Strategies

         It was interesting to learn about strategies this week and how in some cases they can help and in other cases they may hinder a child in their learning. I enjoyed the activity we did that marked our participation and acts of affirmation. It really did help me to be a more active participant in the class and to get more out of the class. I normally try to stay a little more quiet in my classes but when I actually thought about participation because I had to mark it down I wanted to participate more. It was interesting though to see when it did not help other students in the class. It really opened my eyes to the fact that not all strategies will work for all students so I as a teacher need to recognize this and allow my students to have other options. My classroom needs to be flexible and for this to happen I need to be flexible as well in the ways that I use strategies and the ways that I teach. I also think that it is quite important to know the strategies well before I implement them in my classroom. I need to know that they make sense before I implement them in my classroom.

         I also think that it is important to allow the self in your students to happen. They need to learn to do things on their own. They need to learn how to stand up for themselves. They need to learn how to learn on their own. So many things they can learn to do on their own if a teacher allows them to learn these things. These things can be so easily taught in a classroom but as a teacher you have to allow them to be taught. This means loosening the reigns on your students and allowing discovery. In the end these things learned will be so beneficial.