It is common knowledge among teachers that pupils who enter their classrooms have different abilities. As such, they do their best to satisfy the needs of each pupil, regardless of whether they have issues in paying attention or learning. What follows is a list of commonly used teaching methods teachers can turn to for enhanced success in class.
- Graphic Organization Approach
Specific concepts and thoughts are illustrated using a map in this Approach. This approach can be used to effectively assist young learners recognize characters in stories they read in the past. Graphic organization is also effective in assisting students put together and plan out stories they intend to write. This method can be used to help older students come up with a layout capturing the order of past events, for instance those that led up to WWII, or in drawing contrasts and comparisons when covering topics or even people.
- Multisensory Instruction Approach
This method aims to teach through the use of all the senses a pupil has. A learner’s mastery of the learning material improves when their hearing, sight, feelings and movement are all linked together. To help students understand mathematics through their sense of touch, teachers can use double sided counters and base 10 blocks. Using a sketch to demonstrate the meaning of a word can help pupils learn new words through drawing.
- Differentiated Instruction Method
This method requires teachers to constantly keep changing the material that their pupils are required to learn, the method of communication and how it’ll be learnt. Bit-by-bit instructions, additional exercises and specialized assignments are used every time a pupil is seen to be struggling in a specific learning area. Learn more on differentiated instruction.
- Use Of Mnemonics
To assist students in recalling essential information, this method calls for the use of memorable phrases. For instance to help students recall the mathematical order of operations “Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition and Subtraction” the phrase “Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally” is commonly used.
Mnemonics can also be used in teaching vocabulary. The term “rain” used as a keyword alongside an image of a frog in rainy weather, can be used to help pupils recall the term Ranidae, which is the scientific reference for frogs. This blog from Tradewind also showcases ways to help children in education.
- The Scaffolding Approach
In this approach, learning is broken down into bits. These bits lead to a specific goal by following a specific order. Teachers do so to create a link between what the students have already mastered and what they are unable to complete on their own. These links, which usually include images, cue cards and charts, are what the term “scaffolds” refers to.
Pupils are usually required to produce their own work, after the teacher has presented them with the right example. Once the scaffolds are no longer required, they are removed just like when they are used in building projects.