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Planning for Student Needs
As I design relevant instruction, I always ask the questions, “How can I best engage my students in their learning?”, “How do I relate this topic to the real world?” and “What student needs must I consider?”
For each lesson, I strive to develop a learning experience where I’m not simply telling my students the information they need to know but rather allowing them to interact in some way to reach the learning goal. The key is to motivate my students to desire to learn and achieve, and for them to claim the responsibility of their own learning. In my zero pairs/combining integers lesson, my students were human positive and negative signs. They would form into groups of like signs and then need to combine with another group, sometimes with like signs, sometimes the opposite signs. It provided them an opportunity to move and laugh while performing math, making it enjoyable. They experienced this engagement all while actually learning how to make a zero pair, what the result of that bond means in math, and how does it affect our integer combinations. The kids loved it and I loved how engaged they were in their learning! Plus, it was effective.
For math, relating my students’ learning to the real world is VITAL. Without this understanding, students often find it difficult to see the value in math. One of the easiest and most effective ways is using money. Students immediately perk up when we discuss money. It’s around them every day. They already can comprehend its value to them personally and it’s fun with which to play! Other topics which are easy to use are examples based on grocery stores, temperatures, bake sales, cooking measurements, depths in the ocean or in the sky, and lengths of races. Ideas are limitless and there are a lot of resources out there offering applicable, real world examples.
When designing instruction, I consider many types of resources. I use content information and examples provided by the district on the TEKS. I review any examples or activities I’ve personally created, found on the internet, or received from a fellow teacher which I’m considering for a particular topic. I examine technological tools which align with the goals and objectives I’ve created. Then, I tweak any material I use to fit my students’ needs. I contemplate my students’ current understanding (which does not necessarily match with what they are supposed to already know), their styles of learning, personalities, interests, skills, developmental level, and any student background knowledge I possess. I constantly think about my students as I create a lesson, taking into consideration not just my students as a whole but individual student’s needs as well. How will this activity work for my struggling math students? Will my SAGE (gifted and talented) students be challenged by today’s lesson? What about my 504, SPED, Dyslexic, ELL, and Speech students? Are there certain ways I can approach this lesson that will be more successful than other methods due solely to my students’ demographics? Taking into consideration my students’ needs is critical for their learning success. I must never forget this reality.
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