Strength and Opportunities for Growth
The strength of the learning process is that it was able to cater to the different needs of the learners in my classroom. I was able to modify the teaching process to suit their needs, a factor which enhanced their concentration and participation in classroom activities (Flores 2013). Additionally, I encouraged the shy students to communicate with their peers and share the content of the materials we learned in class, which boosted their confidence and learning ability.
One area of improvement is the range of materials offered for learning. I had to improvise with the crayons and textured paper upon realizing that some students connected better through physical contact. I feel that increasing the range of available activities and materials for the learning process will provide learners with better choices and better opportunities for understanding the concepts we learn in class.
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Addressing Needs of Students with Different Learning Styles
Based on the feedback I received from the classroom teacher and from my lesson, I formulated several ways of accommodating students with different learning styles. For the visual students, I discovered that the best way to assist them with the learning process was to use maps, learning materials and flowcharts to pass information (Entwistle & Ramsden 2015). For those who understand better through listening, I catered for their needs by engaging them in conversations on the subject we learned in class (Entwistle & Ramsden 2015). For my students who have a penchant for the physical experiences, I modified the learning process through the use of customized learning materials such as textured paper and different crayons to facilitate learning (Entwistle & Ramsden 2015). I discovered that the students responded better when I modified the teaching methods since they were able to remember and apply the concepts taught in class when the learning process was customized to their needs.
Helping the Students Master the Content
To assist the students to learn from the visual presentations made in class, I asked them questions about what was presented. The questions ranged from "what was the most interesting thing you learned?" to "was anything surprising?" (“Effective Teaching”).I encouraged the students to make notes of their answers. Next, I asked the students to share the notes in groups of five, which I supervised. I closely monitored the progress, and provided feedback to the students (“Effective Teaching”). I learned that sharing the notes facilitated understanding since it led to even more discussions about the subject matter. I later gave the students a test to gauge their understanding. They scored an average of 80%, which is adequate proof of understanding the content.
Changes to Implement
In my next lesson, there are specific changes I intend to introduce to improve the learning experience. I noticed that while I was able to cater to the diverse group of learners in my classroom, there exists room for further improvement regarding encouraging participation of the shy students in group discussions. While the relatively small groups encouraged them participation in the sharing process since it was conducted in turns, I noticed the quiet students required a special incentive to invite them to learn. To specifically address this development, I intend to encourage these students to express themselves more in front of their peers to boost their confidence. Similarly, I intend to improve the physical, audio and visual interactions when teaching vocabulary to enable my students to grasp the content even better.
References
Effective Teaching. An initiative of the director general’s classroom first strategy. Department of Education and Training. Online Resource Retrieved From: education.wa.edu.au/documents/43634987/44524721/Effective+Teaching.pdf/5dcc8207-6057-3361-ade8-cf85e5a2c1ab. Accessed on 9 th September 2018.
Entwistle, N., & Ramsden, P. (2015). Understanding student learning (Routledge revivals) . Routledge.
Flores, Elia. (2013). Teaching & Learning Styles. Online Resource Retrieved From: blinn.edu/twe/radi/Teaching%20%20Learning%20Styles.pdf. Accessed on 9 th September 2018.
