Padagogical Strategies

Direct Teaching is “A model of instruction in which the teacher is a strong leader who structures the classroom and sequences subject matter to reflect a clear academic focus. The model emphasizes the importance of a structured lesson in which presentation of new information is followed by student practice and teacher feedback (Sadker and Zittleman 387).” 

     Within direct teaching there are six principles and they are; Daily Review, New Material, Guided Practice, Specific Feedback, Independent Practice, and Weekly and Monthly Reviews. 

Let us start with Daily Review, this just means before the teacher begins the lesson of the day they will review previously learned material, the teacher will focus a lot on homework and making sure students understand the material before moving on. 

Second is New Material, this is where the teacher focuses a lot on letting students know the objectives that they will be learning as well as breaking down the information that they are learning into smaller pieces in order to learn it quicker. 

Third we have Guided Practice, this is just how it sounds, students learn with teacher supervision using their newly learned skills. 

Fourth we have Specific Feedback; Specific Feedback is where students receive immediate feedback to both their incorrect answers as well as their correct answers. The incorrect answers are corrected immediately so that errors do not become a habit. Frequently wrong answers tell the teacher that her/his students are not yet ready for independent practice. 

Independent Practice is the fifth principle and it is very similar to guided practice besides with independent practice student’s work by themselves at home or at school. 

The sixth and final principle of Direct Teaching is Weekly and Monthly reviews, this is simply where the teacher does regular reviews that give students another chance to practice.

Cooperative Learning is when students work on activities in small groups, and they receive rewards based on the overall group performance (Sadker and Zittleman 388).” Cooperative learning works best when students are learning in groups that are heterogeneous and are small. The students should be in a circle in order to have face-to-face interaction. The rewards are earned only if the entire group reaches the goal this ensures that students work together in order to help each other learn the material. This is used in the classroom simply by letting students work in small groups; this can be used in any subject and any grade level.

Mastery Learning is, “an educational practice in which an individual demonstrates mastery of one task before moving on to the next (Sadker and Zittleman 389).” In this learning process the students do not worry about passing their current grade but rather working at their own pace and rising to their own level of learning. With this model it relies on instructional alignment which is the relation between what the teacher teaches the students and what the students are testing on. This model is great to incorporate technology with because computers allow students to work at their own pace. They also have a self-assessment feature where students can learn and take tests on the computer which would make it easier on both the student and the teacher due to the fact the student will know right away if they have the right answers and the teachers can see if the student understands and is excelling within the program.

Problem-Based Learning is, “An approach that builds a curriculum around intriguing real-life problems and asks students to work cooperatively to develop and demonstrate their solutions (Sadker and Zittleman 391).” The principles of this learning model are, learner cooperation, higher-order thinking, cross-disciplinary work, artifacts and exhibits, and authentic learning. This model gives students real-life situation that they must work together or individually to solve. Such as pollution students are giving the problem of pollution or littering around their school building they must then brain storm ideas in order to solve this problem. Students could come up with the idea to pick up trash or to start a recycling program at their school. Or to try to come up with other ideas to be green within their school and at home.

IA: Sternberg's Triarchic Theory and Nature Vs. Nurture

There is another theory on intelligence called Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory. In this theory, Sternberg labels three separate areas of intelligence: Analytic, creative, and practical.

1. Analytic intelligence- ability to analyze, judge, evaluate, compare and contrast
2. Creative intelligence- ability to create, design, invent, originate, and imagine
3. Practical intelligence- ability to use, apply, implement, and put ideas into practice.

As you may notice many of the 8 intelligences of Gardner’s theory can be categorized under the three intelligences of Sternberg’s. In fact, the analytic intelligence can be paired with linguistic and mathematical intelligences; the creative intelligence can be paired with spatial, body-kinesthetic, and musical intelligences, and the practical with the interpersonal, intrapersonal and emotional intelligences. This does exclude the naturalistic intelligence, but this demonstrates effectively the evolution of our understanding of intelligence. The following pictures are diagrams of Sternberg’s and Gardner’s theories.

   

Now all of these intelligences are very specific, and you may find yourself saying that you have the ability to demonstrate many of these. The question that you should be asking yourself is, “why don’t I have the ability to do all of them?” This question can have multiple answers, but what it all boils down to is the debate between nature vs. nurture. In other words, do your surroundings and genetics influence your intelligence or does your upbringing? 

Your genetic make-up defines what kind of eye and hair color you will have, how tall you will be, and even what your voice will sound like. Your genetics can also decide how fast your brain will develop, and, in the nature argument, even how smart you will be. There are different parts of the brain dedicated to the different types of intelligences explained earlier. If for some reason your genes have predestined one or more of these parts of the brain to develop differently then you may become stronger or weaker in that respective intelligence.

