Now that I was completely comfortable with both my students, Erica and Madison, it was time to make a difference in these student's reading experience. I was still noticing that Erica was struggling a lot more than Madison, so I decided to take on another approach to helping her learn words that she was having trouble with. I noticed Erica was a much more outgoing, non timid student who seemed to have a lot to say in everything going on. I decided, since she was very outspoken girl to try different exercises with her in which allowed her to speak up (which I knew she loved to do). When working on a word, I would have her first say the word at least 7 times after she figured out what it was by sounding it out. After she repeated the word multiple times I asked her to come up with 3 really good sentences using the word. She loved this because she got to use her imagination while also learning what the word was and how she could apply it to everyday sentences as well. Using this method over and over again on every word Erica struggled with, seemed to get her to not only like the exercise, but also remember the word more easily.
I was inspired by the theorists Kahne and Westheimer in their focus on change rather than charity. These theorists believed that if educators focused more the individual's needs with a goal of making social transformation and change, those individuals will succeed and take more from the experience. Following their focus, I tried to find something Erica would enjoy doing. Finding this and applying it to her reading began to help her while she was still having fun and being herself. Overall it seemed to be successful and was a new method I would be using in the weeks to come.
Using different methods to promote change within a student is something every teacher should do. Trying this out I noticed that it really does make a difference, even if it is not the biggest difference in the world. If more teachers followed Kahne and Westheimers theory on change over charity, students would be able to learn a lot more and also change the social aspect of their lives. I am going to continue to use methods such as the one I did in hopes that it will make a difference in these young students learning experience.
Jill,
ReplyDeleteI definitely understand why you thought of Kahne and Westheimer when working with Erica in this situation. You utilized the change model by putting yourself in Erica's shoes and realizing she needed to see the lesson in a different light in order to understand it. Also the situation helped transform your teaching identity by learning this new teaching technique.
I agree with you when you say that all teachers should use different methods of teaching because each student is different. Every student has their own unique needs and learn things better in a certain way. Whether it be because they are a visual learner or hands on learner. I know that when I was younger I had a hard time with math and in order for me to solve a problem I have to visually see it. I think that if more teachers taught lessons that catered to different learning styles, students would be less frustrated with learning something new.
I have also learned that students understand a concept better when you relate it to something they are familiar with. For example in my class a little girl named Sky asked me a math question one day during free time on a Friday. The question was something like whats 40-30 and she could not quite grasp how to do it. So, I said okay what's your favorite toy and she said Bratz dolls. So, I grabbed a piece of paper and drew a picture and explained "Alright if I have 40 outfits for my Bratz doll and Kylie borrows 30 how many would I have?" "10?" and just like that she was able to figure it out because she needed to see it visually. I think more teachers should utilize different teaching styles that way each child gets to see which one works best for them.
Hi Jill,
ReplyDeleteInteresting adaptation of K&W's change/charity model. You captured their spirit, even though they apply it differently.
Nicely done,
Dr. August