Standard Eight

Instructional Strategies - Human Rights and the Progressive Era Unit

InTASC Standard #8: Instructional Strategies

"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."

Progressive Era Portfolio Timeline.pdf

Brief Description

In my teaching, I find it incredibly important to vary instruction to keep the students engaged. For my unit of Human Rights and the Progressive Era, I implemented a variety of different instructional strategies for my lessons. Some of the activities the students participated in were traditional lectures, Nearpod, a scavenger hunt, a mock trial, and a Socratic Seminar.

I found that changing the seating arrangement and groupings of the students was also effective in keeping them engaged and eager to participate. The strategies I used to pair students included numbered heads, hetero and homogeneous grouping, and allowing the students to choose their groups.

Reflection

While designing my unit for Human Rights and the Progressive Era, I created a concept map/timeline that would allow me to better visualize the activities and strategies I wanted to utilize. I found that it was easier to find patterns in the activities I chose, as well as think of new ways to vary instruction. This allowed me to manage my time better as well, having to consider work days, transitions, and the length of time it would take the classes to complete the lessons.

I have used this strategy moving forward and found it is incredibly helpful and effective to design varied instruction. It also allows me to see when I am over or underusing activities. One strategy that I implement most lessons is also student reflections. I love utilizing this strategy because it allows me to receive direct feedback from the students about my teaching.

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