                 

                Your surroundings, nature, also play a key role in your development in the sense that if your surroundings are not healthy (i.e. pollution) then the brain could be adversely effected, and therefore your ability to develop these intellectual skills could be effected.

                

                On the other side of the argument some people attribute a person’s upbringing to being the sole contributor to their intellectual ability. How a person is raised, their nutrition, and the support they get from the community all play a factor in how a person develops cognitively.

                 

                The fact of the matter is that both nature and nurture play an important part in a person’s cognitive advancement. No single factor is more important because they all work together. If, for some reason, there is a weakness in one area then the entire development of the child is effected, and this means that intellectually the child will be affected.

IA: Gardner's Eight Frames of Mind

     There are multiple forms of intelligence a person can display, and in many cases students are strong in multiple categories; in fact there are 8 accepted forms with a 9^th contested intelligence. This theory is known as Gardner’s Eight Frames of Mind. 


    Linguistic Intelligence- a student’s ability of having or pertaining to the use of vocabulary, language, and speech in creative and critical ways.

A student with a strong linguistic intelligence would be strong with creative writing, and in debate with other students as a proper knowledge of word use would benefit their presentation of thoughts and ideas. Students with this strength would find it easier to figure out word meaning in context to a topic. An example of such ability would be like being able to write a short story or write a persuasive speech. 

Logical-mathematic Intelligence- A student’s ability to grasp basic math and science skills, and to further apply such skills effectively.

A student with this strength would find math classes easier, and the material would make more sense to them. The time it would take for a student to figure out key concepts, solve problems, and derive proofs and connections to similar material would be heightened. A student would be able to apply basic scientific approaches to more complex scenarios with ease. An example of this would be considered to be placed in a high math class or solving higher degree of difficulty problems in such subjects with ease. 

Spatial intelligence- A student’s ability to see details in one’s environment, and to apply, effectively, mental imagery and imagination.

A student with this strength would have a heightened imagination, and a strong ability for mental imagery. This student would be able to find differences between similar objects with ease as this person is detail oriented. An example of this ability would be like being able to mentally picture a car and deriving a variation of the same car with an imagination.

Musical Intelligence- A students ability to demonstrate musical talent.

As a musically intelligent person, you would find playing musical instruments to be easy. Reading, writing, and understanding musical literature would also make much sense. An example of a student with this strength would be a person that can play multiple instruments, or someone that could create their own songs.

Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence- A students ability to apply oneself athletically

A student with this type of ability would have increased athletic ability, and would show this skill through sports. Students with this ability can also show great dexterity and ability through dancing, pantomime, and ornate hand tricks. 

Interpersonal- A student’s ability to perceive others feelings, perceptions of self and reality, and behaviors.

A student with this strength would find it easy to see another student’s feelings, intentions, and beliefs. This student would find it easy to identify the underlying causes of the student’s emotions. This student can also use other’s moods and thoughts to influence their own.  An example of this would be a person that regularly consoles others due to the fact that they can “see” their pain, or a person that can read character or other forms of emotion.

Intrapersonal- A student’s ability to be self-aware, and in tune with ones thoughts and feelings.

A student with this strength would better understand their thoughts and feelings, and what the root cause is; in other words they would have a good understanding of causality. This person would also be able to better relate to others by being able to put themselves in others shoes. 

Naturalistic- A student’s ability to understand nature by seeing patterns and elements of nature.

A student with this intelligence can easily see patterns in nature between living and non-living entities. Their ability to place or group living and non-living entities would be heightened and classifying natural phenomena would also be heightened. This would mean that a student would be able to identify what type of rock or leaf they were looking at, and be able to match up mammal to mammal. 

Emotional Intelligence- A student’s ability to perceive and express emotion.

This intelligence is very similar to interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligences in the sense that it encompasses the two intelligences.

IA: Intellectual Ability

Intellectual Ability is, defined simply, what one is able to do with his or her brain. All students have different intellectual abilities in a number of different fields. For example, some students may excel in mathematics, while others are astounding writers. Also, some students may be able to think creatively, while others think logically. It is important for educators to identify and cater to different intellectual abilities in their students.




 Intelligence Quotient (IQ): This little thing is a score derived from a number of different standardized tests. It, in a sense, is a measure of intellectual ability with the average IQ for Americans being between 70 and 130. Interestingly enough, a person's IQ score can be linked to Socioeconomic Status, which was discussed in our previous blog. You can take an IQ test at http://www.iqtest.com/ and find out your IQ score for free. After completing the test, the site will ask if you want to buy something. You do not need to buy anything to find out your score.

Socioeconomic Status

Socioeconomic Status (SES) is defined as an individual's or group's position within a hierarchical social structure. It depends on a combination of variables, including occupation, education, income, wealth, and place of residence. We believe that this section will help teachers understand that socioeconomic status is vital to interpreting the different influences on an individual in the classroom.

