Becoming Familiar with Relevant Aspects of Students’ Background Knowledge and Experiences

Some learners may have needs that exceed what we the teacher can offer. It is our role as the teacher to recognise our own boundaries and refer the learner elsewhere. It is of utmost importance that as a teacher you do not cross boundaries with learners by becoming too familiar.

Learning about the culture and the background is important not only for the students but also for teachers. It is important to know where students are from so teacher can provide a way to assist the students better. When teachers do this they build a strong relationship with the student. Students are more comfortable asking questions. The students like to be part of class and enjoy their

So, learning and educating themselves, about different cultures and prespectives of students from different nationalities, is the first and most important component that teachers should be exploring before they start teaching. Students and academic relationship is considered the “core relationship”; the reason is that it is being proved that effective communication and instructional teaching can be acomplished by creating an enviroment where students feel accepted regardless of their background. For instance, an Asian student would not give eye contact to his teacher, whereas averybody else in the classroom would.However, later on teacher learned that it was a sign of respect. Misinterpretation can arise due to lack of

As a teacher it is important to know who you are as a learner because it allows for you to help improve your educational experience and to help increase your knowledge. It also allows for you to open your mind to remembering that every person and every student in unique and how they learn will be completely different from one another. This means that in one class you could have thirty unique learners and it will be your job to make sure that you make each child’s educational experience meaningful to them.

The philosophy of the primary school where I work is that every child's unique needs and abilities should and must be honored. Children's different learning needs and styles are incorporated into the curriculum. On an informal level, teachers are encouraged to make use of lesson plans that utilize different types of media and methods of evaluation. Lesson plans often make use of visual and kinesthetic aspects of the learning experience as well as more traditional methods that emphasize mathematical, spatial, and verbal intelligences.

I want to know my students. This way I can tailor my teaching methods to the specific needs of my students and class. This is also helpful in resolving discipline problems, which I anticipate to be few and far between. I will do everything in my power to resolve problems within my classroom, using the principal’s office and the administration as a last resort. Students respect a teacher who respects them in return. This approach allows a teacher to get to the heart of a student’s problems without involving outside forces that may alienate the child.

Teachers work their lessons to include representations of the students that exist in their classroom, for example, a person of color going to school to become a doctor, politician, teacher, scientist, or a career that a student who see themselves growing up to be in adulthood. But it gives them a frame of reference when they interact with materials given out by the teacher. They will, at this rate, be attentive and intrigued by what they are learning and will engage in class more often. Teachers also should also in this gain the knowledge of the skills and needs of their students to provide the proper instruction and curriculum. Teachers set the overall tone and what type of environment their classroom will, as that depends if it is a suitable place that is conducive to student learning and achievement. They also are the role models that students will typically look up to if they have a profound effect on their overall school experience. Another role they will be using will often be assessing each and every student, which is done through various tests, homework, and other methods that are deemed

Knowing your students’ capabilities, time constraints, hobbies, schema, and socioeconomic status is crucial to teaching. Teachers who are familiar with their students have an advantage in planning their teaching for several reasons. The first is motivation. If a teacher understands what a student likes or dislikes, they can use this to their advantage. For example, if a student is having problems understanding order of operations, hates math, but really loves video games, you could have them explain the order of steps to beat their favorite video game and use that order of operations to show them the mathematical order of operations. In the same way, if a student is from a lower SES and must work a part-time job to help support their family, they may not be motivated to do homework and projects outside of the classroom. Being able to relate the importance of your content to students is key to motivation. If a student is not motivated, they will not learn, much less excel. The transactional Theory states that learning is a transaction between the student, context, and content with purpose. Each of these must be present for students to learn. Creating relevance to our content in each student’s life is critical to learning. We as teachers cannot create the context for learning or relevance if we do not know our students.

In the practice of teaching, it is the responsibility of a teacher not only to teach students subject matter, but to teach students in order to enable them to grow and develop as a person. While it is essential for students to have an understanding of academic material, it is also equally as important that when students finish their education they have skills to use in

I’ve always been a pretty open-minded person, but I have never thought about how that can help me as a teacher. When I learned about the concept of cultural continua I found it to be very interesting. Cultural continua focus on how people come from different types of backgrounds, and how learning to understand these differences will better help teacher interact with their students. In addition, the concept discusses how people can fall on different extremes or in the middle. For example, some student will come from homes were the grandparents are a major part of their lives, and if the teacher does not understand different ways people treat their elders it could cause problems.

It will be important that I have a good understanding of where each student comes from. For student’s similar to Jacinta and Rosa, I will want to create a positive relationship with both the student and the parents. Communication is key when trying to work with the parents in sustaining a positive relationship. To communicate with parents, I might set up a parent teacher conference, send home newsletters, phone calls, or even a home visit. By communicating with parents, I will be able to get know the student even better, which will help me help the student become successful in the classroom.

When creating lesson plans for a class with children of varied MI, it is imperative to understand what the dominant MI of children within the class are. Then all that is required is combing the particular subject with the different activities about the topic that encourage the learning process of each child to flow effortlessly. It is in this instance that children begin to learn more about a subject when the activity being carried out successfully engages the child’s interest through catering to each child’s educational preference.

Being a teacher involves much more than teaching a lesson. While designing a lesson using McTighe’s Backwards Design or Dr. Reeves Unwrapping Standards teachers needs to take in consideration the readiness, learning styles and interest of each student (Laureate Education, 2010). As a result, Dr. C. Tomlinson (Laureate Education, 2010) gives examples on differentiating based on the three characteristics. The first characteristic is readiness, this is refers to the students proximity to learning goals. The second is interest, what the student likes, his or her motivation. The last one, learning profile, this means how the student learn efficiently meaning the style, intelligence proficient, gender and culture. Knowing this will help the preparation of the lesson plans. I must plan a lesson that is not only guided by the power standard, but engages the students. This means I must differentiate in order for each student have success in their learning. I must plan with an end goal on mind and thinking how to reach each student by taking in consideration the content they should know by the end of the lesson, the process and product of their learning. Using Dr. C. Tomlinson and McTighe (2010) table of differentiating, I will plan how to help a group of student achieve success in my lesson.

It is very important that teachers know and learn how to distinguish and teach as well as consider all students learning preferences, abilities, learning styles. The teacher should understand that students

Until the teacher is aware of the fact that not all learners in his class are same psychologically, it would be difficult for him to devise learning strategies which would help bring out the best in all his students. It is therefore necessary for the teacher to study each student and know their strength and weaknesses