led research, collaborative opportunities and writing and literacy strategies all help my students deepen their content understanding and apply their learning in new, rigorous ways.

Please proceed below to learn how I use applied student learning, student-led research, collaborative opportunities, and writing and literacy strategies to support all of my learners with different instructional strategies.

Conclusions

Instructional strategies are paramount to effective, long-term student understanding in my science classroom. Creating the opportunities for students to experience a variety of instructional strategies including applied student learning, student-led research, collaborative opportunities, and writing and literacy strategies enhances all students' experiences and deepens their content knowledge. Through these strategies, students work together to apply their knowledge and connect class content to what they already know and care about. It is necessary to support my students with a variety of instructional strategies that are geared toward my individual students' learning strengths and needs so that they can meet the intended class objectives, experience challenging science activities, and grow academically along with their peers.