  

• Poverty: Poverty is defined as a substandard existence that just meets or fails to meet the basic needs of the individual/s involved. “One out of every five children is poor during the first three years of life the time of greatest brain development.”(Aldridge) This fact creates an environment in which the future student has to play catch up in the early years of education into secondary education. The parents of these students may hold several jobs or be unemployed, meaning that these parents may or may not be home on a regular basis. This could lead to a lack of family support, which causes the student to look for alternate means of support. This could include relying on school and the teachers for support, after school programs, or even in the worst case scenario illegal means.According to Aldridge, “the number of Americans living below the poverty level in the United States has continued to increase during the past three decades.” The cycle of poverty is not isolated to a single household. Poverty can be found on the neighborhood or even city level.

 

• Place of Residence:Students who live in financially underprivileged homes find it very difficult to afford adequate necessities required to receive a proper education. In fact, the ability to go to college is severely restricted by the fact that college is very expensive. Even with the available grants, loans and scholarships there is a large portion of able bodied and sound minded individuals who cannot afford to attend higher education tracks. 

Now, The creation of new buildings and businesses are always a great lift to a locations economy; bringing in new jobs and growth that can increase tax revenue that will in the end increase revenue to the schools. This in turn can cause the schools to supply the students with better means to educate themselves, and have access to new and better technology. This influx in revenue can also cause the schools to lose sight of the primary goal of a school by spending poorly, and then having to either dip into reserve funds or asking for more revenue through higher taxes or levies. This effect can put a strain on the region by causing those living within the region to pay higher taxes or levies to said schools. 

As the urban and suburban areas are beginning to see issues with funding and maintaining the schools, the rural areas have to deal with issues that are of a different nature. To take an example that is happening in a school district just north of Cincinnati, The Little Miami School District has had to cut large amounts of money out of the budget due to a lack of revenue from property taxes along with revenue from state funds. In other words, due to the school’s location, the issue has arrived that the school can no longer afford to operate at its given capacity. These topics tended to focus on the effects on the school, but this all boils down to the fact that if we are going to allow our students to have a free and equal education, then we must understand that it is not cheap. The reallocation of priorities both at home and school will take us a long way. the finding finding of a better way to fund schools that takes into account each districts needs will alleviate funding issues. Furthermore, the need for investment in the infrastructure of our schools will guarantee more time for those buildings to continue to create the next leaders of our country. 

 

• Social Class: The psychological toll of living in impoverished conditions is also very important to mention. Many of us find ourselves comparing ourselves to one another. This behavior is equally true of students, and this comparison can lead to some very damaging and incorrect conclusions. A student may find that their family’s financial situation uncomfortable and embarrassing leading them to feel insecure, inferior, or even isolated from their peers. This lack of a sufficient home environment could lead to a lack of interest in school, and, “In fact, many student from lower socioeconomic areas have not stayed in school long enough to graduate” (Aldridge).

•  Crime: Crime is the breach of rules and laws ultimately leading to a conviction. Crime rates are closely correlated to gang activity. In fact, the total number of gangs in the US has risen from 270 to about 3000 in the last past 30 years.Gang activities include, but are not limited to defending neighborhood turf, extortion, armed robbery, alien smuggling, and drugs and arms trafficking. As gangs form, recruiters look for disadvantage children, pulling these kids out of the classrooms away from their school life to be affiliated with the gangs.

  

- Here's some tips when dealing with potential crime-associated children in your classroom:

          * If you believe one of your students is involved in gang activity, tell someone, such as administration.

          *  Try to talk to the child after class to understand the child better.

          * Recommend a crime prevention seminar for the students to administration.

•  Disabilities: A disability may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, or developmental or some combination of these. As an educator we have to prepare ourselves to teach these children who may enter our classrooms with some sort of disability, whether it is mental or physical. In the classroom we have to decide whether the child should be included in a classroom or if it would be beneficial for them to have extra help in the classroom or to be in a special education classroom.

- Tips when dealing with children with disabilities can be viewed at the following site:

http://dsp.berkeley.edu/TeachStudentsWithDisab.html 

 

• Religion: Religion holds many different meanings to many different people. In addition to this, there are over twenty religions in the world. Some of these religious backgrounds may find their way into your classroom and it is important to be conscious of them when dealing with students from a religious minority.

- Some possible scenarios where religion may be a factor are as follows:

     *  Some children may be required to dress in a different way because their religion requires it.

     *  These children are susceptible to bullying from other students who do not understand the religion.

     *  Certain behaviors are taboo in some religious sects and not in others.

     *  It is important to be mindful of these behaviors and act in a way as to not offend any child.

     *  More information on this can be found in this PDF file: You'll Need a PDF reader to see this.

Here's a video on the importance of all of these factors at work and a very good way to help these factors be minor in a child's life: