Goal 24: Try a Different Approach of The 30 Goals Challenge for Educators! Click the link to find out more about the 30 Goals Challenge for Educators!
“A well-beaten path does not always make the right road” ~ Proverb
Learning is tough for our students. Many will feel as if they are hitting a brick wall even if they try their best. Math was one of those subjects that was especially tough for me. I would study for 5 to 9 hours a night sometimes and forgo sleep. In my house, anything less than an A was not acceptable so that was my drive. However, many of our students do not have the drive, energy, or motivation to study for a subject for hours until they get it. They also don’t need to. Working with so many teachers online has showed me that it wasn’t necessarily math I struggled with, but it was in the way I approached the subject. I had only learned one way to do math, which was to work it out on paper from a textbook but I never understood what I was doing or tried to visualize it. My sister teaches math using visual aids like cubes and boxes. I think if I had approached math in this way I would have struggled less with it, because I am a visual learner.
As teachers, we have the ability to ease the learning journey for our students. First, we need to see which students are struggling with the subject. Many students will never tell us about the struggle, but will just give up. It’s not that they don’t care. It’s that they are embarrassed or feel dumb. When we walk in our classrooms we should observe our students and look for physical signs they are struggling with the material. Often, just looking at their faces during a test or while they are working will give us some insight. Grades are another indicator.
From here, we have to thread lightly. They will not easily admit they are struggling so we have to get them to trust us so they open up. Then it’s a good idea to have our students describe to us the steps they go through when they are approaching the material. Sometimes, our students do not realize what kind of learners they are. It might just be in the approach and you may have to get them to try different approaches till they find the one that makes sense for them. At the beginning of the year, I like for my students to fill out various learning surveys. These surveys help our learners discover how their brain works and it makes them reflect on their learning so they become more autonomous learners.
I bookmark learning inventories I come across in my PearlTrees bookmarks! Click on any of the links to view the resource.
Goal
Long-term– Through out the year try diversifying the design of learning materials so that students are able to learn your subject matter in various ways. Millions of multimedia resources have been designed for all subjects online and are free! Sometimes, we just have to embed these resources or provide links to them.
Important News
- Lisa Dabbs and I have decided to change the hashtag to #30GoalsEdu
- We are focusing on 1 to 2 goals a week.
- Check out my Pinterests for other posts with this goal or ask me to add yours!
- We are collecting all goals in this LiveBinder to make it easier to follow.
Challenge:
Help your students find an easier way to approach your subject matter.
Did you reflect on this goal? Please leave a comment that you accomplished this goal by either posting your own video reflection on Youtube, using the hashtag #30GoalsEdu, posting on the 30 Goals Facebook group, adding a post to the GooglePlus page, or adding a comment below!
Be inspired with these Inspirational songs, videos, quotes, and more on my Pinterest board, Inspiration for World Changers!
