Teaching Practices

There are two different kinds of teaching; there is direct instruction and indirect instruction. Direct instruction is when teachers teach mini lessons. I like this style of teaching because it introduces the information to the students, then they are given an opportunity to practice it, and then they can apply. I like how mini lessons work because it allows the students to apply what they have learned and still have the teacher’s guidance. Indirect teaching is more of an on-the-spot lesson. These can take place in a whole group or small group activity. I really like this style of indirect teaching because it is something a teacher can do when they realize the students may not be grasping certain concepts or need a brief reminder on a particular topic.

Something I believe all teachers need to realize is that all students are going to vary in how they learn, and what their interests and motivations are. Differentiation is very important to implement into the classroom. Students are going to have differences in their background knowledge and prior experiences. Our text does a great job of giving five examples of how differentiation can be applied in the classroom. I really like the example that talks about offering the students choices. This is a great way to differentiate because it allows the student to pick something, like the topic they want to write about and allows them to write based on their prior knowledge and feel comfortable writing because they are writing on their level. To me differentiation is not making things easier or harder for students but allowing them all to be successful on their own level. Our texts sums up the idea of differentiation the best by saying, “Teachers are able to differentiate instruction when they implement the patterns of practice in their classroom.”