Learning, in my own lens, is a by- product of a person’s drive to understand and to extend his efforts in doing something efficiently in aide of whatever resources are available on hand. These can be knowledge, skills, behaviors, values, attitudes and judgments.
However, although it circles primarily on the learner himself, there are great external factors as well. One among which is the teaching strategies being used by educators in achieving their learning objectives. In one way or another, strategies can provide a rich breeding ground to develop the critical thinking skills of the learners or it can also weaken the supposed-to-be tough learning foundation.
It is by one way, in my mind, bringing them to another dimension of their acquired knowledge from their teachers/mentors. I for one, indeed love this kind of strategy by asking a questions relevant to my lesson, to further challenge my students to think beyond the box using the rationalization approach. Differentiation strategy on the other hand is my favorite too. Banking on the principle of multi intelligence learning style, provision of differentiated activities in class is a best choice. You get to see how creative and multi-tasking the learners are in their assigned activity.
Class discussion as well is one of my favorite strategy being encouraged and practiced in class. Inputs I believe, mustn’t come solely from the teacher. It must be an interactive exchange of ideas trough class discussions. It’s definitely powerful. As the old cliché says, great minds come together in discussions. However, inquiry-based strategy is a good choice as well. Because it opens the door to have students to become responsible in their art of questioning.
To wrap up/in closing,
You, being the captain of your own classroom, must contemplate as to what are the most effective strategies you can use in order to bring the best version of your learners. If the teacher is good… the students are also good!
By: Marilyn D. Sacdalan | Teacher III | Bataan National High School City of Balanga
